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LILLE, France—Puma SE became the latest sportswear brand to suffer an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction after several players on the Swiss national soccer team had their jerseys torn in a match against France at the European Championship.

At least four of Switzerland's red jerseys were torn in the course of Sunday's game, which resulted in a 0-0 draw, leaving players running around with large parts of their backs exposed until they could get a replacement from the bench. Three of them ripped around the numbers.

Puma on Monday said it has opened an investigation into the cause of the tattered jerseys.

"Our analysis of the Swiss home jersey from Sunday's game shows that there was one batch of material, where yarns had been damaged during the production process, leading to a weakening in the final garment," the German company said.

The sportswear maker said the defective material, a mix of elastane and polyester, "was used in only a limited number of Swiss home jerseys." Puma said a check of its inventory found no problems for the four other national teams whose jerseys it sponsored in the tournament.

Asked about the ripped jerseys in his post-match press conference, Switzerland manager Vladimir Petković joked, "Do you sell Nike products?"

"If a shirt is pulled, occasionally they can come apart at the seams," he added.

"What can I say? It can happen. That means that it was a fight on the pitch," Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer said after the game. "I can't say that we have to change, because Puma is great!"

Sportswear malfunctions in professional sports are an occasional headache for manufacturing companies. Nike Inc. endorsed runner Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya shuffled through the majority of the 2015 Berlin Marathon with the insoles of his Nike sneakers flapping in the wind, winning the race but coming up short on his goal of breaking the world record.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, members of the U.S. speedskating team blamed their poor performance on their Under Armour Inc. skinsuits. Some skaters thought the suits caused too much drag and became a point of tension within the team for the duration of the Games. An Under Armour seamstress traveling with the team made adjustments on the fly to assuage the skaters.

The Swiss jerseys weren't the only piece of equipment to fail on Sunday night in Lille. Caught in a particularly physical clash between Swiss defender Valon Behrami and France's Antoine Griezmann—or at least their cleats—the match ball burst. The "Beau Jeu" edition soccer ball had been manufactured specifically for the tournament by Adidas AG.

Write to Joshua Robinson at joshua.robinson@wsj.com and Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2016 15:45 ET (19:45 GMT)

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