World Cup Qatar 2022: who are the best-dressed soccer players? From Neymar to Paul Pogba, we run the rule over their closets
- Son Heung-min is a Burberry ambassador and, like Memphis Depay, has his own clothing line, while Hector Bellerin did a collection with H&M last year
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin is as likely to be seen front row at Versace as up front for Everton. Jack Grealish has signed for Gucci. For these players, style counts
Drip, sauce, swag. Call it what you will, but footballers’ ’fits do not get the same attention from fashion fans as those of their fellow athletes from the major US sports leagues.
Instagram is full of accounts that shine a light on the stars of the NBA and NFL, but with the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 about to dominate the global sporting landscape, maybe it is time that changed.
David Beckham has long been a style icon, with the former Manchester United and England star still setting the style agenda long after he hung up his Adidas Predators, but he was not always regarded as a well-dressed footballer. Far from it.
Beckham’s fashion sense was occasionally questioned when he was a player – he was pilloried by the British tabloids for wearing a sarong at the 1998 World Cup, while his constant reinvention through his hairstyles was as likely to as earn online opprobrium as it was to be replicated in schools around the world.
Beckham is not the only player whose style choices made headlines, with several of his peers, such as his effortlessly cool AC Milan teammate Andrea Pirlo of Italy and Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata – sometimes referred to as the “David Beckham of Asia” – also singled out for their fashion sense.
Since then, stars such as Neymar Jnr, the Brazil and Paris St Germain player, have been as commended (and condemned) for their off-field sartorial sensibilities as their performances on it.
So, who are the best dressed players?
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
It’s ironic that an old-fashioned centre-forward for unfashionable Everton is the player who told GQ he is “more than happy to be a standard-bearer for new flamboyance”.
The forward has admitted his style can be a “little bit different” and includes sporting Prada culottes for an Arena Homme Plus cover, which some mistook for a skirt.
Calvert-Lewin has worked with stylist Harry Lambert, who put Harry Styles in a Gucci dress for his American Vogue cover. He has been seen in a Dior beret and often takes a Chanel handbag from his own collection for shoots.
The snappy dresser is as likely to be seen front row at Versace meeting Donatella as playing for Everton or England.
Memphis Depay
The tricky Dutch Barcelona forward is one of the best-dressed footballers around. Memphis, as he prefers to be known, has a taste for bold looks and big prints, from gold-fringed matador jackets to Saint Laurent tasselled bomber jackets, all-white outfits and full Louis Vuitton (down to the Wellington boots), but he has also rocked low-key looks.
He has made mistakes, not least the jacket that featured an airbrushed image of then-squeeze Lori Harvey in 2016, but he has grown up. Oddly, his Memphis Depay Clothing line is uncharacteristically understated.
Son Heung-min
The South Korea and Spurs superstar is a fan of big winter coats, as he told British GQ, and his style runs the gamut from gorpcore [hiking gear] to gala dinner.
Sonny, as his fans call him, signed a deal with the British fashion house Burberry as brand ambassador this June, and was selected as one of the models for Ralph Lauren’s official Wimbledon tennis championships collection last year. Son has launched his own casualwear line, NOS7, in South Korea.
Jack Grealish
Like Son and Dior ambassador Kylian Mbappe, the Manchester City midfielder signed on with Gucci in April. When he’s not rocking the double G monogram, Grealish looks exactly as you might expect a footballer to. He’s a fan of tinted shades and bright colours, as seen this summer.
Grealish, who partnered with BoohooMan for a collection in 2021, even looked good crashing his car – he was pictured in a Givenchy hoodie and mismatched slippers.
Hector Bellerin
The football fashion fan’s footballing fashion fan, Bellerin is no stranger to cover shoots or fashion shows. The Spaniard gained his reputation at Arsenal, where he was seen in looks ranging from blokecore to walking in all pink for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week.
Unafraid to sport a moustache, Bellerin looks more like an indie singer than a footballer. He deserves extra credit for committing to buying preloved, while sustainability was part of his 2021 collection with H&M.
Paul Pogba
The World Cup winner is known for his constantly changing hairstyles, and he is just as daring with his clothing. When not going for all-white outfits, as seen at Paris Fashion Week with his wife, he has been seen in tuxedos or rocking matching Versace with his children.
The Parisian is at home with sportswear, streetwear and haute couture.
Serge Gnabry
Germany and Bayern Munich forward Gnabry goes under the radar, but a look at his fashion choices shows he should not. When he’s not starring in the Adidas x Gucci shoot he’s pulling off white roll-necks and chains like a Bond henchman, or shining in suits.
David Alaba
A former teammate of Gnabry, Austria’s Alaba has since moved to Real Madrid, where his style has gone from strength to strength.
Recently seen on a German magazine cover dripping in Kenzo, he’s as at home in double-breasted pinstripe as low-key Japanese style casualwear or Blackwatch tartan sweatsuits. He even looks good walking his dog.
