Nigeria’s Stylish World Cup Jersey Breaks Sales Records

Nigeria’s national team shirts have been fetching a high price due to their limited supply, and bootleggers are making a fortune off of the fake ones, online sportsbook news report.

Prices skyrocketed after Nike said they’re out of stock

Nike, the American sportswear manufacturer that sponsors Nigeria’s national football team, released the now iconic shirts in February ahead of the 2018 World Cup and they’ve immediately become a fashion statement due to their stylish design that features green arrows pointing upwards and downwards.

Nike announced that it had pre-orders of 3 million shirts when first released and there were long lines outside their stores just so people could buy one. On secondary markets, the official shirts sold for more than half their retail price due to their limited availability.

But the thing is that Nike weren’t prepared for the large influx of demand for the Nigeria shirts, which has seen them since run out of stock and their value, subsequently, have gone up exponentially. And with everyone looking to capitalize on the World Cup, bootleggers have taken to making counterfeit editions of the highly-sought-after Nigeria national team shirts.

Alex, a businessman based out of Lagos who has been in the counterfeit shirts business since 2011, highlighted that current market demand is 1000% greater than that for the World Cup four years prior.

Nike priced the original shirt at $90, which is out of the price range for most Nigerians, which is part of the reason why counterfeit shirts have become a commodity of high demand, due to greater availability and much more affordable prices.  “Initially, the price was 7,000 naira ($19) but when Nike ran out of stock, people upped the price to 15,000 ($41),” says Alex.

Can Nigeria beat Argentina in their final group game?

Nigeria will take on Argentina tonight in what is looking to be a nail-biting match, as both nations will be looking for a win in the final group game of Group D in order to progress to the next round of the 2018 World Cup. Nigeria lost their first encounter at the tournament against Croatia (2-0), but they managed to collect 3 points after defeating Iceland 2-0 in their second match.

Bet on Nigeria v Argentina – H 6.50 (5/2) D 4.33 (10/3) A 1.55 (8/15)

(For more info about the online betting site, check out Bet365 Sportsbook review.)

Having sealed 6 points from 2 victories, Croatia have already qualified for the knockout phase. This leaves second place up for grabs, but there could be a shift on the final day of matches in this group. Nigeria, who have 3 points, could still be sent packing home even if they draw against Argentina, depending on the outcome between Iceland and Croatia (H 3.50 (5/2) D 3.40 (12/5) A 2.25 (5/4)).

Croatia could potentially field their backup players to rest the best ones for the round of 16, which could give Iceland – who, like Argentina, have collected only 1 point so far – greater chances of clinching an all-important victory. In that case, Nigeria’s potential draw with Argentina wouldn’t mean much and progression would be determined by goal difference, which is at the moment going in their favour, per internet betting sites in Russia. And the South American side are in the same position as Iceland, so they have to go all out to save their World Cup dream.