Nike World Cup Commercials | 1994-2010 - Football News

Nike have produced some of the most epic and monumental World Cup commercials since their first ad in 1994. One of the biggest events on the World Cup countdown calender, each Nike ad immediately goes viral and anticipation is now building to what the Swoosh have lined up for Brazil 2014.
 

We take a look back at 16 years of genius Nike videos from Ian Wright bicycle kicking a ball over London Bridge to Samba magic at airports to Ronaldo nutmegging Homer Simpson and enough Eric Cantona to shake your Vuvuzela at. Roll on the World Cup...

1994 World Cup | USA - The first major Nike ad arrived for the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Top talent such as Romario, Bebeto, Jorge Campos and Paolo Maldini came to life on huge brick walls to smash footballs to each other from across the world. Nike jumped the gun a bit by featuring Ian Wright and Eric Cantona on the ad, the problem being that England and France both infamously failed to qualify for the finals. Oops.

1998 World Cup | France - Nike arrived at the 1998 World Cup in France with, what is rated by many, as their best World Cup advert ever. The commercial featured 1994 World Champions Brazil playing football through an airport when their flight is delayed, Ronaldo and co take on security guards with colossal helpings of outrageous tekkerz. The music throughout the video has become one of the soundtracks to the World Cup.

2002 World Cup | Japan/S.Korea - The World Cup in Japan and Korea delivered another mammoth Nike ad. Eric Cantona hosted a series of cage matches made up of teams of three, including Henry, Totti, Ronaldinho and Luis Figo. Held on a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean the players battled it out in a 'last goal wins' styled tournament to the Elvis Presley track "A little less conversation".
 

2006 World Cup | Germany - The World Cup in Germany was all about the Joga Bonito campaign - a Portuguese phrase that translates to "The Beautiful Game". An irate, bearded, monobrowed Cantona interrupts a live news broadcast and reminds the world that football is about skills, heart and honour as he looks to make the game beautiful again. More Brazilians, more skills and more team spirit.

2010 World Cup | South Africa - The last Nike World Cup advert was arguably the most impressive yet. The 3 minute long film titled "Write The Future" saw stars such as Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo play out different scenarios in their heads should they succeed or fail. We also learnt how perfectly at home Wayne Rooney looks as a bearded man living in a run down caravan eating cold beans out of a bowl.

If the 'Dare to be Brasilian' campaign is anything to go by we can expect a whole lot more Brazilian style, Samba flavour, beaches and generous portions of Neymar to feature in the 2014 World Cup Nike commercial. Stay tuned...

What do you expect from Nike for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil? Got a favourite Nike World Cup ad? Let us know. Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.