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In the marketing world, FIFA’s World Cup tournament has always been more than just a sports event. It is a global stage that brands tend to seize in order to compete for audience attention just as fiercely as teams do for the mega trophy. And today, world cup conversations are now taking over the entire continent.
Brands are now globally delivering campaigns that prove how football marketing is always on its creative edge. Campaigns include cinematic and valuable storytelling, celebrity-endorsed appearances, and cultural moments that prove how a certain brand focuses so well on creating the right campaign that attracts attention well. And for that reason, here are 5 brand campaigns that are now taking over the conversation.
Nike: Time to Go Off Script
Nike has always been known as one of the greats when it comes to delivering a successful World Cup campaign that attracts the whole world’s attention. However, in 2026, they decided to make a campaign as large and long as the whole season itself. The brand unveiled a massive cast that mixes football legends like Ronaldo with musicians like LISA and Travis Scott along with pop culture icons like Kim Kardashian.
The brand’s campaign will be extended with weeks of collaborations and content that is promised throughout the tournament season. This is a campaign that hammers on how football is more than a sport. It is a cultural bond that has so many people from different industries bonding over one thing that makes them happy and proud. Nike’s campaign is proof of how football can always be an ongoing entertainment experience that extends far beyond the stadium.
Adidas: Backyard Legends
Celebrity-endorsed campaigns are not something new that we experience. However, Adidas went all in with its newest 2026 campaign featuring a football-themed film. Directed by Australian film director Mark Molloy. This short movie features out-of-the-box stars like Timothée Chalamet and Bad Bunny. That is, along with famous rising football stars like Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, and Trinity Rodman. The ad also features football legend Lionel Messi, who is betting on the “dream team” that Chalamet is gathering with Benito, aka Bad Bunny.
It takes the film only five minutes to display brilliant storytelling that takes audiences into a nice ride through street culture, football, young dreams, and, of course, the rise of retired legends like David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, and Alessandro Del Piero. The film feels more like a blockbuster movie that would definitely grab the attention of spectators other than a football commercial. When Adidas brought together music, film, and sport, it transformed a football campaign into a pop culture event.
Adidas Arabia: You Got This
Focusing on global audiences is all fun and games, but the real hack to win audience attention is to create a campaign that they’d love and resonate with. And that is exactly what Adidas Arabia did. Featuring the beloved Egyptian king Mohamed Salah, the campaign took storytelling to a whole new level. The ad features Huda El Mufti narrating how Salah, like many other children, had a dream of becoming a footballer. A simple dream that turned to a reality with a legacy of more than 400 goals.
The brand celebrates how football is connecting everyday fans. Youngsters, adults, and people from every demographical age tend to bond over their love for Salah and how he plays. Across the Arab world, he is an icon, a legend, a king, and above all, an idol that little potential kids who may join the upcoming football generation look up to. The ad demonstrates the growing importance of localized storytelling in a world that relates. Adidas Arabia proved that cultural relevance is just as valuable as global reach. Brilliant? And more.
Visa: Tap In
Tournament season is often filled with a lot of different storytelling narratives. However, Visa chose a whole new route to take. One that is sponsored by the one and only narrative that a lot appreciate and that is humor. The ad features Jason Sudeikis as his beloved Texan character, the one and only Ted Lasso. An American “soccer” coach who immigrates to England to coach “Football.”
But why Ted Lasso in a Visa ad? First of all, because the character resonates. He facilitates things just like Visa’s services and how you can just “tap in” easily to buy something or just simply upgrade your life. Featuring Lamine Yamal, Erling Haaland, Christian Pulisic, Jorge Campos, and Andrés Cantor. The ad “taps in” into the excitement surrounding football fandom all while keeping things funny and light for audiences to enjoy.
DoorDash, Deliveroo, and Wolt: Deliver Us to Fútbol
Some athletes tend to shine in certain seasons. Others tend to dominate entire campaigns. Beckham has always been known to be a familiar face in world cup ads. However, it’s Zlatan Ibrahimović who surprised us the most when he made appearances in Doordash’s ad, Nike’s ad, and Fox Sports.
Doordash’s campaign, however, is one that made an ad that matches his larger-than-life personality. One that was the main inspiration for a character like Zava. The collaboration combines fun humor, confidence, and the culture of football. When the ad leaned into Zlatan’s unique character, it proved how it is a brand that creates a campaign people discuss when football is not being played.
LEGO: Everyone Wants a Piece
Lego’s ad was one that gathered four football legends. Two from an older generation (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) and two still carving out their names with their skill (Kylian Mbappé, and Vinícius Jr.) The ad encompasses how every player wants to add their own lego piece that will allow them to be on top of the LEGO world cup figure.
The ad shows rivalry, fun, and how all four legends step aside as a new face (a young boy) places his own figure on top of the cup. Marking how generations always pave the way for the next ones. “Brilliant” is an understatement.
Pepsi Football Nation: The Home of Football Banter & Rivalry
When it comes to Pepsi, we all know that it will include a LOT of celebrities who will add their own touch to the ad. David Beckham (who fronts the campaign), Mo Salah, Vini Jr., Alexia Putellas, Florian Wirtz, Lauren James, Christian Pulisic, Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa, and even Gordon Ramsey had his own share of cameos in the ad.
The ad is pure chaos. Vibrant colors, cheering energy, football spirit, rivalry energy, and more. The campaign is focusing on fans. The people who make football what it is. It imagines a fictional nation (in player-like mode) where match-day superstitions are rules and laws. It encompasses how passion could always speak louder than words.
Pepsi created a campaign that reminds people that yes, teams compete on the pitch but football as a sport will always belong to millions of fans who live and breathe it every single day of their lives.
Coca-Cola: Feel It All
Coca-Cola has always been a big part of the world cup season. Along with its competitor Pepsi, these two define how to make an ad that allows you to feel the summer vibes. However, this season, Coca-Cola decided to run a campaign of many variants. It is opting for different copies that range from 80s-themed animated copy for an anthem to real-life people and celebrities.
With J Balvin, Amber Mark, Steve Vai, Travis Barker, and Lamine Yamal animated into a new 2026 World Cup anthem, the copies focus on the cheering spirit that fans show in the season. Another two called “Uncanned emotions” and “No Better Feeling” capture all the emotions fans get while watching a match. Anger, frustration, anticipation, joy, and pure excitement.
The ads encompass how Coca-Cola will forever remain a major sponsor drink in every world cup season. That this is the ultimate drink people would think of when they’re watching a match.
The New Rules of World Cup Marketing
What makes these campaigns worth mentioning is not the lineups of celebrities or the budgets used in production. It their understanding of how football today is an essential element in our culture. How it defines it for some. Becoming part of the conversation while being relevant to people is what makes a brand successful when it comes to FIFA World Cup marketing. This year is proving how creativity has become the real tournament behind the main one.
