Adidas sweeps the World Cup final as Nike's 12 teams all fall short

Adidas will kit out both sides in the World Cup final after Argentina’s semi-final victory over England on Wednesday eliminated the last of Nike’s 12 sponsored teams from contention. The result means the Nike swoosh will be entirely absent from Sunday’s showpiece, with Spain and Argentina both wearing Adidas.

The outcome is a significant blow to Nike, which had backed 12 national teams across the tournament — including semi-finalists England and France — while Adidas sponsored 14. With both finalists in its corner, Adidas has been declared the “clear winner” in the athletic footwear and apparel market by Drake MacFarlane, a research analyst at M Science.

M Science data shows Adidas’s share of the footwear market climbed to 19.2% in June, up from 16.0% a year earlier, while Nike continued to lose ground. MacFarlane noted that Adidas’s improvement extends beyond the tournament itself, with stronger momentum recorded in both the United States and Europe during the second quarter.

The timing is uncomfortable for Nike, which is navigating a broader turnaround under CEO Elliott Hill. The company signalled last month that its recovery strategy faces persistent headwinds, including weakness in China and a cautious near-term outlook. Nike’s shares have shed nearly a third of their value this year.

Morningstar analyst David Swartz offered some perspective on the brand battle’s limits. “There are more important issues, such as footwear innovation, inventory control, and stabilising sales and margins in China,” he said. “Adidas got more publicity, but that’s just the way it goes.”

Nike did invest substantially in the tournament. The company launched two new Mercurial boot colourways, refreshed football merchandise across more than 5,000 stores globally, and ran its “Rip the Script” campaign featuring Kylian Mbappé and Kim Kardashian, which accumulated 1.5 billion views in its first week. National team kits sold 2.5 times more than during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

A Nike spokesperson said the company’s “vision for football has never been tied to a single moment.” Adidas described the final as a “proud moment” but declined to provide specific sales projections.