Nike Mercurial

Mercurial

In 1996, Nike began working with the Brazilian football team and its young superstar, Ronaldo, whose talent inspired the Nike Mercurial football boot. Made to match his outstanding pace and ball control, it was launched for the 1998 World Cup with a cutting-edge design that helped him win the Golden Ball as Brazil made the final. They lost the game, but the image of Ronaldo with the striking silver, blue and yellow R9 colourway hanging around his neck afterwards has since become iconic.

The Mercurial was hugely popular, and Nike established a line of Mercurial football boots, each optimised for the most exciting players. Ronaldo was its ambassador, and at the 2002 World Cup he wore the Nike Mercurial Vapor, whose advanced upper facilitated even greater ball control, earning him the Golden Shoe and Brazil the title.

The high-performance Vapor series has since been worn by some of the greatest footballers in the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, who launched a whole new era of the Mercurial after using his incredible skills to take Portugal to the Euro 2004 final. Two years later, he and his Brazilian namesake put in some amazing performances at the 2006 World Cup in the agile Vapor 3, and as the latter ended his glittering career, the former won the 2008 Champions League in the rapid Mercurial Vapor SL.

Soon after, Nike produced another Mercurial model: the Superfly. Quick and highly manoeuvrable, it was designed based on feedback from professional footballers and packed with advanced technologies. Its second edition arrived just before the 2010 World Cup, allowing players to show off even more skill and finesse.

Throughout the 2010s, Nike innovated on the Vapor and the Superfly, partnering with emerging talents like Neymar and Lieke Mertens. In the meantime, Cristiano Ronaldo received a host of awards and led Portugal to the 2016 Euro title while wearing the Mercurial Superfly 5. Then, in 2017, a precocious Frenchman named Kylian Mbappé joined Nike’s list of mercurial stars.

Mbappé won the 2018 World Cup with France in the Superfly 6, and in 2019, he became the youngest player to be given his own Nike collection. Meanwhile, Megan Rapinoe took the United States to the Women’s World Cup title in the Mercurial Vapor 13, receiving the Golden Boot and Golden Ball in the process.

The Mercurial’s success led to several fashion collaborations, with creative geniuses like Kim Jones and Virgil Abloh each designing their own unique colourways. Nike continued to innovate, adding a new Vaporposite mesh to the series which allowed Ronaldo and Mbappé to perform at their best in the 2022 World Cup, the Frenchman scoring a remarkable hat-trick in the final.

In 2024, the next superstar, Vinicius Junior, and the latest Zoom Mercurial were added to Nike’s lineup, each one showing off their athletic abilities around the world. Like the original, it was designed for the fastest and most skilful players, who will always be the ambassadors of this magical football boot.