People are only just realising why England play in white, a tradition that dates back to the 19th century.

The Three Lions will continue their World Cup campaign on Saturday, when they come up against Group L opponents Panama in New York City.

Thomas Tuchel's side wore the iconic white home shirt and socks in the 0-0 draw against Ghana, just like they did during their 4-2 victory over Croatia on June 17, as the game had been designated as a home fixture by FIFA.

Jordan Pickford, meanwhile, changed his kit and wear an all-blue strip rather than the all-yellow kit he sported in last week's opener.

But they are wearing red on Saturday against Panama in a change from tradition.

So, why do England wear white? The Three Lions have used an all-white kit since the first-ever international fixture against Scotland at the West of Scotland Cricket Club back in 1872.

On that day, the Scots wore a full navy kit, with the team of 11 Queen’s Park players actually wearing their club kit during a bore 0-0 draw.

In turn, the Three Lions were forced to wear another colour to ensure the two sides could be distinguished. According to the Sun, the FA supplied the England side with white kits, which 'may have been spare cricket tops'.

England wear traditional white ahead of a World Cup qualifying match against Ireland in 1957. Image credit: Getty

After the game, England did not immediately stick to wearing the white strip. For a while, they would merely sew the England badge onto their club kits and, for a period, white-collared shirts were introduced with players wearing their club shorts and socks.

By the late 19th century, however, the press pushed for consistency, and England often to wear white shirts, navy shorts, and white socks.

Indeed, the navy shorts were allegedly chosen to differentiate from Germany’s all-white strip.

There has been some variation to this combination in recent years, such as the white shorts of 2009 and the red shorts of 2012, yet generally speaking, these tend to be the colours England wear to this day.

England made subtle kit change for World Cup opener

As mentioned previously, England wore their home kit for the opening match of Group L, but it featured a tweak from the same shirts they had worn in their warm-up matches for this summer's tournament.

Earlier in the year, England wore the same shirt with the numbers placed under the Nike logo on the right chest, which caused some confusion, as promotional images for the new kit had shown it central on the shirt.

However, that was rectified for the opening match against Croatia, with the squad numbers moved back to the central position that was used in the promotional material.