There are several ways to recognize counterfeit shirts. Often, the difference lies in the material, the club badges, the brand badges (Adidas, Nike, etc.), and the finishing details such as the stitching.
Material
Counterfeit football shirts are often made of cheaper material. The material is often shinier and thinner/lighter than that of the original shirts. The shirt's color may also be lighter or darker than the original.
Badges
Badges on counterfeit shirts are often poorly finished, and the differences in, for example, shape and font don't match those on the original shirts. The size of the details often varies.
As can be seen in the photo below, the star is not neatly embroidered, the ACM and 1899 font is less bold, the lines in the middle are darker, and the shape of the logo does not match.
For the Puma logo below, the difference is that the 'Puma' is thicker and larger and the logo is embroidered with far fewer threads.
Looking inside this 2005 Argentina shirt, we see that there are many more loose threads left behind than on the original. There's also material left between the wreath and the center of the badge. Furthermore, the stitching is much less detailed than on the original. The borders and lettering are much thicker, and the white stitching on the lettering is much coarser. Furthermore, the colors don't match those of the original.
Another example of a counterfeit shirt with material left behind on the inside is this Borussia Dortmund shirt. Quite a bit of material has been left behind near the logo. The sloppy finishing is also evident. While it's not always the case that no material is left behind on genuine shirts, the way it is in the photo is not something you'll often encounter on original shirts.
Comparing the Adidas logos, you can see that the lettering isn't as neatly embroidered. The inside and outside of the A's and D's aren't as rounded. You can also see that the edges are much less neatly embroidered.
Stitching
The stitching on counterfeit shirts is often much coarser than that on the original shirts, as mentioned earlier. The difference is visible again below. On the red shirt, the white stitching is neatly embroidered. On the white shirt, the stitching is much coarser and uses a wider thread.
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