• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

Nike launched World Cup creative ahead of the England vs. Argentina semi-final today in Atlanta.

The spot celebrates the unwavering faith of the now-heartbroken England fans, who had their hopes dashed via a 2-1 beating by the Argentines. 

Argentina will face Spain in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday. 

Since the entire concept rested on England beating Norway last weekend, the spot, created by Wieden+Kennedy and directed by Love Song director Illimitéworld, came together in only a few days. 

It was shot on Monday after just one day of prep, with editors and post teams working through the night to launch ahead of the game today. This required close collaboration between the agency, production company and Nike teams, and the same faith in England winning that the spot celebrates.

England has only won the World Cup once, in 1966, yet for 60 years its fans have carried an unwavering belief that this might finally be their year. 

Tournament after tournament, they return with pubs overflowing, flags hanging from windows.

Wayne Rooney, the fearless player who arrived at the 2026 World Cup carrying the expectations of a nation -- only to be felled by injury, a red card and another quarter-final exit -- stars in the spot. 

He is the face, quite literally, of English “insanity," his face painted in England flag warpaint, a nod to his notorious 2006 Nike print campaign also by Wieden + Kennedy.

Separately, AT&T celebrated its namesake stadium’s return to its familiar look after 30 days of FIFA World Cup matches. AT&T and the Dallas Cowboys are marking the removal of the temporary signage with a social video featuring Jerry Jones in his helicopter unveiling the AT&T Stadium logo, signaling the stadium’s return as it gears up for the start of Cowboys football. 

The brand launched social efforts on Instagram, X, Facebook and Threads.

Back to Nike: The brand debuted a massive marketing onslaught at the beginning of the tournament called "Rip the Script" — a campaign so ambitiously cast it might as well be called "Just Do Everyone,” according to Marketing Daily.  The brand says it wants the campaign to be a rallying cry for football lovers, asking them to ditch the usual playbook and embrace attacking, creative, instinctive and joyful football.

TV advertisers are getting a major bang for their national TV ad spend with higher "attention" scores for their messaging, according to iSpot. This includes Nike at 35% ($6.6 million), according to Television News Daily.