Wayne Rooney Recites Shakespeare for Nike x Palace Ahead of FIFA World Cup

With Jill Scott, England pride, Stonehenge and a skull

“This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”

Pitch legends Wayne Rooney and Jill Scott raise national pride to Shakespearean levels in a bold, at times bombastic (but unfailingly sincere) World Cup collab from Palace Skateboards and Nike.

Rocking a puffed Elizabethan collar, Wayne recites timeless lines from Richard II. As he speaks, an intense exploration of British fandom unfolds, courtesy of Stink Studio and directing duo Burnermunde (Mustafa “Musti” Mohamoud and Arran Ashan).

The 2-minute film’s appeal to national pride seeks to promote an upcoming Nike x Palace capsule collection. Rooney and others in the ad model some of that gear.

Leveraging soccer’s biggest showcase as World Cup fever rises, the approach fuses fantasy segments (Scott kicks a ball at Stonehenge) with slice-of-life vignettes (there’s a sweet wedding scene plus celebrating fans).

Wayne did an excellent read: down to earth and heartfelt, with a compelling touch of drama. (David Tennant’s feeling nervous today.)

“At its core, we wanted to reimagine what England means,” Burnermunde says in press materials. “Not in a grand, patriotic way. More like: this is what it is. England isn’t one thing. It’s always changing.”

Creative director Stuart Hammond helped develop the campaign with Nike and Palace’s in-house teams and VFX director Finn Dove. The work rolls out this week across social channels.