On this page we offer you the best kids boots on the market from Nike, adidas & Puma and rank the top 10 children’s shoes right now in 2023.
What You’ll Find On This Page:
- Children’s Boots: Top 10
- Nike Jr. Football Boots
- adidas Kids Football Boots
- Puma Children’s Options
- What’s the difference between adults and children boots?
- Are girls and boys boots different?
For junior boots you have two options; the Elite & Pro boots that are almost exact replicas of the adult versions worn by Professional players, only smaller and the cheaper lower level academy and club variations, that look the same but have less technology. Both can be good choices depending on the age & skill of your child.
The feet of the younger generation are growing at a rapid rate, but they often want to lace-up in a pair of boots modelled on the same designs as the world class professionals within the game such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Mo Salah, check out our players page, to see the latest boots being worn by the world’s best players, where you can find them a pair to match.
Best Boots For Kids Top 10
This list of top boots showcases the boots in UK5.5 or US6.5 and larger, we do this as many children still have large feet and wear these adult sizes. If you child really is only very young and wears smaller boots, then please jump down to the section where we show the smallest kids sizes, which starts with the Nike Kids Boots.
1. Nike Mercurial Vapor 15 Academy
An affordable option to get your hands on are the popular Nike Mercurial silo; available in the latest colourways; a synthetic alternative that has that stable and locked-in feel. These are the larger laced model, there is also a laceless version in smaller sizes futher down the page with the other Nike Jr. boots.
Get a bit of a meshed texture on the upper and the mixed ground sole for grass and artificial pitches, all in a boot costing you less than a £100.
The Phantom GX is Nike’s top-level control boot within the kid’s football boot collection. Matching the same colourways as worn by the goal-scoring wonders of Erling Haaland, Gavi, and Phil Foden, the young attacking players of the game can emulate the goals scored by their favourite players.
Made for older kids between 8 and 16 years, these Future Pro has FUZIONFIT360 soft upper, with creator zones for touch paired with the lightweight sole.
Value-for-money pricing at more than £80; already comes with a soft dual mesh material underneath a structural overlay for a balanced comfort and responsiveness.
4. Nike Tiempo Legend 10 Academy
At around £80, these don’t short change in terms of quantity and quality of the super-soft synthetic leather, if you want a leather boot for your child but don’t want to stretch to kangaroo leather, this is a great pair of boots for your money.
A bit pricey, but what you get in return is a super grippy football boot that aids dribbling and crossing for better control and accuracy.
The famous Predator range has been engineered by adidas to offer increased control and swerve on the ball using its High-Definition rubber grip blocks, allowing players to dictate play from long range like Paul Pogba.
Fusionskin that is scaled down to kid-friendly sizes for just around £80.
Both Nike and adidas compete for those who prefer the touch of leather with their high-tech Tiempo Legend and Copa Pure respectively.
7. Nike Mercurial Superfly 9 Pro
Get these if you are willing to spend around £100 for a pair of kids football boots and bonus that they’re going to look like they’re wearing the same boots as Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho. Now comes with an ‘Easy On’ laceless setup in this Jr. model, where crisscross straps in place of regular laces and pull tabs on the back and front of the collar for an effortless foot entry; All these on top of the Zoom Air unit on the heel for a bouncy, cushioned step.
Provides the same lightweight feel as the top-end Ultra; lightweight on price as well at £85.00, one of the very best children’s options for a speed boot. One of the collared options on this list.
A boot the children can easily lace them selves, with velcro strap that brings the closure around the back of the boot, a great option for a secure fit without the need to do the laces up on the boots, coupled with everything else you’d expect from the Phantom GT Academy boots.
At less than £100, your child can feel like Messi or Salah on the pitch, with these textile-based boots that the star himself prefers to wear, in child sizes rather than the adult .1 otherwise you are getting a boot that has the same elements as the pros wear. You can also opt for the laceless or laced model, just like in the adult versions.
Get our Boot Secrets guide:
Kids boots are available in sizes junior sizes 1 through to 13½, and adult 3.5 to 5.5, if you are not sure on sizing, check our size guide. Nike, adidas & Puma make specific junior boots, that we recommend for children. If your kids have larger feet, you’ll have to shop as if they are an adult, with men’s sizes.
Kids Nike Football Boots
Some Special Edition/Signature Boots in Nike Jr:
MDS006
The fuschia on purple might look like abstract and geometric, but the overall design is actually inspired by flower-giving tradition in some winner’s ceremonies. Actual kids boot size for the series headlined by Mbappe and CR7.
Mercurial Superfly & Vapor Academy
New to the Kids Mercurials is the ‘Easy On’ setup, pull tabs on the heel and tongue make it effortless to put on the laceless Nike speed boots both on the Pro & Academy Superfly and the Academy Vapors for children.
Nike’s Mercurial poses as one of the highest quality boots on the market, packing an ultra-thin upper offering a barefoot feel when touching and striking the ball. Lacing-up in the Superfly or Mercurial allows for younger players to match their heroes.
Both these Jr. level boots are very similar, both with the laceless setup, the only noticeable difference is the height of the collar and the way the boots are constructed even that is minimal, not really sure why Nike bothered creating both, if the Vapor had been give laces that would have been a good idea.
The GX is the latest in the Phantom series and is Nike’s most promising control boot for Kids to date.
Tiempo Legend Academy
The lightest Tiempo to date comes to the kids’ sizes with the Academy model.
The Elite and Pro Nike boots are made for older kids and not all colourways are available in Junior sizes, usually you’ll just find the ones worn by the biggest names on pitch make it to the Jr. models. Nike children boots are categorized into Younger Kids (10.5C-3Y) and Older Kids (3.5Y-7Y). If you are looking for cheap Nike boots, look out for the Academy and Club offerings where are sufficient for most young players.
Adidas Kids Football Boots
Away from the Elite ranges, the .3 and .4 options pose as the more affordable version of adidas’ ranges, which gives young players with fast-growing feet the ability to emulate their heroes without spending the high prices for the top-level boots.
adidas provides kid-specific sizes for their leading laceless and laced models. For the cheaper variety, the takedown .3 adidas boots are usually available in both laced and laceless forms.
Elite Puma Children’s Options
Even at Kids level, Puma lives up to their competitive advantage, which is providing above-average quality boots at lower price points. Their youth Future and Ultra boots cost just £80, which could have easily been over £100 in other brands considering the build and material used.
In 1995 Alan Hansen famously said, “you’ll never win anything with kids” when Manchester United lost their opening game of the season to Aston Villa. Youth team players including David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt were introduced to the first team, Hansen was proved wrong as United went on to win the league and cup double that season.
What are the differences between adult and child boots?
Because adult boots are made of premium materials, there’s a limit as to how much they could be scaled down in size without losing their performance benefits. Thus even if an adult’s boot and a kid’s boot fall under the same tier, there would always be minor differences in terms of certain parts, build, and shape of the boot. In spite of that, however, the kids boots would more or less give you an idea of the feel of the adult counterpart.
Are girls and boys boots different?
When it comes to girls and smaller female sizes, whilst the shape of a female foot tends to be different than that of a male, when it comes to child’s sizes those differences are not evident enough to mean there is a need for a girls boot at this age.
Older girls will benefit from a specific female fit, but most younger players can just look for the boot they like the look of or those worn by a player that inspires them to influence the decision.
