Football has always lived beyond the pitch. It spills into streets, songs, shirts, schoolyards, barber shops, group chats and late-night arguments over impossible goals.
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Nike leans fully into that energy with “Rip the Script,” a fast-moving new film that launches the brand’s wider World Cup campaign and opens the door to what it calls the “universe of Nike Football.”
Created by Wieden+Kennedy and directed by Dan Streit of Somesuch, the six-minute film is less a traditional campaign video than a joyful collision of sport, entertainment, music and fashion. Current stars, retired legends and pop culture figures are thrown into a chaotic Hollywood-style movie studio, where the script quickly falls apart and instinct takes over.
Kylian Mbappé breaks away from defenders before finishing with a bicycle kick. Vini Jr. meets hostility with a smile. Cristiano Ronaldo keeps testing the limits of one athlete’s ambition. Erling Haaland waits for the right moment to strike. Legends including Eric Cantona, Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Didier Drogba and Jorge Campos continue to play by their own rules.
Around them, the football world expands into something bigger and stranger. LeBron James, Travis Scott, Ted Lasso, Kate Scott, Young Miko, LISA and others are pulled into the madness, while Channing Tatum appears as an Erling Haaland body double. Kim Kardashian also appears in a “soccer mom” role inspired by her real-life connection to the game through her son.
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“We know the magical moments in football happen when players trust their instincts,” said Helena Thornton, Nike’s vice president of brand management. “That’s the kind of football we love: fresh, instinctive, unexpected and creative.”
Thornton said the film was designed to meet football communities not only on screen, but also inside their own worlds and subcultures.
“We didn’t want to follow the traditional marketing playbook. We wanted to give them something worth talking about, worth clipping, worth wearing, worth showing up to. A story they don't just watch – one they can make their own. That’s the whole idea behind our universe of Nike Football,” she said.
That spirit has also found a local echo in Hong Kong. National team goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai said the idea of “Rip the Script” speaks directly to the mindset needed in local football.
“I believe ‘Rip the Script’ is the exact mindset Hong Kong football needs. True fearlessness isn't about celebrating when things are going smoothly; it’s about having the courage to tear up a negative script in times of adversity,” Yapp said.
“Hong Kong football never stops because our squad is packed with incredible talent — young players driven by potential, grit, and their own bold ideas. As long as the whole team continues to trust our instincts and embrace every possibility, the future of Hong Kong football will spark the most unexpected surprises.”
His words bring the global campaign closer to home. For Hong Kong football, “ripping the script” is not only about flair or spectacle. It is about refusing to be defined by old expectations, especially when the odds look difficult.
Nike said the wider football universe will continue to unfold this summer through new federation kits, elite performance boots, grassroots initiatives, culture-led fashion collections and large-scale fan experiences around the world.
At its heart, “Rip the Script” is a reminder that football is most alive when it escapes control. The best moments are rarely the ones written in advance. They come when players improvise, when fans claim the story as their own, and when a game becomes something larger than 90 minutes.
