Tolami Benson Is Topping the 2026 World Cup's Best Dressed List
Our take
The increasing intersection of sports, celebrity, and high fashion continues to reshape our cultural landscape, and the recent buzz surrounding Tolami Benson’s sideline style at the 2026 World Cup perfectly exemplifies this shift. Benson, fiancée of footballer Bukayo Saka, isn’t merely attending games; she’s cultivating a distinct personal brand that resonates deeply with a fashion-conscious audience. This isn’t a new phenomenon, of course; we’ve seen athletes’ partners become style icons before. However, Benson’s approach—characterized by understated elegance and a clear sense of personal style—feels particularly aligned with the current mood of quiet luxury. It's a sensibility that echoes the appeal of finding elevated pieces at accessible price points, as showcased in articles like I Had to Double-Take: 9 Rich-Looking Zara and H&M Finds That Give Pure Luxury – a testament to the growing desire for polished looks that don't scream wealth. The significance here isn't just about individual style choices; it's about the democratization of aspiration.
Benson’s influence feels different from previous iterations of the “WAG” (wives and girlfriends) archetype. There’s a deliberate avoidance of overt displays of wealth and flashy trends. Instead, she favors carefully curated looks centered around timeless pieces and a sophisticated color palette. This aligns beautifully with the broader trends we're seeing across fashion, including the prevalence of fresh color trends observed by fashion people in London and L.A. this summer, as explored in 8 Fresh Color Trends I'm Spotting on Fashion People From London to L.A. This Summer. Her choices are thoughtful, not performative, and this resonates with a generation increasingly skeptical of traditional displays of status. The subtle confidence she projects—a quiet assurance that she knows and appreciates quality—is far more compelling than any ostentatious statement piece. This is a deliberate aesthetic, one that values discernment and personal expression above fleeting trends. The movement towards effortless style is further validated by the rise of the cool-girl shorts trend, with carefully considered footwear pairings, as highlighted in The Cool-Girl Shorts Trend Taking Over NYC and LA—These Shoes Will Make Them Look Chic This Summer.
The broader implications of Benson's rising influence are considerable. Sports and fashion have long been intertwined, but the relationship is evolving beyond endorsements and collaborations. We're witnessing the emergence of authentic style voices organically connected to the world of sports, individuals who can shape trends and influence consumer behavior simply by being themselves. This shift is a direct result of the evolving media landscape, where social media platforms prioritize authenticity and relatability. Benson’s ability to cultivate a loyal following without resorting to aggressive self-promotion demonstrates the power of understated elegance and genuine self-expression. It’s a masterclass in building a personal brand that feels both aspirational and accessible, a delicate balance that resonates deeply with a discerning audience. It’s a move away from manufactured perfection towards a more realistic and relatable portrayal of style and sophistication.
Ultimately, Benson's ascent to the best-dressed list – and the attention her style garners – signals a broader cultural shift. The focus is moving away from overt displays of wealth and status towards a quieter, more thoughtful expression of personal style. It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of timeless elegance and the power of authenticity. As the lines between sports, celebrity, and fashion continue to blur, one question remains: will we see more athletes’ partners embrace this understated, intentional approach to style, further solidifying the rise of the modern muse?
With the 2026 World Cup approaching its halfway point, we, of course, started things off by covering the tournament through the lens of sports and fashion in our World Cup Go Sports issue. Our team shared everything from what to know about this year's event and the "right" way to style a soccer jersey to interviews with some of the sport's most exciting names, including soccer's million-dollar woman Naomi Girma and the stylist shaping football fashion in 2026, Algen Hamilton. Now, we're turning our attention to the stands and the best dressed attendees.
Topping the list is Tolami Benson, who's supporting both England and her fiancé, Arsenal and England forward Bukayo Saka. Benson first caught attention for her fashion sense during the 2024 Euros, where she wore a series of one-of-a-kind looks, such as a handmade leather jacket by Antonia Bronze paired with Hattie Crowther's reimagined jersey, which went viral. Since then, she's been seen at London Fashion Week shows such as Richard Quinn and walking the red carpet at The Fashion Awards as well as the Brit Awards. Now stateside for the 2026 World Cup, she's once again been bringing her sideline style to England's matches throughout the group stage and into the knockout rounds. From her reworked corset jerseys and custom embroidered jorts to her designer bag collection, she's one to watch for her game-day fashion.
Ahead, I spoke with the 25-year-old about her World Cup wardrobe, the bespoke pieces she's wearing throughout the competition, and her approach to dressing for soccer’s biggest stage.
I'd love to hear more about your background and how you got interested in fashion. Was that something you've always loved?
I've always loved fashion. From a young age, my mum always dressed my sister and me quite cutely because, before my mum came to England from Nigeria, she went to uni and got a fashion degree. When she moved here, she got another degree as a nurse, so she switched professions, but she always had an interest in fashion.
In Nigerian culture, whenever there's a traditional party or a wedding, you're provided the lace and the material, and you have to build your own outfit and piece it together. When I was really little, my mum would let me get involved by picking things—like how I wanted my skirt or what style of dress I wanted. Then we'd go to the tailor, and the tailor would make the dress. It was really nice to pick something, pull apart different dresses, make my dream dresses, go to the tailor, and then have them made to my body. My mum was always really enthusiastic about dressing us, letting us pick, and taking us shopping. Even from a really young age, there are a million pictures of me with little purses and heels, stealing from her wardrobe, and her dressing me up. That really got me into fashion.
As I got older, I was quite shy, so fashion was something I enjoyed doing on my own. It was my way of being able to speak without actually having to speak to a room full of people.
If you had to pick three words to describe your style, what would they be?
Some girls are like, "Oh, I'm a cool girl." Some girls are like, "Oh, I'm a clean girl." There are so many boxes these days of what you are. Like, "I'm a goth," "I'm alternative." I feel like I don't have a box. I dress for occasions and vibes and spaces, and I like to embody different styles. I can dress really alternative one day, or I could be really clean one day, or I could be really girly another day. I'd say my style is selfish, fun, and transitional—because it's always changing. I don't think I've always had the same aesthetic. Sometimes I'm more vintage. Sometimes I'm more modern.
Do you have any style icons from the past or present you resonate with?
When I was a child, growing up, I watched Disney Channel and stuff, so for me, it was Hannah Montana. Same with Selena Gomez. I always loved how Sharpay dressed in High School Musical—her maximalism and completely unique style. As I got older and delved more into the fashion industry, I really got to explore designers, which I absolutely love now. And church was a fashion show. I loved going and seeing what all the different aunties were wearing. That's what really inspired me, to be so honest. It was my culture. It was my surroundings.
How has living in England shaped your style?
Living in England has given me freedom. The UK is really diverse. Being in England really lets you delve into different cultures and just explore what you want to wear and who you are. It's allowed me to not feel like I have to fit in a box.
The UK has always let me be really traditional—wearing garments to red carpets or spaces where maybe people feel like I "shouldn't" be wearing a Nigerian garment. And Vivienne Westwood—I loved that really England punk-rock style. That really carries through to today as well. It just let me be myself. It let me explore the different diasporas and different essences of who I am as well—being from different ethnic backgrounds.
You often wear one-of-one or reworked pieces to your fiancé's matches. How'd that come about? When did you start doing that?
I've always done that. When you're from certain cultures, you're taught from young that, when a traditional event comes, you build your own outfit—build what will work for you and your body type.
I'm short, I have a big chest, I have a small torso, and little legs, so that combination, as you can imagine, is crazy for clothes. Certain tops fit my body and my waist and my height, but they just didn't fit my chest. So it's navigating those kinds of things and learning what works for your body that really pushed me into dressing for myself—reworking items that didn't work for me. My mum knew how to sew, so then she showed me how to sew. From a really young age, with corsets, I'd buy a large, and then I would go and sit by a sewing machine and sew the waist in so that it fit my cup and my waist. That's what always pushed me to customize clothes. I didn't want to wear things that didn't fit me. It didn't feel right. So I just had to learn to dress my body in a way that felt authentic to me.
As I got more and more into it, I was like, "Wow, I love this," and things actually fit me for once. I loved that I could end up with things that no one else had, and they fit me in ways that no one else's clothes fit them. So I just kept going. Whenever I see a piece, or I imagine myself in something now, sometimes I'll just sit and sketch it with my iPad and rework it, or I'll just start from scratch.
What's the best fashion advice you've ever been given?
When I was probably 12, my mum was like, "Just dress for your body." She's always told me that. Don't be ashamed of your body. Just work with it. Learn what works for you and go from there.
How do you approach dressing for games? Does it feel different every time?
It feels different every single time. I feel like I'm a vibe dresser. Like, every Euros has felt very different. Also, it's different climates, different feelings in the air, different England kits. I'm largely inspired by the England kit. I want to support, and I really want to wear the England kit, but in ways that work for me. It's the places, the cultures, being sensitive to the environments where you are, because at the end of the day, when you're visiting someone else's country, you have to be respectful. All those things feed into my approach for dressing for games.
I really want to support my partner, and I know everyone doesn't do it the way I do it, but it's nice. He comes out. He sees my different outfits. So if you're gonna show up, show out, you know? I'm Nigerian—this is how we are. It's more special for him to know that I'm putting that much effort in to come and to show up for him and represent him and be there. I always send him my nail inspiration, so that's a fun, good bonding experience too.
Do you do it all yourself, or do you work with a stylist?
No, I've never had a stylist so far. I've been doing it for years. I know how to dress myself, I know what works for my body, I know how I would look, and at the end of the day, style is so personal. I feel like fashion is like a diary. It's you inside and out—showcasing yourself to the world. So it's a really personal thing. All the choices I've made, as long as I'm happy with them, they feel like a reflection of me.
I pull references, I decide what I'm going for, what's in my head, and I draw a version of that to put it together. Then I give it to the tailor, and they make it with their magic hands. They make it all themselves, which is amazing.
What's it been like thinking through what to wear at the World Cup? How'd you prepare for this one and choose all of your looks?
I shop for my basics first, and then I kind of build from there. It's better to build a wardrobe that you're comfortable with, like the jeans you like, the shorts you like, all the silhouettes you like, and then build from that. Like, okay, these are really amazing jeans or jorts. This is a really cool top. Oh, I wonder if I can elevate that top, or how can I customize that, or how can I adapt it to my body? That's what I do. I just approach outfit by outfit. Some aren't that extravagant. Some are just textural things or colorway things. Some are just basic fits, but elevated with England accessories, or just making them work for your body.
One of the outfits that people liked was the England jacket I wore with the shorts. It was just some white shorts and the England jacket that anyone could buy. But the difference between me wearing it and the person wearing it next to me was I pinned it to my body. A lot of elevation comes when you know your body and you know what works for you, and instead of trying to make garments fit your body, you make the garments work for you. If that means sizing up and taking it in, you do that. If that means pinning, if you don't know how to sew, you can use safety pins, you can use fabric glue, you can use iron-on seams. Fashion is knowing your body type, dressing for it, and not letting the clothes wear you, ultimately.
What are some of your wardrobe staples and must-haves?
I'm a basic person. I feel like if you look at all my looks, the base of it's all a good, solid staple. I love a white tee or a white vest. You always catch me in a vest. And I love a good light bottom, like a solid jean that fits you well. If you get one pair of jeans that fit you well, get it tailored to you, get it taken up to your size. Same with a pair of shorts and a skirt. There's so many ways you can rewear that. Even if it's wearing things around it, like layering skirts on other skirts. Sometimes I'll wear a long flowy skirt, and I wear trousers or jeans under it, and that's cute. Or you can repurpose things—you can wear tops as skirts and all sorts. You can wear a shirt as a skirt if you really wanted to. Investing in solid staples that fit you and then rewearing them—you can layer so many things over a tee. You can wear jumpers, jackets, hoodies, blazers, dresses, all sorts.
What's your favorite place to eat when you're in London?
My favorite lunch and dinner spot is Novikov—it'd be fake if I said anything else. Novikov is actually absolute… If you see on my story, you've seen it a million times. I love it. I'd eat there every day if I could. I've had my birthday there a million times. If you ask me where I'm going, if you let me book, I'll book Novikov.
What's your perfect day in London you'd recommend to someone who's visiting?
I'm a country girl—I'm born and raised in Hertfordshire, so I would always go into London, but for me it feels hectic. Like, I go into London with a purpose—either I'm going to a hotel to stay because I'm going out to a restaurant, or I have an event, or I'm going shopping, or I have a bunch of things to do in London and I'll just build them up and go all at once. So maybe that's why London feels chaotic for me.
Shout Hertfordshire—I love the wilderness, I love animals, I like the grass. So my perfect day in London would be leaving London—going into the country. Cambridge is beautiful. The church there is beautiful, the canals—I love the countryside. I love walks. The Lake District is beautiful. Go and have a picnic in Epping Forest.
Have you been noticing any specific trends happening there right now?
People are being more intentional—trying to build like longevity in their wardrobes now. I think that's the current trend.
And lastly, you travel so much. Do you have any packing tips?
I'm a bit type A when it comes to that stuff. So I will lay out all my outfits—like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday—and then same with pants. And then I'll pack a million more pants. Then I'll put all my valuables or statement pieces in my hand luggage. But if your baggage gets lost, then you have your skincare, all your jewelry, or your expensive shoes or bags or whatever you have—your prized possessions. I always put those in my hand luggage. And then all the other things like laptops, iPads, all that stuff for your airplane experience, I put in a handbag. So I always have hand luggage and a handbag—nonnegotiable.
I lay each outfit out because if you have an outfit for every day, even if you chop and change, you know you have enough outfits to last you the whole time. Pack a bunch of basics that you know work well together. You can mix and match jeans—same with dresses. A maxi dress is always cute in the daytime, but then slap a heel, a belt, a bag, some makeup, and you can wear it out at night as well. You can also roll it up. I do that a lot—I'll buy a longer maxi dress and then I just pin it up in like a drape style and wear it as a shorter dress out at night.
Also, I can't miss this one travel tip: compression socks. I stole it from Naomi Campbell. She told me she wears them everywhere. Even if you're not old—even if you're 20—the earlier you start, the better. Any long travel, wear them, wear them, wear them.
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