The Greatest World Cup TV Adverts of All Time

It’s easy to say that the Super Bowl has the greatest adverts in sport, but for anyone that loves the beautiful game, we all know a World Cup tournament brings out the very best! With Qatar 2022 coming up in November and December, we can start to expect the likes of Ronaldo and Messi gracing our screens in some fun, exciting and unforgettable adverts for some of the biggest brands on the planet. There have been plenty down the years, but which are the best?

2006 World Cup Advert: Carlsberg

A team featuring Peter Shilton, Peter Reid and Sir Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson would surely stand as one of the World Cup favourites. But in this instance it was purely for a kickaround for the greatest pub team in the world, probably.

1998 World Cup Advert: Airport Security!

1998 was perhaps the beginning of the star-studded World Cup advert and ahead of the France World Cup it was all about the Brazil side making their way through the airport. Ronaldo was the star of the show for Nike and used his samba skills to beat security with the ball at his feet.

2006 World Cup Advert: Pepsi’s Oktoberfest

Pepsi got into the spirit of the Germany World Cup with their Oktoberfest advert back in 2006, with the likes of Beckham, Figo, Henry and Roberto Carlos taking on a team of Germans complete with lederhosen. You even get a bit of Frank Lampard dancing. Can you name every England World Cup goalscorer in history? Try our quiz and test your knowledge.

2002 World Cup Advert: First Goal, Wins

Perhaps the greatest advert of all time and starred 24 superstars of the game. Cantona was the referee and if one man may let a few things slide it’s the mercurial Frenchman. Located in a cage and branded the Secret Tournament, it revolved around a three-a-side game where first goal wins. Ronaldo, Henry, Scholes and Figo all starred as well as a host of other footballing icons. A real trailblazer for Nike. It made everyone want a pair of Total 90s and launched a football boot that has certainly gone down as one of the most popular ever.

2002 World Cup: A Dose of Footballitis

Bill Shankly once reminded us that football is more than a matter of life and death and the 2002 Adidas advert reminded us of the awful disease that is footballitis. Fabien Barthez, Pierluigi Collina, David Beckham and Alessandro Del Piero all suffer from the disease where the main symptom is not knowing when football stops and real life begins. I think we all have a touch of that every now and again!

2014 World Cup: Winner Stays On

The likes of Neymar, Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo all starred in this fantastic ad from Nike. It was an advert that went back to the grassroots, with a kickabout down the park turning into a real grudge match. We’ll be expecting more of the same from Nike with plenty of World Cup favourites starring once more. It’s your move Nike.

2018 World Cup: FIFA’s World Cup game Advert

Once again featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, the advert for the 2018 Russia World Cup FIFA computer game was a story of a player making it from grassroots football to scoring on the biggest stage. There are always fairytale stories at the World Cup and hopefully, Qatar 2022 will be no different, especially with smaller nations making it to the final stages such as Costa Rica and Ecuador, who will play the first game of the tournament against hosts Qatar.