Ranking the Best Fourth Kits of the 2025/26 Season

Which are the Best Fourth Kits of the 2025/26 Season?

Football kits embody the very identities of clubs – even if their stadium is being torn down, or if there is an exodus of the fanbase, or even if the club is liquidated, their football strip will always be there to remind people of who they were.

Though football used to be a game where the visiting side would simply turn their home shirt inside out to differentiate themselves, football strips of today are now given a lot more time. Gone are the days when home and away shirts were all the manufacturers had to worry about.

Now, third kits of ever-increasing complexity have been added into the mix, with patterns and designs to blur the vision, while some clubs, in the midst of very busy seasons, see fit to drop an extra limited edition version, dubbed the fourth kit.

Only a minority of clubs release one of these, with most of them only coming out for a special occasion such as a landmark year for the club or upon the agreement of a deal with a major sponsorship.

The 2025/26 season in particular has seen an uptick in the release of these special kits across Europe, and to the various kit designers, almost all of them have been absolutely stunning. Combining retro with bespoke modernity and subtle colour schemes that demand attention, these unique kits have caught the eye of everyone here at Football Park.

Which strips make the cut? Let’s find out.

Juventus

The get-up that inspired this list, Juventus are the latest in a string of sides to release limited-edition style kits, and this one may just be the damn prettiest of the lot. Anyone with any knowledge of Italian football knows that Juve’s home strip features black and white vertical stripes, and that combination of badge and design has produced some truly iconic strips over the years.

However, when Juventus walked out against Como in yesterday’s 2-0 defeat, something had been radically changed. Their stripes were no longer vertical but instead horizontal, creating a hooped effect.

Juventus’ debut their adidas fourth kit 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/eCeWe1F5w2

— House of Heat° (@houseofheat) February 21, 2026

The arms were also hooped, with even spacing that is immediately easy on the eye, and the retro rugby shirt-style collar polished off the look perfectly. Blurring out anything in the background, it felt like you were looking at the likes of Kenan Yildiz, Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie through a 60s-style black and white lens, in what was a magnificent call-back to a time before colour broadcasting.

The lack of a front-of-shirt sponsor is yet another plus, as it means there is nothing on the shirt to distract from its simplistic yet beautiful design. They may have lost the match, but that kit won our hearts.

Venezia

Renowned for dropping an absolutely stunning kit or two every year, Serie B side Venezia have continued their tradition of making bangers in the 2025/26 season – their combo of orange, green and black, though sounding like an overstimulating mess, go together beautifully, and the subtle design changes from year to year have made the Italian side's kits fan favourites around the world.

However, their fourth kit is anything but traditional. Straying from their usually dark colour scheme, the Venezia kit designers must have been to the South Pole, because this kit is absolutely ice cold … literally.

NOCTA and Venezia drop an ice-cold fourth kit. pic.twitter.com/6OdojowYzI

— VERSUS (@vsrsus) February 10, 2026

A chilly, icy blue, with lions on each side that look to be made of frost, this kit gives you shivers just looking at it, and once again, credit must go to the designers. The only dislikable feature about the kit is the less than subtle drinks brand on the front, but that simply can’t be helped – sponsorship is sponsorship, regardless of aesthetics.

Birmingham City

Heading to England for the first time in this list, Birmingham City are next up with a scorcher of a shirt. Known for their blue and white base colours, the Midlanders are instantly recognisable for the giant middle stripe filled entirely with white, along with the logo and front-of-shirt sponsor.

Though not used every season, it is an instantly iconic look that can only be synonymous with Birmingham – no other team in England uses this exact design. So, the kit designers at St Andrews decided to bring back this blast from the past, and goodness me, what a job they did.

🤗🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🟦⬜ Birmingham City debuted their Pinguin 25-26 Fourth Kit today pic.twitter.com/hPKRyHhzZN

— Footy Headlines (@Footy_Headlines) February 15, 2026

Placing a thick, blinding white strip down the middle of the shirt, the designers picked out a darker, meaner shade of blue than their actual home kit, while on the back, an all-blue canvas was the chosen backdrop for a retro shirt number font, one which made reading the players' backs feel like an occasion.

There were no shirt names to spoil the view either – it was simply the number on the back, the badge on the front, and the faint outline of their white sponsor on the middle stripe of the kit. Dubbed “the penguin kit”, this was a mega-return of a fan-favourite design, debuted in the FA Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Leeds.

Manchester City

When it comes to fourth kits, Man City’s designers are never afraid to show off their artistic side. Over the years, they have crafted strips of off-yellow fabric made of swimming pool tiles and even a special strip that featured offcuts from every kit over the last 10 years of their history back in 2018/19.

This year, things were kept relatively more straightforward, a decision that was likely heavily influenced by their kit partnership with FC26, the new-age football video game that took FIFA’s name. As such, the design is heavily influenced by details within the games' aesthetics.

Man City drop their fourth kit in collaboration with FC 26 🎮💚 pic.twitter.com/qxEB044dQ8

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) October 15, 2025

Opting for a dark green base colour, the strip is covered in small, multi-layered triangles of a reflective, metallic material, with the overall green and sparkling effect giving a matrix code type of vibe. The equally reflective shirt sponsor and badge are stunning additions, giving the strip a mean, slick feel, while also being the type of shirt you could wear to dinner and probably get away with.

FC Augsburg

Arguably the least well-known side on this list, English football fans know very little about Augsburg, aside from the fact that they ply their trade in the German top flight. However, this season, they have started to catch the eye, having crafted a couple of lovely one-off kits.

Having already released a stunning keeper kit, Augsburg released their official fourth kit just two days ago, and unlike a couple of others on this list, its simplicity speaks louder than its audacity, such as in the case of Venezia and Man City.

FC Augsburg’s 25/26 special edition Fourth Shirt has been revealed, created by Mizuno alongside the Fugger family as a tribute to the city’s Renaissance heritage.

Read more: https://t.co/3cdpmCSXhk#FCAugsburg | Soccer Jersey | Football Shirt Culture | Camiseta de Futbol pic.twitter.com/KsIpRKcgDx

— Football Shirt Culture (@footballshirt) February 20, 2026

The gentle beige colour won’t do anything to get pulses racing, but the combination of textured fabric and the gold-reflecting trio of shirt sponsor, kit manufacturer and club badge certainly gets the mouth watering. The yellow, blue, red and black lining of the colour adds a pleasant splash of colour, bringing the overall look together with class and poise.

Created by shirt manufacturer Mizuno alongside the Fugger family as a tribute to the city’s renaissance heritage, it’s a shirt that acts as more than a tribute. It’s so gorgeous, it becomes a celebration.

PSG

Released back in November, the reigning European champions took no time in following last season's fourth kit up with another stunner. In their partnership with Nike Jordans, PSG have been the figurehead for a whole new generation of kit designs, with the Jordan profiles being slick, never-before-seen, and absolutely gorgeous each and every time.

This year is no different – from a distance, the black shirt and shorts with a narrow red stripe down the middle seem like nothing special, but as with most things, the devil is in the detail. The kit is beautifully textured in a snakeskin-scale-type print, the tapered collar adds a futuristic look to the top half, and the shorts, aside from the red stripe, are an identical design.

PSG and Jordan’s latest fourth kit is here ⬛🟥 pic.twitter.com/1bJjKxs7ch

— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 25, 2025

It really is gorgeous – the snakeskin print brings darker and lighter shades of deep grey together, creating a wonderful contrast, while the red stripe brings the essence of who the Parisian club are – always in touch with their heritage and roots, PSG are quickly becoming a fourth kit manufacturer for the ages.