The FIFA World Cup isn’t all fun and games: between the catchy anthems and actual displays of athletic prowess is also some very serious fashion.
No, I’m not referring to the jerseys—although this year’s Nike-designed ones are admittedly pretty great—but to the wives and girlfriends (or, as we’ve come to lovingly know them, WAGs) of the soccer players, who appear fieldside every four years like clockwork to cheer on their partners…and look great doing it.
The full-on WAGification of the World Cup was arguably launched two decades ago in Germany, when Victoria Beckham led a group of English WAGs including Cheryl Cole, Coleen Rooney, Alex Curran, Carly Zucker, and Nancy Dell’Olio in an ultra-glam romp through the Black Forest-adjacent spa town of Baden-Baden. Their visit included lavish stays at Brenner’s Park-Hotel, wild nights out at Italian hot spot Garibaldi, and a whole lot of expensive champagne.
But they weren’t the first wives and girlfriends to show their support pitchside—nor would they be the last. Below, a look at the evolution WAG style over the last 60 years of World Cups.
