- Palace and Nike Football have unveiled the X2 collection, a capsule line merging football culture, British identity, and streetwear aesthetics ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
- Wayne Rooney helped unveil the collection's varsity jacket on May 21 via Nike Football's Polaroid campaign, wearing the Palace x Nike Cryoshot sneaker in black patent leather with white and red details.
- Palace is one of seven streetwear brands paired with a national team in Nike's ambitious World Cup collaboration program, alongside names like Jacquemus x France, NOCTA x Canada, and Patta x Netherlands.
- The X2 jersey features an all-over stained glass-inspired graphic of St. George, England's patron saint, with a dark base, the England crest, and a co-branded Nike x Palace logo.
Two of England’s most iconic footballers are front and centre as Palace Skateboards and Nike drop their World Cup campaign film for the Three Lions.
In the preview spot, Wayne Rooney is seen sitting in what looks like a doctor’s office, wearing the collab Cryoshots in black patent leather with white and red details, alongside a full Palace x Nike England outfit including track pants and a co-branded varsity jacket.
Lionesses legend Jill Scott also stars in the campaign film alongside Rooney, a pairing that bridges England’s men’s and women’s football heritage in a single frame.
The X2 capsule collection blends football culture, British identity, and streetwear aesthetics. The warm-up jersey features a stained glass graphic of Saint George at its centre, lending the piece a deeper cultural dimension beyond traditional football construction.
Lionel Messi and Ronnie Fieg teaming up with Adidas Football for a World Cup jersey collection reflects how sportswear giants are going all-in on culture-driven campaigns for 2026.
Nike’s wider summer campaign also features Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Young Miko, and Kim Kardashian, signaling a deliberate push beyond athlete-only storytelling into music, fashion, and pop culture.
For Rooney, the X2 campaign is a reunion of sorts. His most enduring brand partnership has always been with Nike, a relationship stretching back to his Everton days with a lifetime deal reportedly worth over £10 million.
He previously fronted the P90 collection alongside Leah Williamson and was part of Nike’s 2014 World Cup “Risk Everything” campaign. Most recently, Rooney has been working as a BBC pundit on Match of the Day while maintaining selective commercial commitments.
Jill Scott, England’s second-most capped player with 161 appearances and a Euro 2022 champion, has remained highly visible since retiring, moving into punditry and co-owning Manchester coffee shop Boxx2Boxx. She also captained the Soccer Aid England team in 2024 and is set to feature again in Soccer Aid 2025 on May 31.
The Palace campaign marks her most notable brand appearance since retirement. It also sits alongside David Beckham’s recent World Cup advertising work, as further proof that football legends remain highly bankable campaign assets heading into this summer’s tournament.
The full extent of the X2 collection is expected to be unveiled in early June, ahead of the 2026 World Cup’s June 11 kick-off.
Takeaways
This campaign is more than kit drop, it’s Palace staking its claim as a genuine bridge between London streetwear and England’s footballing soul.
Pairing Rooney, who literally grew up wearing Total 90s, with Jill Scott, one of the Lionesses’ greatest-ever players, signals that Nike and Palace aren’t just targeting nostalgia; they’re speaking to both men’s and women’s football audiences in one campaign. That’s a smart, inclusive play heading into a World Cup where England will carry enormous national expectation.
Does pairing a men’s legend and a women’s icon in the same England campaign signal a new standard for how brands approach football sponsorships? With Palace now tied to both the P90 and X2 collections for Nike, how far can the Palace-Nike England universe grow before the World Cup ends?
