Rosy madness: why almost all players at the 2026 World Cup took to the field in boots of the same colorThe opening match of the 2026 World Cup between Mexico and South Africa. The audience, tuned in for top-class football, noticed something strange: out of the 22 starting players, 19 wore brightly pink boots. Not just one or two stars, not one brand, but almost everyone. This was not an accident and not a conspiracy among the players. It was a marketing coincidence that instantly turned into the main visual meme of the tournament. How did it happen that the largest sports brands in the world — Nike, Adidas, Puma, New Balance and Skechers — all bet on the same color at the same time?From black to pink: the color flip of the decadeThirty to forty years ago, football boots were released in only one color — black. Over the past quarter century, manufacturers have gone through all the colors of the rainbow, trying to stand out and create an individual image for their star ambassadors. However, at the 2026 World Cup, the situation has turned full circle: players have again taken to the field in boots of the same color — only this time pink.This was not the result of a secret agreement. As explained by Adidas CEO Börn Gulden, the development of collections for the 2026 World Cup was carried out in strict secrecy, and competitors did not know about each other's plans. However, they all relied on the same forecast of the trend agency WGSN, which predicted in 2024 that the main color of summer 2026 would be \"electric fuchsia\" — a bright neon shade on the border of pink and purple. And all the brands, working on collections about a year and a half to two years before the tournament, independently came to the same visual solution.Why pink: contrast, visibility and psychologyThe choice of pink was not accidental. The main reason is visibility. Bright pink contrasts perfectly with the green grass and white markings on the field, immediately standing out on the television screen ... Read more