My Starting 11 (Top 11 Soccer Commercials)

Since the world cup is here I decided to go back through as many soccer commercials as I could find and rank the top 11. I was going to do top 5 but I had so much fun looking at these and ranking them that it ballooned to 11. I am sure there are some of your favorite commercials that didn’t make this list. Sorry this is my list but I am sure you will enjoy watching these anyways. Some of these have sentimental value or speak to me in some sort of way. I did not take any commercials that came out for the 2010 world cup into account.

11. Impossible Field
This came out a year before the last world cup. I am a big AC Milan fan and Kaka started to show his fine potential. The idea of playing on a field that is solely made of metal and the only part of the field that exists are the lines seems pretty intense to me. Of course there are many stars to shine in this video including the aforementioned Kaka, Raul, Ballack, Beckham and Saviola. I did enjoy seeing some of the players run along the side of the metal and not just on it. The us vs them theme has been done but it was a good commercial.

10. Sumo Soccer
This one is very ridiculous if you ask me. Mostly since it starts off casual almost as if this is a normal day without any fantasy driven subplot then the absurd happens. Some of the world’s finest soccer players, Rui Costa, Beckham, Edgar Davids, Roberto Carlos, Juan Sebastian Veron and Gigi Buffon seem to practicing and then all of a sudden a group of Sumo wrestlers show up to take them on. They play for Pepsi. That’s when the hilarity ensues. It’s an odd concept but it is a fun commercial nonetheless.

9. World Cup Anthem 2006
This commercial comes very close to the essence and beauty that is soccer. It is undeniable that soccer is the world’s sport. When I watched this commercial for the first time I could relate. Life is simple as this commercial makes it. The connection between sport and life is an amazing thing to experience. We don’t think of anything but the passion and excitement that such a simple thing can generate. It can bring people who are so different together.

8. Adidas Lots of balls
I don’t know the official name of this commercial but my title says it all. The commercial has Zidane, Beckham and Del Piero. They unload a truck full of balls in the middle of the square and wait for the result. Imagine if you did give people soccer balls or anything to play with, basketball, football, Frisbee, I am sure no one could resist and they would start playing. It just shows the joys of being outdoors and having fun. I guess you could say that most of the footage is faked or staged, but I think the result would be the same if it wasn’t.

7. Ole Brazil vs. Portugal
What happens when world footballers of the year, and a young to be world footballer of the year are about to play in a match. But before the match all hell breaks loose and they try to out trick each other just so they can say, Ole! This has a multitude of stars, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, and even Scolari(who has coached of Brazil and Portugal).

6. Take it the next level
When you watch this you will realize that Nike sticks to the same theme, that’s assuming of course that you will watch the world cup and see more nike commercials. I like this one because everyone dreams of playing soccer, being found by a big manager, then working your way up to being on the national team. It shows the ups and downs that you will experience. It has lots of stars, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sneijder, van Nistelroy, Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimavic. Very well done.

5. Nike – soccer vs ninjas
What if there was a ball that was the best in the world and it was up to the best soccer players to get it. I liked the combination of using some of the best soccer players and their skills adapt it to as if they were secret agents. Something goes wrong, thanks to edgar davids dreads, and the evil army or whatever have you come and attack the players and try to get the ball back. I think there might have been an oliver bierhoff sighting in this ad. The ending is a bit much but I like the idea.

4. Good vs. Evil
This one gets as high as a ranking as it does because mostly on sentimental value. I remember watching this commercial and just being blown away with it. Another us vs them by nike. This was the original, well the first I ever saw. These guys look as demonic as you can get, while still playing football. I wonder if this where they got the idea for space jam. It has some stars from back in the day, Maldini (whose opening line is perfect), the yes-no heroics of Jorge Campos, a skinny Ronaldo in his prime, Figo, Rui Costa and the list goes on. Cantona ends it my kind of style, with the collar up.

3. Nike Secret Tournament
What if this commercial were true? What if it actually did happen? Some of the best soccer players, sponsored by Nike of course, competed in a secret 3 on 3 tournament. I am sure there would be lots of tricks and moves like no other. I would definitely forgo the world cup and try to make it to this tournament. There are two there is the ship one and the cage one. Either one would suffice for me. You have players like Totti, Henry, Van Nistelroy, Davids, Ronaldinho, Figo, Ronaldo to name just a few.

2. Brazil Airport
I like this video so much I have the song on my mp3 player. No one enjoys being at the airport anymore. Let’s say you and your friends, Ronaldo, Cafu, Rivaldo, are hanging out at the airport and then you are told you’re flight has been cancelled. What do you do? You turn the whole airport into a soccer field. Doesn’t it seem obvious? One of the best parts is that the security turn into the opposition and then Ronaldo the world’s best striker is taking a shot between two stanchions……great ending!

1. Jose +10
When I first saw this commercial I thought they captured the essence of professional sports and the kids that follow. I never did this with soccer since I have only recently picked up the game but I did do it with basketball. You pick your fav players to be on your team or you pick players to be. Magic Johnson passes it to Jordan. You can’t go wrong with the combination of little kids playing with some of the best in the world in between apartment buildings. One kid turns to the other and they start to pick players. They even pick some of the best players from back in the day. Then they just start playing. How the story line develops is pure gold. Kaka gets benched. The ending is very well done.

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