Nike unveiled collaborations with seven of the biggest brands in the world earlier this week, each of which represented a nation competing at the World Cup. “King of K-Pop” G-Dragon’s brand PEACEMINUSONE got involved, as did France’s Jacquemus, London’s Palace (aided by Wayne Rooney), Drake’s NOCTA line… It was huge. And yet, it doesn’t even come close to competing with the star power of Nike’s new World Cup advert.

The six-minute video, which has racked up tens of millions of views in its first day, is the most high-budget football advert since adidas unveiled its Timothée Chalamet-starring mini movie from last month.

Forget the Oscars, this is shaping into a proper filmmaking rivalry, certainly one worthy of the World Cup. And once again, it's Nike vs. adidas grappling for the biggest impact and best ad.

Nike’s new video opens with a clip of Kylian Mbappé scoring an overhead kick for France and then descends into star-studded chaos.

Central Cee starts rapping, as cameos flash by: Kim Kardashian, son Saint, and daughter North West, Travis Scott, Channing Tatum, LeBron James, and LISA. The footballers featured include Cristiano Ronaldo, Vini Jr., and Erling Haaland. The retired footballers featured include Eric Cantona, Didier Drogba, and Zlatan Ibrahimović.

This sounds like an excessive amount of celebrities — even by the often OTT standards of Nike football adverts — until you consider the viral advert released by its biggest competitor, adidas.

The German sportswear giant — which reportedly dropped $50 million on its advert — had a smaller but still impressive cast, Chalamet took the lead, joined by Messi, Bad Bunny, Trinity Rodman, David Beckham, and Zinedine Zidane. (Although, admittedly, the final two were AI-generated.)

It’s widely considered the best football advert in years, thanks to a blend of world-toppling talent and goofy appeal. Chalamet's appearance gives the whole thing a dash of Marty Supreme urgency and the cameos feel earned rather than easy. Of course, they're all "easy" when one of the world's biggest sportswear brands is cashing the checks but there's a real sense of play here — literally, because it features all of the involved talent (and digital dopplegangers) actually playing around.

You could argue that Nike has outdone adidas with in terms of names and splash: Nike's YouTube video has only been live for a day but it already boasts double the views of adidas’ entry. Things aren’t quite that black-and-white though. Even if the numbers suggest a Nike win, online opinion is more split.

And I feel as though you have to give it to adidas.

The digitally de-aged faces may not quite pass the muster but the spirit is there. To put it in blockbuster terms, Nike's impressive ad feels more like Ready Player One — that is, cameos for the sake of cameos — while adidas' creation has the feel of, say, Fast & the Furious — silly but also genuinely enjoyable.

And yet, who’d have thought the biggest rivalry of the World Cup could come before anyone has even kicked a ball?

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