5 Top Football Advertisements - World Cup Edition

Football is the most watched sporting game in the world. Period. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the marketing agencies and PR companies often look to use football or footballers in their ad campaigns, as it is bound to garner a lot of traction.

The following - surrounding football and those who play the beautiful game - is no hidden secret. We've seen companies like Adidas, Pepsi, Gatorade and Red Bull often come up with witty advertisements to sell their products and services.

Few have been able to master the art of footballing ad campaigns as well as Nike have. They are indeed the gold standard when it comes to producing the perfect football ad, hitting all the footballing sweet spots - resulting in large numbers of people not just being exposed to the ad; but people often going back to view these campaigns repeatedly which have a high recall value in the consumer's mind.

So it comes as no surprise then, that in our list of the 5 top footballing advertisements produced to for the World Cup, four have been made by Nike. Let's take a look.

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#5 Jose+10 Adidas Commercial (WC 2006)

Voted as the best commercial during World Cup 2006, this 2-minute version of the Adidas commercial doesn't feature the, now, Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho. Instead, we get a small kid named Jose who is looking to take on his friend Pedro is a football match.

Disappointed? Don't worry, because the ad more than makes up as far as star power is concerned.

So who does it feature?

Just you average footballing royalty - Zidane, Beckham, Beckenbauer, Platini, Cisse, Kaka, Defoe, Kahn, Lampard and Klose.

Go on! Give it a look.

#4 Nike World Cup Advert With Rooney Ronaldo And Neymar (Risk everything campaign)

It's all Nike from here on now!

This one comes from the brilliant campaign that Nike ran for the last World Cup, held in Brazil, called Risk Everything.

What this ad is successful in doing in its short run-time, is get the viewer a sense of the anticipation and the pressure that top footballing players - of the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Neymar - are under day in day out.

But nothing surpasses the importance of the World Cup in the game, therefore the pressure on the players in this particular tournament is higher than at any point in their illustrious careers.

Not buyin' it?

Watch the video and tell me the tension isn't palpable, and this is just an ad!

#3 Write the Future: Nike for WC 2010 South Africa

Nike's "Write the Future" series is a classic "what if" scenario by the merchandise company, directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu for the UK based production company, Independent Films Limited.

The commercial aired during the World Cup held in South Africa and was critically acclaimed for the self-depreciating humour that it contains. The ad succeeds in packaging the life of a footballer - playing at the highest level - in about three minutes.

The roller-coaster life of England's best striker is perfectly summed up in the ad and never fails to get a few laughs.

Even Roger Federer and Kobe Bryant make an appearance in the commercial. Need any more reasons to watch it?

#2 Nike Football: The Last Game ft. Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Rooney, Zlatan, Iniesta & more

This gem from Nike was produced before the 2014 World Cup. It featured some of the best players in Ronaldo, Zlatan, Neymar, Rooney and Iniesta as, wait for it, animated cartoons.

Yeah, you read that right! It also has David Luiz in it, but we failed to understand why. Anyhow...

The result of the animations is quite spectacular, the self-deprecation in the previous ad is taken to a whole new level (thanks to footballers being mere animations) and the ad also successfully tackles a very sensitive issue in the footballing world these days - the right way to play football.

The Last Game is a story about risky football versus safe football.The scientist and the clones want to prove that riskless football is more effective.

Ronaldo Fenomeno and the original players disagree, and they are willing to risk everything to prove the scientist wrong.

There is only one way to know who is right: the Last Game.

You can count on Ronaldo (the original) to save football when it is in trouble and a little preview is provided by the commercial.

#1 Winner Stays On -- Nike Risk Everything

On top spot on our list is this quite brilliant ad by Nike Football. This one came out before the last World Cup and is a throwback to the "normal kids pick their dream 11" to play with on a local football pitch, with a twist.

The commercial includes legends of the modern game and unsurprisingly got the fans all hot and bothered.

Witty taunts, silky touches, Zlatan talking in the first person, Irina Shayk blowing a kiss at you and a kid stepping up to take the penalty off Cristiano!

What else can we expect from a perfect football ad?

Not much more; we're certain.