SEATTLE -- Every player on the U.S. men's national team got a fresh pair of Nikes to wear on the bus or during downtime at this FIFA World Cup. Given that Nike is a U.S. Soccer sponsor, that's not surprising.
But sharp-eyed sneaker connoisseurs might have noticed that some of the players -- the ones who also have individual deals with Nike -- have been wearing sneakers that were custom-tailored with personalized details to make them truly 1-of-1s.
Through interviews with players and the shoe customizers -- who have a special link to the USMNT -- ESPN learned more about the unique sneakers being worn by Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Sergiño Dest, Tim Ream, Chris Richards and many of the other top Americans.
"They're actually pretty amazing," Dest told ESPN. "Like, when we got the box, I was like, 'What is this?' Because even the box was crazy. It was surprising but in a really good way."
Using a clear, acrylic display-style box instead of typical cardboard, and featuring personal player information on the label instead of the shoe size, was one of many ideas from Jesse Bignami and his wife, Rocky Moon, who did the customizations.
Their company, Big Moon Customs (a play on their last names), is a shared side hustle they developed after Bignami spent 13 years working as the equipment manager for the USMNT and saw how much players appreciated personalization.
"Rocky is an artist with this," Bignami said. "She deserves 99% of the credit for these. We just love having the opportunity to make something special for this special team."
Here's a look at how they made these sneakers into something special:
The original sneakers were all-white Air Max 90s. Using careful airbrushing, the red-white-and-blue palette was added to the shoe to match the colors of the national team's home and away uniforms.
Bignami and Moon wanted some asymmetry in their design, so they did custom tongue tags: the right one matches what is written on the neck of the away navy jersey ("the best of U.S."), while the left tongue has the player's number on top of the stripes scheme of the home jersey.
The metal hang tag has each player's favorite quote or the names of people who are important to them. The dubrae at the base of the laces has the player's name, nickname or initials. The metal lace tips have the date of the player's first cap on them.
Instead of using normal label items such as style name, size, style number, color and manufacturing location, these shoeboxes feature personalized information: each player's name, jersey number, initials, birthdate, birthplace and national team statistics.
Despite both having full-time jobs outside the shoe and sports industry near Sacramento, California, Moon and Bignami worked on this custom project for more than a month as the tournament approached. Not wanting to take a chance on shipping, they packed their Jeep and got on the road to deliver the shoes in person.
Bignami arrived at the USMNT's World Cup hotel in Laguna Niguel while the team was still playing its sendoff friendly against Germany in Chicago. Bignami worked with team staffers and Nike reps to place the boxes in the players' rooms before they arrived.
"It came down to the wire," he said. "But we feel immense pride seeing them walk around in these custom kicks."