The four-star USWNT jerseys, pictured here on Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe , were available in short supply to fans thanks to a number of factors. (Reuters)

When the U.S. women’s national team lifted the World Cup in France, the hottest new piece of fashion in sports had been born. The four-star version of the USWNT’s retro-inspired red, white and blue jersey was the item everyone seemed to want.

There was a problem, however: Barely anyone could find it in stores or online. Nike, the official kit sponsor for the USWNT, didn’t anticipate the high demand for USWNT jerseys and didn’t have enough to sell to fans who wanted them.

After the Women’s World Cup ended, Nike initially made only about 1,000 jerseys available and they sold out immediately. As larger quantities of jerseys were released in men’s, women’s and youth sizes, they also sold out quickly. Nike underestimated the demand or wasn’t able to produce jerseys quickly enough – or likely both – and months went by where fans who wanted four-star USWNT jerseys couldn’t find them.

The company shortened its turnaround time by adding an extra star to the top of existing three-star jerseys. Beginning next year, USWNT kits will feature the permanent configuration with four stars across in a single line to represent the team’s four World Cup victories. Yet that shortcut wasn’t enough to meet demand.

Nike should’ve had some idea that USWNT jerseys would be a hot item. The company announced during the World Cup — before the USWNT won it — that the three-star USWNT home jersey was Nike’s best-selling single-season soccer kit ever. That was despite the jersey being released widely to retail in May, well after Nike first unveiled the kits at a huge publicity event in March and the USWNT started wearing them in April.

Reached by Yahoo Sports, a Nike spokeswoman said in a statement: “We planned for a significant number of the jerseys and continue to restock based on demand. It’s been wonderful to see the continued growth and popularity of our USWNT and other female sports created by the energy of this summer’s tournament.”

The four-star jerseys started to be restocked at the end of September, although most sizes are already sold out on U.S. Soccer’s website. They will continue to be released into the market during October, a Nike spokeswoman said, but she could not say whether they would be restocked when the current batch sells out. The company does not publicly share information about the volume of jerseys produced or sold, she added.

If previous USWNT kit releases are any guide, however, it’s a good bet that the World Cup jerseys will not be restocked and instead an all-new kit design will be released in the spring. In that case, the World Cup jerseys may be sold out before the holiday season even hits. (A U.S. Soccer spokesman directed all questions about its jerseys to Nike.)

View photos Most fans have had to wear older USWNT jerseys, like the three-star red away kit pictured on the right, instead of the four-star jerseys made after the Women's World Cup this summer. (Getty) More

That has been frustrating for the players on the USWNT, who, as part of a new business endeavor, are in a position to benefit directly from the sale of player-specific jerseys. After all, jerseys need to be available in the first place for fans to buy customized versions with their favorite player’s name on the back.

“It's interesting to hear announcements about player jerseys selling out as if it's a positive thing,” said Steven Scebelo, the president of REP Worldwide, which spearheads the USWNT licensing program. “We saw it with the women's national team: 'Wow, jerseys sold out! What a success!' It was successful, but they could've sold more.”

“There is definitely opportunity being lost,” he added to Yahoo Sports. “More jerseys could be sold for the U.S. women's national team. There's no doubt.”

In the period during and immediately after the World Cup, partners of the USWNT Players Association sold more than 15,000 jerseys with players’ names on them, which means the USWNT earned royalties on those sales. But for several weeks after the tournament until September, there were zero sales because no jerseys were available anywhere.