Adidas drops star-studded 'Backyard Legends' ad ahead of World Cup

Adidas is coming full force for the World Cup. On Thursday, the athletic company released their cinematic “Backyard Legends” campaign for the tournament. The five-minute spot features a whole galaxy of celebrities in a suspenseful adventure to find the best soccer squad in town.

Timothée Chalamet stars in the ad as the actor looks to assemble a squad capable of beating Clive, Ruthie and Isaak, an unbeatable local crew who haven't lost a street match in decades. Chalamet settles on the formidable trio of Jude Bellingham, Trinity Rodman and Lamine Yamal, regaling the three stars with tales of Clive, Ruthie and Isaak's dominance. The spot features a number of cameos from soccer stars, including the 2002 versions of Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero and David Beckham, as well as the current versions of Ousmane Dembélé, Raphinha, Pedri, Florian Wirtz and Santiago Gimenez.

Lionel Messi, who won the 2022 World Cup Golden Ball and is a longtime Adidas athlete, also makes an appearance along with Bad Bunny. The music superstar furthers his sports ties with his appearance in the spot. He also performed at the Super Bowl 60 halftime show and partnered with Adidas for a Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 merchandise collection.

Adidas made history last month by becoming the first shoe to be worn by an athlete who ran a sub-two-hour marathon. For the World Cup, the brand is the official outfitter of 22 national teams, including Messi’s Argentina, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and Japan. Earlier this spring, Adidas released a denim collection paying homage to the 1994 U.