‘Famous Five’: Adidas releases incredible advert to celebrate Lionel Messi’s final World Cup

Arguably the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi will be desperate to go one better than 2014 this time, when Argentina lost the final to Germany in extra time. To celebrate Messi’s World Cup legacy, Adidas Football has released a new ad campaign, which features shots of him from each of his World Cup outings. The incredible clip shows Messi playing against the four previous versions of himself. The 35-year-old has said this will “very likely” be his last World Cup, and he has yet to emulate past legends Pele and Diego Maradona by winning football’s biggest prize.

The advertisement, titled “Impossible Rondo”, shows Messi throughout his World Cup appearances and different shots of his previous outings, while he is having a great time on the field with his current self. It’s nothing less than a treat for Messi fans – as they can see the transformation of a long-haired 19-year-old prodigy into the clean-shaven 35-year-old Messiah, exuding unparalleled brilliance.

A statement on Adidas’s official website reads: “Combining real footage of the Argentinian forward from 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018, Adidas makes the impossible, possible with a one-of-a-kind Messi vs Messi rondo warm up. Created using the latest in artificial intelligence and VFX, the film showcases the last 18 years of the world’s greatest player, celebrating his achievements in an unexpected way.”
Adidas further said: “Complete with his haircuts, Argentina shirts and Adidas boots across the previous five tournaments, historical and present-day footage of Messi was used to produce the different, de-aged versions of him. This was then applied to body doubles to allow the ‘impossible’ warm-up to come to life.”

Messi and Argentina are in Group C and kick off their campaign against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, November 22, at 3:30 pm IST.