The French Football Federation (FFF) is bracing for a bidding war between several major sportswear brands after officially going to market with its new kit and apparel supplier tender process.
The tender covers the eight years from 2026-27 to 2033-34 and is likely to see incumbent NIKE face strong competition to renew its deal.
Nike currently provides kits to the French men’s, women’s, and youth soccer teams under a contract that has a reported value of around €50.5 million ($54.8 million) per year, which expires after the 2026 World Cup.
German sportswear giants adidas and Puma are expected to rival Nike in the tender.
The three major manufacturers are all eager to produce the kits for France, who have been one of the most successful national soccer teams of recent times. Les Blues won the men's FIFA World Cup in 2018 and were defeated in the final of the 2022 edition in Qatar by Argentina.
By the time the current deal ends, Nike will have been an FFF partner for 15 years, but the growing prominence of Adidas and Puma, combined with the sought-after nature of the contract given France’s success and the global fame of stars such as Kylian Mbappe, means that it will have a tougher time attempting to renew its contract on this occasion.
Adidas was France’s long-standing kit supplier before Nike took over, including when the country won its first World Cup in 1998.
The German brand has already lost a major contract to Nike after German soccer’s DFB governing body announced a deal with the US giant last week (to start in 2027), ending a seven-decade alliance with Adidas.
Nike will take over as kit and equipment supplier to the DFB for the 2027-34 cycle in a deal reportedly worth at least €100 million per year.
Puma, meanwhile, has of late refined its partnership strategy, ending its contracts with the Serbian and Israeli national teams to refocus on a smaller core of higher-profile national sides for whom to produce kits.
The brand revealed at the time that it is set to announce a partnership with a high-profile “statement” team to signal its intent.
Adidas continues to be a closer competitor to Nike than Puma on the national team stage, albeit still some way off.
At the 2022 World Cup, 13 of the 32 national teams competing, including France, were partnered with Nike, with Adidas and Puma kitting out 7 and 6 sides at the tournament, respectively.
This represented a fall in numbers for Adidas, who had 12 teams as partners at the Russia 2018 World Cup and would look to use an FFF 2026 contract to increase its presence at the next men’s World Cup in that year.
