Is this the Best Nike Commercial of All Time? “Winner Stays”

Could this be the best Nike Soccer commercial ever released – decide for yourself by checking it out above. Personally, it is definitely one of the top soccer commercials from any brand I have ever seen and the nature of how quickly it has gone viral only increases its case.

Today, Nike launched the second part of its ‘Risk Everything’ Football campaign for 2014 with a film called “Winner Stays.” While Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr. and Wayne Rooney are back, they are now joined by a host of other football superstars and a few special guests.

Davide Grasso, Chief Marketing Officer for Nike, comments:

We connect to players’ passion for the game, whether it is the world’s best in Brasil or players in the park or street. ‘Winner Stays’ taps into an experience that every young player around the world will recognize – competition with friends and the idea of playing with your heroes or pretending to be them.

The film opens on a park with two teams challenging each other in a pick-up game where the winner stays on. Straight away as the challenge is set, the stakes are raised: “Guess I’m Cristiano Ronaldo then,” says one. His opponent responds saying, “Yeah? Well I’m Neymar.”

In a split second a seemingly simple game between friends has become a grudge match of sorts, aided by the unique skills of some of the world’s greatest footballing talent. As the match develops, players call out the names of players to possess their specific skill, and before we know it Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain have joined the game.

Ronaldo scores a screamer to send his team 1-0 up and taunts one of his opponents, saying “The crowd goes wild,” upon which a crowd is revealed cheering behind him. His rival is not deflated and points out that 50,000 are screaming his name. As they banter the young player changes his shoes in to the Magista, a boot that’s not even out yet. Ronaldo counters to give us the world’s first glimpse of the new Mercurial Superfly.

The match continues and more players join the action: Gerard Pique makes a last-ditch tackle, David Luiz appears to be cloned, and a mix-up sees one boy’s dream of becoming Andrés Iniesta shattered in a fun moment of mistaken identity. This is a match for the ages.

Neymar breaks free to lob the keeper to make it 1-1 and the real Iniesta adds to his team’s tally by scoring a volley to make it 2-1. Rooney responds with a long-range effort to make it 2-2 and the Jumbotron announces “Next Goal Wins!”

As time is running out and both teams cautiously try to avoid any mistakes, the last remaining player yet to transform is brought down inside the box by David Luiz. Ronaldo steps up to take the penalty but is pushed aside by the brave youngster, who seizes his moment to risk everything and take responsibility for the game-defining moment.

The full list of players featured in the film is: Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Gonzalo Higuaín, Eden Hazard, Andrea Pirlo, Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta, Mario Götze, Thiago Silva, Thibaut Courtois, Tim Howard, David Luiz and… David Luiz.