Celebrity Name: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior
Brand Name: LEGO
Deal Type: Global Brand Partnership / Product Endorsement
Announced: April 2026
Impact: Expands LEGO’s presence in sports, positions the brand at the heart of World Cup conversation, and deepens each player’s commercial footprint with collectible-driven fan engagement
- LEGO launched its official FIFA World Cup 2026 marketing campaign with a viral video featuring brick versions of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, and Vinícius Jr.
- The video features all four players seated around a round table building a LEGO model of the World Cup trophy together, ending with a young boy placing the final minifigure on top.
- The campaign, titled “Everyone Wants a Piece,” marks the first time all four stars have shared the screen together, symbolically passing the torch from the Messi-Ronaldo era to the next generation.
- The push is anchored by a new line of LEGO Editions products, with each player reimagined as a minifigure, telling their personal story through buildable sets featuring hidden fan easter eggs, global pop-up activations, and exclusive player content.
The LEGO Group has kicked off its global FIFA World Cup 2026 marketing push with a high-production campaign featuring four of football’s biggest icons.
In the viral ad, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Vinícius Jr. are seen building a LEGO replica of the World Cup trophy around a spinning table, until a young boy wins the honor of placing the final piece on top.
The campaign serves as a symbolic “torch-passing” moment: Messi and Ronaldo, the two greatest of their generation, sit alongside Mbappé and Vinícius Jr., the pair widely expected to define the 2026 tournament in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. It follows the iconic Louis Vuitton chess photo that broke the internet before the 2022 World Cup.
The four stars have been transformed into official minifigures to lead LEGO’s new ‘Editions’ collection, which shifts focus from silverware to the individual players who define the sport.
Just as Vinícius Jr., Cole Palmer, and Christian Pulisic starred in Rexona’s FIFA World Cup 2026 film and David Beckham fronted The Home Depot’s World Cup campaign, LEGO is leaning hard into football’s biggest personalities to capture pre-tournament buzz.
Off the pitch, Messi continues to lead Inter Miami in MLS, while Ronaldo remains prolific with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Mbappé and Vinícius are chasing silverware with Real Madrid in La Liga and the Champions League.
Alongside the hero videos, global pop-up activations will allow fans to build personalized kits and experience gameplay that connects LEGO creativity with football culture during the tournament window.
Takeaways
This campaign is a masterclass in generational storytelling. LEGO didn’t just assemble four famous faces, it constructed a narrative: the old guard meeting the new, bricks as the metaphor for building legacies.
The closing line “Everyone wants a piece” works on every level: a piece of the trophy, a piece of the LEGO set, a piece of football immortality.
For brands eyeing World Cup 2026 partnerships, the playbook is clear: anchor campaigns in emotion and story, not just celebrity endorsement.
The fact that this is the first time Ronaldo and Messi have co-starred in a promotional video since the famous Louis Vuitton campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup makes it a genuine cultural event, not just an ad.
With the 2026 World Cup being the first 48-team tournament, will campaigns like this broaden football’s appeal beyond traditional markets? How does LEGO’s collectible strategy compare to other brands targeting football fans ahead of the tournament?
