World Cup 2026: Is the England kit too pricey? Here's what West Midlands shoppers say

When I opened up the England Store website, I couldn’t believe the sky-high price of the latest national kit this year.

Almost £200 for the professional shirt, shorts and socks combo, or £150.97 if you’re getting the non-professional ‘economy’ choice. “That’s unbelievable!” You might say, and I agree.

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In 2020, ‘replica’ shirts set fans back around £65, and now, you’re looking at a pocket destroying £134.99- all for a bit of cloth and the pride of having the three lions on your chest.

The year-on-year price increase has been a point over the last few years, with many families complaining that the price point of even the junior kit has increased. The kids' shirt and shorts alone go for £97.99, and that’s without socks or customisation.

For reference, the professional Wolves kit for 2026/27 starts at £80 for the shirt, £30 for the shorts, and a reasonable £16 for the socks, for a grand total of £126 per kit, £74 lower than the national uniform.

So that begs the question, if you are going to spend the last pennies of your hard-earned wages on a football kit, which would it be? £200 for the national kit, or £126 for the Wolves Old Gold.

To answer what I believe to be the most important question in football history, Express & Star photographer Tim Thursfield and I took a trip to Wolverhampton city centre to see what our local shoppers believe.

Many shoppers we approached couldn’t believe the cost, one said, “Not a chance,” however, when we asked him if he’d get the Wolves kit for that price, it was a resounding “yes!”

Another person we asked said that the kits are getting too pricey compared to how much people are earning, and that you risk bankrupting yourself just to show your support.

He said: “It’s just a bit expensive these days. People don’t have a lot of money as it is.

“I don’t know how some people can barely afford food, but they’ll try and get these kits. They’ll bankrupt themselves.”

When we asked another shopper, they gave an extremely firm “no” to the national kit, but couldn’t help shouting, “Get the badge in!” When asked about the Wolves kit.

Now, you might be thinking, “but you’re in Wolverhampton, they’re Wolves supporters,” and all I can say is, I’m one step ahead of you.

We asked a Liverpool fan (evident by his Liverpool shirt) if he’d get the national kit for £200, and he shook his head, “no way”, he said, but he was all for the Old Gold, although he did say he preferred The Reds.

And there we have it, at the end of our visit, it was a shocking consensus of 10 to one for the Wolves shirt over England’s, and we will put on mark in the ‘other’ category, as that shopper would prefer a Liverpool kit over them all.

However, my failed comedy aside, the vote reveals a very real problem with the ever-rising costs of the national kit, as many people admitted to being too poor to even consider buying the new kit, and it's a problem that might see fewer fans donning the three lions this World Cup.