Adidas, Messi, Beckham and Wirtz Address Pressures on the Pitch

Adidas has launched a campaign grounded in handling pressure on the soccer pitch. The work arrives on the eve of two major soccer competitions: EURO 2024 and Copa90 (the latter is South America’s leading event).

“You Got This” features Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham and Florian Wirtz. All appear in the film below narrated by David Beckham. 

“We set out to help reframe the narrative around pressure and focus on our rallying cry —”You Got This”—to both inspire the next generation of and also motivate elite athletes to achieve their possibilities on the pitch,” says Florian Alt, vp of global brand communications at Adidas. 

This marks the campaign’s second iteration. The first broke in February, featuring athletes across the sporting landscape, like Pat Mahomes, Trinity Rodman, Rohit Sharma and the New Zealand Rugby team All Blacks. The goal: to help inspire people overcome the impact of negative pressure in sports, especially those representing their nations on a global stage.

Round Two is a collaboration between Adidas’ in-house teams and agency partners TBWA, Jellyfish and others. It runs over the coming weeks during broadcasts of COPA America, the EUROs and Major League Soccer matches, as well as on Adidas social channels. There’s also OOH in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. 

An impetus for the campaign was research the brand conducted in partnership with Neuro11 to explore how competitors’ brains respond to pressure. 

“The findings revealed that elite athletes manage pressure 40 percent more effectively during high-stake moments like penalties,” says Alt.

Beckham’s involvement is notable. He endured public bullying after England’s loss in the 1998 World Cup. 

“The selection of partners for this iteration of the campaign was made based on their genuine connection and experiences with pressure, particularly in the context of football,” says Alt. “While each player brings their own unique story, this campaign aims to uncover the shared experiences in how elite players navigate pressure, especially when representing their nation—whether it’s as a defending champion or making their debut appearance on the world stage.”

“You Got This” will expand later this year with ads tied to more international events.