Nike ‘s recovering business needs a spark. This year’s World Cup — hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico — could be the match. “Football [soccer] allows us to invite more people in places of the world where we probably cannot reach with other sports,” Camilo Andrade, head of football at Nike, told CNBC in an interview. Remember, soccer is called football in most countries outside of America. “That’s why football is an accelerator of Nike sport-led offense. It’s an accelerator also of who we are,” Andrade added. Oregon-based Nike made its first major push onto the global soccer scene during the 1994 men’s World Cup, the last time it was held in the United States. Every tournament, including the women’s World Cup, is a chance for Nike to showcase its latest innovations, athlete partnerships, and product launches. The 2026 men’s World Cup kicked off on June 11. Team USA’s first game the next day was a 4-1 win over Paraguay. Game 2 is on Friday against Australia. The next women’s World Cup is next year in Brazil. The international reach of the men’s and women’s World Cup matches is massive. The 2022 men’s tournament in Qatar reached roughly 5 billion fans globally across all media platforms, according to FIFA, the world’s governing body of soccer. The 2023 women’s World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, drew 2 billion in total engagement. In the midst of a difficult turnaround, which is taking longer than we expected and has led to frustration with the stock, this year’s World Cup could not have come at a better time for Nike. To raise awareness, Nike released a short film, “Rip the Script,” calling on soccer lovers to “embrace attacking, creative, instinctive and joyful” play. The energetic film features star players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, and Erling Haaland, fighting for the ball, with famous outlookers, including Kim Kardashian and Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, trying to make sense of the chaos. For fans , Nike created interactive pop-up retail and community experiences across the country — from the House of Merc in New York City, featuring rare Nike archive products and exclusive collections, to Estadio Niky’s in Los Angeles, a store takeover of soccer destination Niky’s Sports with a custom-built field. To inspire the next generation of stars, Nike launched Toma el Juego (Spanish for “Take the Game”), a community-led youth soccer platform designed to bring together the best street ballers for games around the nation. “We want to ignite a new generation of footballers, and we’re really excited about that, “Andrade told CNBC. The TOMA national finals will be held next week in Bryant Park in New York City. On the field at this year’s World Cup, Nike makes the uniforms, known as kits in soccer, for Team USA and roughly a dozen other nations, including France, Brazil, and England. The kits feature Nike’s most advanced cooling system. “We’re introducing Aero-FIT through football to the world. So football has been…
Read More: Why this year’s World Cup is happening at the perfect time for struggling