With still a month left until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across the US, Mexico and Canada, brands are already tapping into the hype of the tournament.
Adidas, which is a premier partner and official sponsor of the World Cup, is gearing up for the big football tournament with afive-minute film, created by Lola USA and starring Timothée Chalamet.
Other sponsors, such as Lenovo and Coca-Cola, also showed how they support fans in their endeavours of watching the sport, either with technology or a can of refreshment.
Here are the brands and ads celebrating the World Cup so far.
Axe 'Airplane' by Lola Madrid
Axe’s one-minute ad shows a Mexico fan getting dressed as a large trophy to cheer on his team. Wearing the oversized, handmade costume, he boards a plane and awkwardly takes his seat next to a woman, earning her attention thanks to how good he smells. It ends with the line: “Smell your best when you look your worst.”
The spot is the first in a series of seven ads the Unilever-owned brand, which is known as Lynx in the UK and Ireland, will be releasing around the World Cup.
Samsung '2026 World Cup' by BBH Singapore
Samsung is promoting its TVs ahead of the World Cup with an ad starring former footballer Thierry Henry. He is shown appearing on TV playing a range of personas from an action-movie star to an astronaut.
The film concludes with him watching football, saying: “When it matters, watch it on a Samsung.”
It was directed by Matthew Pollock through Starling Film UK. [Read Campaign's take here.]
Lenovo 'The
world's gone football' in-house
Lenovo, the official technology partner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is showcasing its AI in a 30-second film directed by Owen Trevor Black through Rattling Stick.
It features a series of scenes showing how football takes over the world and people’s lives, from an astronaut seeing the world as a football to a dog getting a football inspired haircut at the groomers.
Coca-Cola 'Bubbling up' and 'Uncanned emotions'
Coca-Cola has released two films for the World Cup, one called “Bubbling up” and the other “Uncanned emotions”, by WPP OpenX, led by Ogilvy Group and supported by WPP Production and WPP Media.
The ads explore the experiences that come with watching football through the vehicle of Coca-Cola. 'Bubbling up' was released in January and explored the anticipation leading up to the tournament, using the bubbles in a Coca-Cola as a metaphor for the excitement brewing.
'Uncanned emotions' explores the emotional journey of the football fandom through with a montage of a glass of Coca-Cola being knocked over and people hiding behind their drinks in anticipation. It was directed by Isaiah Seret through Biscuit Filmworks.
The campaign was created by WPP OpenX, led by Ogilvy Group and supported by WPP Production and WPP Media.
Adidas 'Backyard legends' by Lola US
Adidas has teamed up with actor Timothée Chalamet and a host of football stars in a global campaign for the World Cup.
'Backyard legends', created by Lola USA, tells the story of a highly skilled football trio, Clive, Ruthie and Isaak. They have taken on football icons such as Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Alessandro Del Piero by practising in their neighbourhood cage pitch. Chalamet tells Argentine football player Lionel Messi that he will put an end to their success by assembling a team that can stand the competition: Jude Bellingham, Trinity Rodman and Lamine Yamal.
Mark Molloy directed the ad through Smuggler, and it was created by Jason Rappaport, Alexa Aguilar and Catherine Soulé.
