adidas Ukraine continues its large-scale campaign for the Ukraine national team’s new away kit, while also supporting the team through the final stages of the 2026 World Cup qualification
In the new chapter of the campaign, the brand presents an indoor shoot featuring three Ukrainian Ballon d’Or winners — Oleh Blokhin, Ihor Bielanov, and Andrii Shevchenko
Each of the three players represents different generations of Ukrainian football, which — like the design of the new jersey — highlights the continuity of Ukraine’s iconic symbols.
‘Three Ukrainian football legends are backing those shaping the game today — in the new Ukrainian national team away jersey’, adidas says.
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Oleg Blokhin became the first Ukrainian to win the Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball). In 1975, after victories in the UEFA Super Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup with Dynamo Kyiv, he received the award with 122 out of a possible 130 points. His closest competitors — Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff — had 42 and 27 points respectively. It was under his leadership that the Ukraine national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2006.
Eleven years later, another Dynamo Kyiv player, Ihor Bielanov, became the second Ukrainian Ballon d’Or winner. In 1986, he won the Cup Winners’ Cup with Dynamo, and in the World Cup round of 16 he scored all three of Ukraine’s goals against Belgium.
The most recent Ukrainian Ballon d’Or winner, Andrii Shevchenko, received the award in 2004 as a player for AC Milan.
That year, the footballer won the Serie A title for the first time, was named Serie A’s best forward for the second time, and also lifted the Italian Super Cup. A year earlier, AC Milan with Shevchenko had won the UEFA Champions League.
Under Andrii Shevchenko’s leadership, the national team achieved its best-ever result at the 2006 World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals. Since 2024, the former Ballon d’Or winner has held the position of President of the Ukrainian Association of Football.
The team will play its next match on March 26 against Sweden in the World Cup 2026 qualifying playoffs.
More about the kit
With the new away kit, adidas continues to draw inspiration from historic symbols of statehood — a theme introduced in the home kit.
The key feature of the kit is a new jersey with a geometric print that, according to adidas, represents the continuity of Ukrainian coats of arms. The Vasyl Krychevskyi trident used in the home kit (which we covered here. — Ed. note, DTF Magazine) is now complemented by the trident of Volodymyr the Great, its interpretation by Mykola Bytynskyi, and the modern State Emblem of Ukraine.
Read more about the kit, as well as the campaign featuring Ukrainian footballers, musicians, and actors, in our article.
About the campaign
On March 20, alongside the presentation of the new away kit, adidas launched a campaign in support of the national team. A special photoshoot featuring the new jersey brought together nearly 20 Ukrainian athletes, musicians, and actors.
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Among them are national team players Roman Yaremchuk, Volodymyr Brazhko, Taras Mykhavko, and Ivan Kaliuzhnyi; tennis players Elina Svitolina and Serhii Stakhovskyi; actor Oleksandr Rudynskyi; musicians SadSvit, MOLODI, Monatik, KAZKA, and alyona alyona; Nazva member Pavlo Hots with his wife Viktoriia Dzyziuk-Hots; wrestler Iryna Koliadenko; as well as Mykola Zyrianov (from Levy na Dzhypi), comedian and musician Ivan Liulienov, Anatolii Anatolich, and Rusia Danilkina.
