Surrealism at the World Cup

Has it really been 16 years since I last posted about the FOOFA World Cup? Sixteen years to the day?? Well I never.

If you've been watching the 2026 World Cup you might have noticed the unusual design on Belgium's away jerseys:

What are those things? Well, surrealist art lovers may recognize them as the metallic orbs from René Magritte's painting from 1931, La voix des airs.

The Belgian team are paying tribute to their cultural heritage by honouring one of their finest artists. The shirt also features the words "Ceci n'est pas un maillot" ("This is not a jersey"), in reference to, y'know, that pipe thing. Those words were intended to be on the front of the shirt but that broke the rules or something, so they appear on the inside instead, on the collar.

It got me thinking. What if other countries wanted to pay tribute to their artists with a jersey design? What would that look like, eh? Wonder no more, because here are some I came up with.

SWITZERLAND: Hans Ruedi Giger

SPAIN: Salvador Dali

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Harvey Ball

FRANCE: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

ENGLAND: Banksy

THE NETHERLANDS: Piet Mondrian

World Cup 16 Series – No.1: Spain

Well done Spain. I hope you (as in the readers, not Spain) enjoyed the World Cup 16 Series, brought to you by Nonesuch Blog. Read my initial post on this series for what must happen in the event that I picked the winning team.

Now get out of here, I'm tired from doing all these drawings!

World Cup 16 Series – No.2: The Netherlands

When watching the World Cup final tomorrow, be sure to turn down the colour contrast on your TV, or else all that orange will do you permanent damage. My eyes, my eyes!

World Cup 16 Series – No.3: Germany

Not the best drawing of Gertrude ever. If you want to see a better one, you'll find it elsewhere in this blog. Oh well, I've only got two more of these to do.

World Cup 16 Series – No.4: Uruguay

Now I'm convinced that digital cameras lie. The drawing below looks much better in my sketchbook than it does in this crummy photo. But that's how life is, kids.

By the way, Juliet doesn't smoke. She's just holding it for someone else.

World Cup 16 Series – No.5: Paraguay

Take THAT, Larissa Riquelme!

World Cup 16 Series – No.6: Argentina

Representing Argentina (who I really wanted to win) is Spike, the first proper character I created (unless you count Einstein, which I don't). This time the Copic Markers have been dragged out of retirement which made me realize I haven't drawn him in colour all that much. That's why there's that weird skin-colour-fading-into-yellow-hair thing going on.

World Cup 16 Series – No.7: Ghana

Must...keep...drawing stuff.

World Cup 16 Series – No.8: Brazil

Didn't expect to see them this far down the list, did you? Neither did I. Anyway, Brazil's kit is eco-friendly, made from recycled vuvuzelas. I mean, plastic bottles.

Apologies for the crappy image quality. All of these drawings are A3 size and unable to scan, so I have to photograph them instead, which distorts them slightly. They look much better in real life, more realistic colours, not my fault etc etc.

World Cup 16 Series – No.9: Portugal

Jaded Blog Reader #1: Hey, it's another drawing of that green-haired girl. Can't this guy draw someone else for a change?

Jaded Blog Reader #2: Yeah, but her hair is drawn the proper way as per the original character design of six-odd years ago. See?

Jaded Blog Reader #1: You're right. Right click > Save as!

World Cup 16 Series – No.10: Japan

Japan today. I still recall the excitement when they joint-hosted the World Cup when I was living there in 2002! I bought a Japan team shirt, bandana and set of playing cards. Such is the excitement of the tournament.

You might have seen this character Maya before and elsewhere in the blog. She's a small Asian girl who is one head shorter in height than the other characters. Peace sign appears in strict accordance with the Japan Photographic Act (1965).

It's my birthday today, and still I rush to bring you this drawing and post. The viewers of Nonesuch Blog demand the best – and they get it! Apparently.

World Cup 16 Series – No.11: Chile

Who's this dodgy geezer? No one in particular, but the caricature is based on a photo of the New Zealand captain, Ryan Nelsen. Check out the cheese-tacular grinnage.

World Cup 16 Series – No.12: Slovakia

Slovakia today, the team that didn't make the quarter finals but did have the rare pleasure of defeating the previous World Cup winners in the group stages.

Today's drawing features an unused character design that I did last year and forgot about. She's Korean, and that's as far as I got. The drawing came out good though, if I may say so.

World Cup 16 Series – No.13: England

The character you see below, Airbury's Jezebel, got assigned England which is kind of annoying. Too much red, no contrast, my eyes, my eyes, etc. However, I prefer England's red 'away' strip to the white 'home' one. Red is a more commanding colour on any sports field. Got that? In return I offer a little incentive.

World Cup 16 Series – No.14: Mexico

Mexico today...Rosey is a character from Palace Club who always has a broken arm. Normally this would disqualify her from playing, but here at Nonesuch Blog, it doesn't matter.

World Cup 16 Series – No.15: United States

Okay, this one's a bit rushed. Give me a break, I stayed up until 2 a.m. to see England not only get eliminated, but denied an equalizing goal thanks to the incompetence of the moronic FIFA referees. I'm not whinging that England lost. They were beaten by a superior team on the day, and that's that.

What I don't like, however, is how FIFA can continue using legally blind linesmen and put off using video replays for judgement. Too expensive? You sell soccer shirts for $160, you rich sods. If video replays are not in use by 2014 I shall personally visit the head of FIFA and insert a vuvuzela up them.

World Cup 16 Series – No.16: South Korea

Here we go with the first of sixteen daily characters, each representing a World Cup Top 16 nation! I should point out that the nations assigned to each character are completely random. Except Gertrude of course, since she's supposed to be German, so I had to give her Germany.

South Korea is up first, since they got eliminated first. The character is called Miss Evy, an airheaded teacher in the Airbury Academy series. I haven't decided where she's meant to be from. Malaysia perhaps.

World Cup 16 Series

Been watching the World Cup? I have, that's why the posts for June have been sparse. But fear not – I have just been set a challenge. There are 16 days from the day Group H finishes and officially decides the Top 16, to the day of the final (July 12 my time). My challenge is to draw 16 of my characters, one per day, each dressed in the kits of one of the Top 16 countries. Would you like to see that? Of course you would.

With any luck, and some judgement on my part, the last of the 16 drawings to go up will be the team that ends up winning the final. And if that happens, you owe me a doughnut.

Disclaimer: If by any chance Italy make the Top 16, their corresponding picture in my list will be skipped.

Well, see you when the Group matches wrap up. In the meantime have a look at some stylish World Cup shop signage. I took this photo in KLCC Mall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December 2009 when the official jerseys went on sale.