• by Sarah Mahoney , September 18, 2026

On, the Swiss sportswear company, is moving into soccer and has announced Kylian Mbappé as the face of the brand.

In addition to Mbappé, the reigning World Cup Golden Boot champion, the company has also signed Thierry Henry, the legendary French striker and leading pundit.

Henry will be the director of football, and has been working behind the scenes on the new division since last year.

On has also added Sydney Schertenleib, the Swiss international and FC Barcelona player. She has been an ambassador for training and lifestyle since last year, and will be the face of On’s women’s football collections.

“Football doesn’t need another sportswear brand to do more of the same,” says David Allemann, founder and co-CEO of On, in the announcement. “Football needs new ideas and a challenge to what is possible. When we enter a sport, we want to be the brand of the future – through true innovation and contemporary design. Our ambition is to bring On’s approach to the pitch, the pavement, and the runway – connecting elite performance with the culture that surrounds the game.”

CNBC is reporting that Nike pulled the plug on its nearly 20-year relationship with Mbappé. A source told the outlet that Nike felt it had “benefitted from the prime years of his career and decided to use its endorsement money elsewhere.”

The New York Times’ Athletic, however, reports that Mbappé ended the relationship. Nike told the Athleticthat it signed the player when he was nine years old, and that the company wishes him “continued success for what comes next.”

The French superstar, who is 27, will be 31 for the 2030 World Cup.

Losing such a visible star comes as Nike wrestles with major image problems. Struggling with a transformation plan that has yet to gain much traction, investors are losing patience.

Nike was just tossed out of the S&P 100 due to declining valuation, effective Sept. 21. (It remains in the S&P 500.)

The company is also looking to build buzz wherever it can. This week, it named Alexandre Arnault to the board of directors. Arnault, son of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, is currently deputy CEO of Moët Hennessy, LVMH's wines and spirits division.

“Given Nike’s problems, it needs all the help it can get at this point,” David Swartz, a senior equity analyst for Morningstar, told Fortune. “My presumption is that Nike will only make a move like this if it has some tangible benefit. It’s not like Nike needed more board members.”

And while On continues to grow much faster than other sportswear companies, with sales up 13.5% in the most recent quarter, revenues came in slightly below Morningstar’s forecast.

Many observers worry that the industrywide slowdown in lifestyle sneakers will hurt On, too.

Morningstar’s Swartz is not too worried. “On's gross margins are among the highest in the sportswear industry and reflect its premium positioning,” he writes. “The firm's innovative product offerings and disciplined distribution will allow it to maintain high prices and margins.”