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New Adidas World Cup Ad Starring Timothee Chalamet And Messi Is Goated AF

2026 FIFA World Cup, Adidas, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi, Timothee Chalamet, Trinity Rodman

From Nike’s “Write the Future” before the 2010 World Cup to Coca-Cola’s “Wavin’ Flag” era and Adidas’ iconic José+10 commercials, football fans have always measured the arrival of a World Cup by its advertisements. The best tournament ads do not just sell boots or jerseys. They capture the emotion and mythology of football itself. Now, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup drawing closer, Adidas may have delivered another instant classic.


Adidas dropped its new cinematic campaign this week by featuring a star-studded cast of Timothee Chalamet leading the ad and a small team of three, which includes the new generation icons Lamine Yamal and Jude Bellingham.

The 5-minute master class titled “Backyard Legends”  starts with Timothée Chalamet in haste, talking to a person trying to convince them about a team he is putting together.

The team is then shown to consist of Trinity Rodman, an American soccer player, with Lamine Yamal and Jude Bellingham in the backset, trying to adjust to each other’s presence. Timothée Chalamet casually jokes about their impeccable chemistry.

The point of putting the team together is to face off against the unbeaten ‘Backyard Legends”, who haven’t lost a single game since 1996 ( or 95’, even Tim isn’t sure about that). The trio consists of three teens called Isaak, Ruthie, and Clive. They start off playing against kids in their age group, but keep going forward at a remarkable pace, playing kids twice their size, age, and still going unbeaten. 

The audience thinks the streak gets buried when the retro legends David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, and Del Piero show up. The initial goals are a cakewalk for them. Audience thinks so too, but no, the teens show up in the most creative of ways possible and walk them down to a defeat with Clive using Zidane’s roulette against him and scoring on them. 


The legends have gathered such a status about their backyard feats that EVERYBODY is talking to them. 

Ousmane Dembele does not believe it and calls it some kind of magic trick. Raphinha believes the legend, but Pedri seems to deny it. After all, why would modern maestros believe such a tale, which sounds nothing but a mythical play? 


Timothee’s crew arrives at the famous backyard to face off against the legends and see what the hype is all about.


The Dune star is sure he has delivered with the crew that he has got together. Messi and Bad Bunny are confident he did, but Messi says he will play against the teens if his crew fails. 

Clive’s auntie drops the ball down, and it’s time for a kick-off. The ad ends with a bright yellow wording saying “You Got This” and an overview of the crowded turf with the game about to begin. 

Football Twitter erupted within minutes of the trailer dropping. One viral reaction simply read, “Now the World Cup really begins.” Another fan posted that Adidas had “brought back aura to football adverts again.” The inclusion of Chalamet especially caught fans off guard, with many joking that the Oscar-nominated actor had somehow become football’s newest creative director overnight.




Former England striker Peter Crouch also joined the conversation after reposting the ad on X, adding to the growing hype surrounding the campaign. His reaction summed up what many football fans were already feeling: tournament season has officially arrived.




The ad is filled with cameos, which appeal to both the modern and retro audience. The ad is all about the culture of football and how it brings people of all races, creeds, and classes together to enjoy a game together, with no boundaries between anyone of any type. 


Part of the ad’s success lies in how perfectly it blends football, music, fashion and internet culture into one package. Messi brings legacy, Yamal and Bellingham represent football’s new generation, while Bad Bunny and Chalamet bridge the gap between sport and pop culture. It feels less like a traditional sports commercial and more like a crossover between legends to show that football is still a sport for everyone. 

The visuals themselves have also drawn praise. Adidas reportedly spent heavily on the production, even using AI-enhanced recreations for Beckham throwback sequences.

With the 2026 World Cup set to be hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, Adidas clearly understands the assignment. The company is not just promoting a tournament. It is selling football culture itself.

And judging by Twitter’s reaction, fans are buying in completely.

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