5 Screen-Worthy World Cup 2026 Marketing Campaigns We Couldn’t Ignore
The football may have happened on the pitch, but brands were competing for attention everywhere else.
Throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup, audiences encountered cinematic films, outdoor installations, retail experiences, creator content, product collaborations and reactive social posts. Some campaigns arrived with enormous celebrity casts, while others turned a small, overlooked detail into a global talking point.
What made the most interesting ideas stand out was not simply their association with the World Cup. Each campaign found a natural connection between the brand, the tournament and the way supporters were already experiencing football.
Inspired by the wider campaign landscape covered in the reference material, this is Exposé’s independent selection of five executions that were creative, culturally relevant and genuinely worth seeing.
1. Adidas made neighbourhood football feel cinematic
Adidas used football, entertainment and neighbourhood culture to build the world of “Backyard Legends.” Image source: Adidas Newsroom.
Adidas’ “Backyard Legends” campaign took the familiar idea of a neighbourhood football match and expanded it into a five-minute global production.
The film follows Timothée Chalamet as he tries to assemble a team capable of defeating a local side whose unbeaten reputation has survived for decades. Its cast brings together Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Trinity Rodman and Bad Bunny, alongside younger versions of David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero.
It could easily have become a collection of celebrity appearances without a clear story. Instead, the campaign returned to something familiar: football legends do not begin in stadiums. They begin in backyards, parking lots, community pitches and streets where people play for the enjoyment of the game.
Adidas extended the idea through federation kits, player partnerships, World Cup products and outdoor activity, allowing the campaign to live beyond its hero film. The brand was also the official match-ball provider and supplied kits to 14 participating federations. (adidas News)
Why it worked
The celebrities delivered scale, but the neighbourhood setting made the campaign relatable.
Adidas understood that the best way to celebrate elite football was to reconnect it to the ordinary places where supporters first fell in love with the sport.
The brand lesson: Even the biggest production needs one simple human idea holding it together.
2. Nike built a campaign designed to keep unfolding
Nike positioned “Rip the Script” as the entrance to a wider football-content universe. Image source: Nike Newsroom.
Nike’s “Rip the Script” was not structured as one commercial released before the tournament and forgotten a week later.
The campaign began with a major film featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Vinícius Júnior. Football icons including Ronaldinho, Didier Drogba, Eric Cantona and Zlatan Ibrahimović also appeared, alongside personalities from music, basketball, fashion and entertainment.
But the cast was only the entry point.
Nike designed the film as the opening chapter of a broader content universe filled with continuing storylines, unexpected appearances, hidden references, products, community football programmes and local retail experiences.
Its message encouraged players to abandon predictable football and trust creativity, confidence and instinct. That message also shaped the campaign itself: it was layered, flexible and built for audiences to clip, discuss, remix and continue exploring.
Nike also supported the platform with local initiatives such as street-football tournaments, transformed retail locations and immersive football environments in host cities. (NIKE, Inc.)
Why it worked
Nike was not an official FIFA tournament sponsor, so it did not try to look like one.
Instead, it focused on football culture and created its own world around the event. The campaign felt like a natural extension of Nike’s longstanding positioning around individual expression and rule-breaking creativity.
The brand lesson: A hero film may earn the first view, but an expandable content system keeps the conversation moving.
3. Rexona found value in a few seconds of screen time
Rexona placed its logo where it became visible whenever a fourth official raised both arms. Image source: LBBOnline.
One of the tournament’s most memorable placements was also one of its simplest.
Rexona positioned its logo beneath the arms of fourth officials. During normal play, the branding remained relatively discreet. It became fully visible when the official lifted the substitution board to announce a player change or display added time.
That movement regularly appears on television during important and tense moments. More importantly, it places the deodorant brand precisely where audiences would expect a deodorant product to be relevant.
The campaign also extended to the substitution board, with the visible name changing between Rexona, Sure and Degree depending on the teams and broadcast market.
Rather than purchasing a large space and relying on repetition, Rexona selected a recurring human action that naturally brought its product category into view. The placement supported the brand’s wider “It Won’t Let You Down” platform and appeared across all 104 matches. (famouscampaigns.com)
Why it worked
The placement explained itself.
There was no need for a lengthy headline or complicated campaign film. The product, body movement and media moment came together instantly.
It also demonstrated that context can be more powerful than size. The logo appeared for only a few seconds at a time, but those seconds were distinctive enough to generate discussion.
The brand lesson: Do not only ask where your logo can appear. Ask what action or moment can give the placement meaning.
4. LEGO made the product the centre of its celebrity campaign
LEGO brought Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior together around a brick-built trophy. Image credit: LEGO.
LEGO achieved something that football supporters rarely see: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo appearing in the same global campaign.
They were joined by Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior for “Everyone Wants a Piece,” a campaign centred on the four players attempting to claim a LEGO-built World Cup trophy.
A cast of that size would be enough to attract attention on its own. But LEGO avoided a common celebrity-marketing problem: allowing the famous faces to become more memorable than the brand.
Building remained central to the idea.
The players interacted with the trophy, appeared as minifigures and became part of a larger product ecosystem featuring buildable player moments, collectable sets, hidden details and pop-up play experiences.
The final creative idea also returned the focus to the audience. Despite the presence of four football icons, a child ultimately completes the build, reconnecting the campaign to LEGO’s core promise of imagination and participation.
LEGO extended the campaign through player-themed sets, a buildable official trophy and physical fan activities where families could create, play and take photographs. (LEGO)
Why it worked
The football stars created reach, but the product gave the campaign its meaning.
LEGO did not simply place its logo beside famous players. It asked them to enter the behaviour the brand is built around: constructing, experimenting and playing.
The brand lesson: Celebrity casting is most effective when the celebrity demonstrates the product idea rather than replacing it.
5. Levi’s turned being covered into greater visibility
Covering the Levi’s name made the familiar batwing silhouette even more noticeable. Image source: Levi Strauss Japan/PR Times.
Levi’s was not an official FIFA partner, even though World Cup matches were played at the stadium that normally carries its name.
Under FIFA’s clean-venue policy, non-partner branding at host stadiums had to be concealed. Levi’s signage was therefore covered, and the venue temporarily operated as the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
The restriction could have removed the brand from the conversation.
Instead, the white covering preserved the recognisable outline of Levi’s batwing logo. Supporters could still identify the brand even though its name was hidden.
Levi’s responded quickly. It changed its social profile image to the covered logo and shared footage of the concealed signage with a playful “redacted” message. The brand later extended the idea to products and retail activity.
The response worked because Levi’s did not force itself into an unrelated tournament conversation. The brand simply reacted to something happening directly to its own identity.
It also demonstrated the strength of accumulated brand equity. A company whose logo shape was not already widely recognised could not have produced the same effect. Levi’s said the moment showed that people could identify the batwing even when no brand name was visible. (Sports Business Journal)
Why it worked
Levi’s allowed the situation to carry the joke.
There was no long statement, forced inspirational message or attempt to pretend it was an official sponsor. Speed, self-awareness and a recognisable visual identity did most of the work.
The brand lesson: Constraints can become creative material when a brand reacts quickly and remains true to its established personality.
What made these five campaigns memorable?
The campaigns used very different approaches.
Adidas relied on cinematic storytelling. Nike created a continuing content universe. Rexona found an unexpected media placement. LEGO transformed celebrity attention into product interaction. Levi’s turned a restriction into a cultural moment.
However, they shared several important qualities.
The idea could be understood quickly
A neighbourhood match creates legends. Players should trust their instincts. Deodorant belongs beneath the arm. Everyone wants a piece of the trophy. A famous logo remains recognisable even when covered.
Each campaign could be explained in one clear sentence.
The brand had a believable role
The campaigns were not simply unrelated ideas wearing World Cup branding.
Adidas and Nike already belong to football culture. Rexona connected its product to pressure and perspiration. LEGO connected football fandom with building and play. Levi’s responded to the treatment of its own stadium identity.
The execution extended beyond one advert
The strongest campaigns moved between several touchpoints:
- Film and short-form video
- Products and packaging
- Outdoor installations
- Social media
- Retail experiences
- Fan participation
- Creator content
- Live tournament visibility
This gave audiences more than one way to encounter and remember each idea.
The Exposé point of view
A global event can provide extraordinary attention, but attention alone does not make a campaign culturally relevant.
Before entering a major sporting or entertainment moment, brands should ask:
- What real connection do we have to this event?
- Can the central idea be understood quickly?
- What can the audience watch, experience, create or share?
- Can the idea work across more than one platform?
- Will people remember the brand as clearly as they remember the celebrity or event?
The most interesting campaigns of the 2026 World Cup did not simply appear around football.
They identified a natural part of the tournament experience and made the brand useful, entertaining or difficult to ignore within that moment.
For more tournament coverage, explore the FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule, teams, results and live updates.
You can also read Exposé’s coverage of the Spain vs Argentina World Cup final result and the earlier World Cup final time, TV and match preview.
