The 2026 World Cup is over. A controversial tournament, it saw some contentious moments (the corruption and political interference, the hydration breaks that England fans booed until the end) but also some incredible highs. From cross-team comradery – the Bellingham-Halaand friendship, the England and France players praying together following their third place match – to the magic of debutantes Cape Verde’s journey, the tournament demonstrated the power of football to bring people and cultures together despite all odds. 

It also saw the highest number of goals ever scored in a World Cup tournament, with 308 balls hitting the back of the net. 105 of those goals (34 per cent or one in three) were scored in Nike’s new Mercurial boots, according to data provided by the brand. Golden boot winner Kylian Mbappé contributed 10 of them, while players like Vinicius Junior, Désiré Doue, and Dazed cover star Marcus Rashford also added to the tally. Ronaldo, who inspired a special gold version of the boot in celebration of his scoring in six consecutive World Cups, netted three. 

While the Mercurials might have been the luckiest boots on the 2026 pitch, their history goes back over 25 years. The boots first debuted at the 1998 World Cup with Brazilian Ronaldo. Created especially for the star player, the Mercurial R9 focused on speed, dribbling and goal scoring ability, and was significant for how lightweight it was – introducing a synthetic upper at a time when leather still dominated the market. From then on its popularity grew with players like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry and Didier Drogba all donning the shoe. It was in 2008, however, when it made waves in the football world with the pink “Rosa” Mercurial Vapour IV.

Until 2008, football was pretty conservative when it came to bright or daring colours. Then, in November, Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner took to the pitch in his pink Mercurials and caused a huge stir. Tabloid media decried it a “stunt” while some Premier League managers including Sir Alex Ferguson banned their younger players from wearing anything but black. The “Pink Panthers”, as they were known, were considered so controversial that they were usually reserved for the game’s chaos merchants – think Neymar Jr or Mario Balotelli.

Fast forward 18 years, however, and the bright colourway has forever changed the traditional look of the game. Flashy footwear is commonplace now, with pink, in particular, dominating the World Cup this year – 22 out of 26 of the England team wore the colour, while all four of the major sportswear brands chose it for the boots in their tournament collections. Both of Nike’s updated Mercurials – the Vapor 17 and the Superfly 11 – come in pink.

The Superfly 11, worn by Mbappé, was built for breakaway speed and open space, and features the brand’s most responsive speed system yet – perfect for accelerating into stride, sustaining top speed and threatening late in matches. “This one is for lightweight propulsion,” Phil McCartney, Nike’s EVP chief innovation, design and product officer tells Dazed. At the centre of Superfly is an external Air Zoom unit which compresses under real play load and responds as the foot leaves the ground. This system is stabilised by a newly engineered structure which also preserves forefoot flex, agility and control while braking and cutting.

Meanwhile, the Vapor 17, the lightest Mercurial to date, is designed for explosive speed in tight spaces, helping players with their fast feet, sharp cuts, rapid pivots and instant bursts. “We’ve perforated things, we’ve used the new Atomknit, we’ve cored the plate out. Everything to be lightweight and fast,” says McCartney. Rounded chevron studs are aligned for start‑stop traction and fast changes in direction. On why the pink colourway was chosen, McCartney says they wanted the boots to be beautiful. “We want incredible designs, we want amazing colour. We want them to show up on the pitch with the iridescent plate and the pink fades and the black swoosh.”

The innovation in the new boots was a three-year process, although the brand is working to shorten the timeline to keep up with how quickly the sport and the players are evolving. It starts off in Nike’s sports research lab with what McCartney calls “the science of speed”. That learning is used to create lots of prototypes which are then given to players to test out and give feedback on. “[They tell us] the good, the bad, things blow up that aren’t very good. Players hate them and so then you take them back and say, ‘Okay but you liked that part,’” he says. “We just keep obsessing and obsessing and obsessing.” Finally you end up with something special.

“Players love these boots,” says McCartney. With one out of three of all World Cup goals scored in them, it’s not hard to see why.