Before the home World Cup, Nike shows who’s fronting the brand: Ronaldo, Mbappé, Cole Palmer – plus LeBron James, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian.
The first picture shows Cristiano Ronaldo, caught on a Polaroid, his signature underneath. Then Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes, Virgil van Dijk. Beside them, faces you wouldn’t expect on a football campaign: LeBron James, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, Travis Scott. And legends like Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Eric Cantona, Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba. Each one gets a Polaroid; every Polaroid is signed.
With this series of images, Nike kicks off its campaign for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Instead of a single ad, the brand is building a whole programme over twelve weeks – images, events, boots, drops. Nike calls it the “Universe of Football”. The Polaroids are the opening move, released with the line “Time to go off script”.
The cast deliberately mixes worlds. Today’s stars stand next to legends, joined by names from basketball, tennis, music and fashion – from LeBron to designer Jacquemus, from K-pop singer Lisa to rapper Central Cee. Football, sport and pop culture in one line-up: that’s the message, and the casting carries it without further explanation.
The timing is no accident. The World Cup kicks off on 11 June, largely in the USA, Nike’s most important market. In the weeks before, the brand had already shown new national team kits and a run of goalkeeper jerseys. The Polaroid series is the next step – and the answer to the World Cup film adidas put out with Timothée Chalamet and Lionel Messi.
The first Polaroids are out now; more of the campaign follows through the summer at nike.com.
