Did Aldi really fashion a World Cup winner? System1 think so

Quite a lot of chatter about which World Cup ads were the best (before the current lot) and ad measurement firm System1 has upset the applecart rather by spurning the likes of Nike and Adidas for Aldi.

Here’s their top scorer, from 2022.

Beating the likes of this from Nike (many people’s favourite and an influence on Aldi)

Now it may be recalled that the 2022 FIFA World Cup was in that hotbed of football Qatar and actually concluded on December 18 (their winter.) So maybe Aldi got a lift from its long-running Christmas advertising sequence.

Chief Growth Officer Andrew Tindall says: “Creative consistency is one of the most powerful and underused tools in marketing. Five of these ads would have ranked alongside the top-performing World Cup ads of 2026, yet none are currently on air. Brands are sitting on a vault of proven creative gold.

“The winners are often the brands that build on what already works. Aldi’s reimagining of Airport is a great example. Adidas’ Backyard Legends also echoes many of the ingredients that made Jose+10 so effective years earlier.

“The lesson is simple: great creative ideas do not wear out. Nike may have said RIP the Script, but why have they said RIP to Airport? Some ideas are worth bringing back.”

Here’s the top ten:

Aldi (2022) – Feast for Football – 5.0 Stars
Pepsi (2002) – Sumo – 5.0 Stars
Pepsi (2006) – Dare for More – 4.6 Stars
Adidas (2006) – Jose+10 – 4.5 Stars
Mars (2010) – Singing for England – 4.5 Stars
Adidas (2002) – Footballitis – 4.1 Stars
Visa (2010) – Football Evolution – 4.1 Stars
Adidas (2014) – The House Match – 4.0 Stars
Nike (1998) – Airport – 3.9 Stars
Pepsi (2022) – Nutmeg Royale – 3.9 Stars