With the eyes of the world about to be glued to the biggest sporting event on the planet, the FIFA World Cup sets vast numbers of brands, sponsors and advertisers jostling for position in front of a global audience of billions.
With a slice of that enormous pie at stake, many of the biggest global brands have poured considerable amounts of time, effort and resources into making sure they have a World Cup advertising campaign to match the scale of the event.
Both Adidas and Nike have created several memorable World Cup commercials for past tournaments, with the two sportswear giants responsible for such classics as “Jose +10” for the 2006 finals and “Write the Future” in 2010, among others.
The two have returned with competing commercials ahead of the 2026 tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with both brands enlisting some of the biggest stars from the worlds of sport, movies and entertainment to front high-concept campaigns in their bid for World Cup supremacy.
Adidas went early with a brilliant, self-contained short film that features a plethora of famous names from 90s soccer legends to Hollywood A-listers.
Nike then followed suit last week by gathering their full phalanx of iconic ambassadors for a sprawling epic of their very own. However, there are plenty of other major brands and tournament partners who have also produced their own commercials for the occasions with varying levels of glitz, glamor and impact.
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Here we assess if they have any chance of comparing to the mighty efforts made by Adidas and Nike, and which of the two twin sportswear giants comes out on top in the running to land the most enduring ad of the 2026 World Cup.
Adidas
No strangers to high-concept, big-budget commercials, Adidas have once again delivered with their brilliant “Backyard Legends” World Cup advert.
The epic 5-minute yarn begins with Hollywood A-lister Timothée Chalamet attempting to put together a team of three players — Trinity Rodman, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal — for a high-stakes street soccer game. The mission? To finally inflict defeat upon a legendary neighborhood 3-a-side team who it’s said haven’t lost a game since the mid-90s — despite facing some incredibly illustrious opposition in that time.
Sprinkle in some choice cameos from Lionel Messi, Bad Bunny and Ousmane Dembélé and you’ve got yourself an instant classic (though we’re knocking half a point off for the CGI effects used to de-age the ’90s legends, which gave us weird, uncanny valley vibes).
Brahma
Brazilian beer company Brahma have enlisted a couple of big hitters in Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazário and current coach Carlo Ancelotti to bring the star power to their World Cup ad, which actually serves as a celebration of the Seleção‘s proud and storied history at the tournament.
The aim is obviously to stir up a little World Cup fever by letting a mass kickabout spontaneously break out across an entire city while some of Brazil’s finest, most memorable moments at the finals are woven seamlessly into the action.
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Budweiser
Budweiser are ramping things up for the World Cup with their “Let it Pour” campaign, fronted by Jürgen Klopp and also features Erling Haaland in a supporting role.
We begin with fairly generic scenes of fans celebrating around the world before moving into a slightly odd dreamlike phase with Haaland in a photo booth, but all the while — and most troublingly — there are vast amounts of beer being flung into the air all over the place.
Coca-Cola
As official FIFA partners, Coca-Cola have been advertising at World Cups since 1950. You’d think that such a long association would have built to something spectacular by 2026, but alas, Coke’s latest “Uncanned Emotions” ad doesn’t really have much in the way of pizzazz — no star players, no World Cup clips, no celebrity cameos; just commentary from Peter Drury.
Duracell
While not World Cup-specific, Duracell have produced a tournament-adjacent commercial that sees Messi running out of energy mid-game and needing a reboot. After his batteries are taken out and replaced by a chap in an ill-fitting lab coat, the Argentine android wakes back into life and promptly carries on with his business, rattling a 20-yarder into the top corner.
Gatorade
In which Christian Pulisic and Vinícius Júnior are taught the value of not having to rely on lucky charms, songs or boots to perform at the very highest level. Indeed, it turns out that what really matters is the luminous day-glo orange sweat that only isotonic sports drinks can help leak from your pores.
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Lay’s
Lay’s have staged an “Epic Watch Party” for their World Cup commercial, in which host David Beckham chops up salad before he, Alexia Putellas, Thierry Henry and Steve Carell attempt to round up more guests (and snacks) for their shindig. Oh, and then Messi turns up.
Lotto
Italian sportswear brand Lotto really have gone to town (Mexico City, specifically) for their World Cup spot, which tells the tale of a young footballing legend emerging from the streets.
A roster of famous faces appear throughout, such as U.S. internationals Kellyn Acosta and Sofia Huerta, while Stuart Holden commentates from an apartment block window and hip-hop icon Flavor Flav holds up traffic by standing in the middle of a busy intersection whilst bellowing at the top of his lungs. Amazingly, despite the scattergun approach, the ad still manages to make some sense.
Mastercard
Mastercard have opted against the usual cacophony and color of a World Cup advert by creating a poignant, piano-backed tribute to Messi and his rise from child prodigy to world champion. The imagery is interesting enough, but it’s all a bit drab.
McDonald’s
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McDonald’s had Ronaldinho, Yamal, Pulisic, Henry, Beckham, Alphonso Davies, Santiago Gimenez, Son Heung-Min and — naturally — Grimace descend on a restaurant to seek out their own promotional drinking cups.
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Ronaldinho and Yamal can also be seen pulling off a “trick shot” of sorts that sees their ball get hoofed up onto the roof and wedged in the golden arches.
Michelob
“The Superior Match” sees Messi and Pulisic causing mayhem (and what looks like thousands of dollars’ worth of damage) when an impromptu match between the two kicks off in a hotel foyer — much to the chagrin of Billy Bob Thornton, who is growing tired of waiting for his ice-cold beers to be delivered up to his room.
Statues are broken and chandeliers are shattered as the action spills into the kitchens and beyond with a little assistance from the likes of Alex Morgan and legendary Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Nike
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Nike left it late by releasing their big World Cup spot just over a week before the tournament began, but the sheer breadth and scale of their star-studded campaign made it immediately obvious why such a project might require some extra preparation time.
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The roll-out began with a raft of collaborations which saw Nike pair up with various streetwear labels like Palace, Patta, Jacquemus, NOCTA and Virgil Abloh to create special-edition clothing and footwear capsules for selected nations, with star names such as Wayne Rooney, Virgil van Dijk, and Kylian Mbappé deployed on modeling duty.
This was then followed up with an ensemble commercial entitled “Rip Up The Script”, in which Nike’s full roster of VIPs queue up for a cameo in a yarn that sees masses of footballers refusing to do as they are told on set and generally creating havoc.
There are a huge array of guest stars, including Mbappé, Vini Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo, Van Dijk, Bruno Fernandes, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Cantona, Didier Drogba and even Kim Kardashian. Though the highlight must surely be Channing Tatum’s turn as Haaland’s stunt double, including his rather splendid Nordic ponytail wig.
Pepsi
Beckham manages to muscle in on yet another World Cup commercial here by starring in Pepsi’s “Football Nation” ad, in which fans around the globe are tasked with creating a bespoke football-based society by deciding on the rules themselves. With Beckham, Florian Wirtz, Vini Jr, Mohamed Salah, Lauren James, Putellas and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey all involved, the cast is strong but unfortunately, the banter doesn’t fizz like the drink they’re all promoting.
Powerade
Recognizing the hard graft that goes into making it from rain-lashed training sessions to entire stadiums chanting your name, Powerade have paired up Clásico rivals Yamal and Rodrygo for their World Cup commercial. It’s perhaps regrettable then that one has already been ruled out of the tournament with a torn ACL, while the other faces a race to be fit for the start of the tournament. Not quite a curse, but certainly unfortunate.
