Germany's World Cup Kit Shortage: Letter 'V' Runs Out Amid High Demand

Almost a week into the tournament, World Cup fever has very much taken hold in Germany, with the Nationalmannschaft's 7-1 thumping of minnows Curacao on Sunday looking all the more impressive in light of Spain's goalless draw with Cape Verde on Monday.

You see, these group-stage games against smaller nations aren't as easy as you might think!

Strikers Deniz Undav and Kai Havertz both scored against Curacao, but there's been some bad news for any Germany fans wanting to have those names printed on the backs of their replica shirts after the official kit provider ran out of letter Vs – with midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic's name also affected.

"The DFB [German Football Federation] and its partner 11teamsports are responsible for shirt names," kit manufacturer Adidas told the SID sports news agency.

"Due to high demand for the names of Undav, Havertz and Pavlovic, there were temporary shortages of the letter V. These shortages were quickly corrected and names with a letter V will be available online again soon."

Germany's most popular World Cup kits

German sportswear manufacturer Adidas is kitting out the German national team at a World Cup for the final time before the DFB controversially switches to US rivals Nike from 2027 onwards.

Germany's kits at the 2026 World Cup are particularly popular, with the white shirt with the staggered black, red and gold colors a nostalgic throwback to Italia '90 – but the turquoise second strip is selling best.

The revolutionary pink shirt from the 2024 European Championships two years ago remains the best-selling Germany away shirt of all time. Fortunately, Havertz was the only German player with a V in his name to score at that tournament, while Pavlovic wasn't in the squad.

Germany's next game is against Ivory Coast on Saturday night (22:00 CET).

Edited by: Rana Taha