Wimbledon vs The World Cup: The style verdict

Best sunglasses

Since the World Cup lends itself to fans painting every exposed body part in the colours of their national flag and doing their best to find accessories to match, the sunglasses on show at the Luzhniki Stadium were definitely fun, but not fabulous.

The fact that the tennis happened during a heatwave, however, gave spectators all the excuse they needed to bring the glamour. We loved: Floella Benjamin in polarised blue Wayfarer-style shades; Alexa Chung in her cat-eye frames; Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake in his’n’hers; and the fashion queen of shades, Anna Wintour. Wimbledon for the win. Obviously. SC

WINNER: Wimbledon

Best hair: Alexander Zverev vs Keisuke Honda

Sportspeople do a great side hustle in hair styling. It makes sense, after all, that your style would be expressed tonsorially when you have to wear what is essentially a uniform every day. At the World Cup, loads of players had been at the SunIn. The best-use-of-peroxide award goes to Keisuke Honda for his signature crop.

But Wimbledon wins this round. Alexander Zverev’s voluminous, 90s-style waves, held back with a Palace x Adidas sweatband, from the sportswear brand’s collaboration with the cult label, was like an ode to Andre Agassi’s Centre Court look. While Agassi has since admitted his locks were actually a wig, Zverev’s is the finely conditioned mop of a 21-year-old. An endorsement deal is surely only a matter of time. LC

WINNER: Wimbledon

Best style impersonation: Jordan Pickford vs Meghan Markle

The Queen’s use of lime green has become one of 2018’s most distracting motifs. Wearing the colour to the royal wedding and again to Ascot, she was hard to miss. Ditto Jordan Pickford, who became an English hero overnight after wearing it for their quarter final against Sweden. The other standout tribute in Russia was Natalia Vodianova presenting the World Cup trophy dressed as the World Cup trophy.

Over at Wimbledon, Meghan Markle’s first outing with Kate Middleton was a highly well-documented buddy-buddy affair. Yet the fact that Markle dressed in homage to the line judges – both wore blue stripes and cream palazzo pants, courtesy of Ralph Lauren – remained a high-concept but less-documented move. For obvious reasons. MF

WINNER: World Cup

Best uniform: Pussy Riot vs the Wimbledon ball girls

The Russian police uniform worn by four women during a pitch invasion (claimed by protest group Pussy Riot) in the 52nd minute of the World Cup final was probably not real. If it was, it was symbolic, a political statement, worn to highlight the plight of political prisoners and the tournament as a PR stunt. Still, as uniforms go, it made a point, especially given Putin was in the crowd that day. And French wunderkind Kylian Mbappé high-fived one of the women.

There were uniforms aplenty at Wimbledon, with the ball girls and boys also wearing Ralph Lauren for the 12th year running. Smart and chic, they were sadly lacking in the same political punch. MF

WINNER: World Cup

Best tailoring

Gareth Southgate can congratulate himself for winning the title of the nation’s tailoring phenomenon for that M&S waistcoat. Not since Beckham’s sarong has the sport been synonymous with one wardrobe item. The England boss’s efforts (as well as those of Brigitte Macron in a precision-cut navy blazer) boost the World Cup in this category.

However, Wimbledon had Natalie Dormer reigniting the debate over whether it is still fashionable to shoulder robe in 2018, à la Phoebe Philo. The jury is still out on that, but she looked great. Meanwhile, actors Mark Rylance, Tom Holland and Stanley Tucci gave a lesson in laissez-faire. Still, it was Southgate’s summer. SC

WINNER: World Cup

Best streetwear: the Nigerian football team vs Adidas x Palace

Wimbledon’s all-white dress code for players was implemented in 1963 and has been enforced with little room for manoeuvre – or fun – ever since. Still, said prohibition does not include anything about players wearing skatewear on court. Adidas’ collaboration with Palace was worn by several players, including Garbiñe Muguruza, Alexander Zverev and women’s singles winner Angelique Kerber, although the tournament has not gone full hypebeast yet: on its website, Palace correctly doubted whether anyone would be “G enough” to wear a Palace x Adidas bucket hat on Centre Court.

A less discreet streetwear moment came via Nigeria’s lime green chevron World Cup home kit, which racked up 3m pre-orders, a queue outside Niketown in central London and a host of hypebeasts wearing it in lieu of caring about the tournament. MF

WINNER: Wimbledon

Best-dressed commentators: Billie Jean King vs the football pundits

All hail the fashion queen of the commentary box, Billie Jean King. The former US No 1 brought her distinctive style signatures to Centre Court over the last week: a statement jacket, usually in jewel tones; a single string of pearls with matching studs; and red spectacles-cum-sunglasses with tortoiseshell arms. She even grounds the look with a pair of dadcore trainers (extra spring/summer 2018 points here). Compared to the World Cup (the Guardian fashion desk has declared the BBC the winner, over ITV, on account of the latter’s participants lacking an iron), BJK swings it for the All England Club. SC

WINNER: Wimbledon

Best-dressed dignitaries

Wimbledon can be relied upon for a look at a dignitary or two. As mentioned above, Kate Middleton and her new sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, attended the ladies’ singles final, cueing much analysis of what their respective spots (Middleton) and stripes (Markle) meant. Sunday saw a repeat from Middleton, this time in a banana-yellow frock that set off Theresa May’s royal blue dress, giving viewers an overwhelming urge to go to Ikea.

Meanwhile, at the World Cup, the Macrons – Brigitte looking moody in a black trouser suit; Emmanuel, jacket off, like a commuter on the way home – sat with Vladimir Putin and the Croatian president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. It is Grabar-Kitarović who gains the World Cup this gong. Her route-one decision to wear the kit of her team will endear her to sports fans everywhere. The mucking-in spirit of hugging every player in the post-match ceremony, despite the rain, adds extra points. LC

WINNER: World Cup

Best style clash

As with current season Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, clashing colours are to be encouraged during a football tournament – all the better for differentiating between players. It is not cut and dried, though. Brazil and Belgium’s quarter-final saw three primary colours on the pitch, but Senegal and Colombia’s green and yellow strips were a tricky pairing for colourblind viewers, who may have struggled to separate the two shades. In the crowd, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic clashed athleisure (a Croatia strip) with sophis tailoring (more white palazzo pants) and won the dignitaries box during the World Cup final.

At Wimbledon, Thandie Newton wore striped Aquazzura wedges with a silk floral jumpsuit and effectively won Wimbledon. MF

WINNER: Wimbledon

And the winner of our style final - by 5 to 4 - is... Wimbledon! Game, set, match.