It takes occasions of gigantic importance to distract FACT from the pursuit of music and mirth. The World Cup is one such occasion.

The 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa on June 11, and as ever we’ll be putting pretty much every shred of energy we have into warding off metatarsal injuries and willing England onwards to victory. Inevitable quarter-final exit aside, we’re very excited about it all.

To celebrate the tournament, England’s long-time kit sponsor Umbro has released what it calls the World Champions Collection. The range has been designed in collaboration with a number of barbecue-hot international artists, each hailing from one of the seven nations that have ever won the tournament. The key to the brief was that each of them base their design on the tailored silhouette of the Umbro England home shirt. Based on the heralded canvas of the home shirt, this latest collection honours the football cultures of the seven champion nations – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay.

Each of of the artists has created a limited edition version of the England home shirt together with a T-shirt based on the design; their own particular nation’s football culture is expressed through a unique crest design on each shirt. The Umbro World Champions Collection of football shirts and T-shirts is available from these stockists: expect to pay £70 for a Limited Edition box (including poster of all the crests signed by the artists, the shirt, story booklet about the inspiration behind each design and a crest pin badge), £50 for a shirt, £25 for a T-shirt.

Over the coming days and pages we’ll be showcasing the work of the World Champions Collection’s artists here on the FACT site, one at a time. Click here for round one.

Meanwhile, the seven international home strips designed by Umbro for World Cup 2010 can be seen in the picture above. The international lovelies (sorry, did that sound a bit Nuts?) modelling ’em were shot by Rankin and inspired by an Umbro campaign from way back in ’67. “I thought the idea of creating a modern interpretation of the Umbro advert from the sixties was an interesting concept,” says Rankin. “I’m extremely pleased with the results.”