Adidas’ World Cup Win Sets the Stage for Bigger Battle with Nike in the U.S. Market

After its major World Cup moment, Adidas is ready to make a bigger play for the U.S. market.

The world’s high-impact soccer event, which ended in New Jersey on Sunday in an all- final between Argentina and Spain, provided another reason for the German brand to be optimistic about its prospects at a time when Nike continues to be in transition.

Make no mistake, the Swoosh’s blockbuster campaign generated huge attention and media impact, but early indications are that Adidas emerged as the winner on the sales front. (More details should emerge next Thursday, when Adidas reports second-quarter earnings on July 30.)

“The World Cup has been great and a huge success for Adidas. We connected with consumers around the world in a fun way, sold four times more jerseys than at the last World Cup and twice as many balls. In total, we expect event-related of around 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion), which also includes football-inspired streetwear that is in high demand everywhere,” Adidas chief executive officer Bjørn Gulden told Footwear News in an e-mailed statement. “Our plan to invest in inventory availability ahead of the tournament has clearly paid off. And even seeing two teams — in addition to the referees and the ball — in Three Stripes in the final was more than we could have wished for.”

Gulden said that of the 14 teams competing in Three Stripes, “Mexico has been our bestselling national team jersey, with the two finalists Argentina and Spain also seeing exceptional demand. In addition, the U.S. denim jersey collection, inspired by the 1994 World Cup, became one of Adidas’ most successful apparel releases of the summer.”

The Adidas CEO added: “To meet anticipated demand, Adidas worked closely with its wholesale partners by establishing dedicated processes for high-demand products, including pre-embellished player jerseys.” In addition, he noted that the brand also connected with fans through its Home of Soccer fan zones in select host cities, welcoming more than 250,000 visitors across Los Angeles, Toronto and New York.

It’s a big win for Adidas and a move in the right direction, given that it still has to do in North America to catch up with its biggest competitor, the behemoth known as Nike Inc.

Wall Street analysts were already bullish on Adidas for first-half growth, based on strong brand heat and healthy upcoming product pipeline launches amid World Cup fever.

“We view Adidas as a clear out-performer during the World Cup time period, with observed apparel year-over-year growth for the brand accelerating substantially in Q2 in our U.S. data,” said M Science research analyst Drake MacFarlane. “Although both Nike and Puma also benefit from the World Cup, Adidas appears to well outpace both in the category, which we believe reflects, in part, their dominance within the soccer jersey sub-segment.”

Telsey Advisory Group (TAG) analyst Cristina Fernández is also expecting a “very good” second quarter report from Adidas, helped by World Cup related sales and underlying strength in the core business. She cited to Placer.ai traffic data indicating that Adidas stores saw an eight percent increase in traffic in the U.S. in the second quarter, up from flat in the first quarter.

“We also believe Adidas merchandise sold through well at U.S. retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods,” Fernández said. She noted that worldwide, Google Trends data also showed that web searches for the brand increased in the second quarter. “We attribute the improvement to Adidas’ expanded assortment of apparel, footwear, and accessories for the World Cup and football/soccer culture,” she said. Based on the data points, the TAG analyst is projecting a sales growth forecast of 6.72 billion euros ($7.67 billion), with gross margin at 51.2 percent due to higher tariff costs and unfavorable foreign exchange.

Fernández sees Adidas as a well-run business and has an “Outperform” rating on shares of the company’s stock.

“While the recent sales acceleration has been helped by the World Cup, a one-time event in 2026, Adidas’ brand momentum remains strong particularly in Europe, Latin America, Emerging Markets, and Asia (including China). The U.S. has under performed, but Adidas is investing in local and college sports to drive brand heat and strengthening relationships with wholesale partners,” the TAG analyst noted.

Adidas this past February also opened the first U.S.-only soccer-focused flagship store ahead of the World Cup, at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, N.J. The 9,000 square-foot store includes an immersive, soccer-driven retail experience showcasing the sports’ culture through premium athletic footwear and performance apparel. And the athletic brand also made a capsule of sneakers for three countries: Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. The Adidas Gazelle Bringback pack relies on each country’s national kit aesthetics and were available at Dick’s Sporting Goods at $130 a pair.

MacFarlane said that beyond the World Cup, there’s more reason for optimism.

“We still see Adidas momentum in the footwear category that is unrelated to the exogenous World Cup event. For instance, we still observe continued growth for the Adizero franchise within Running, as well as improvements in DTC growth within the Terrace collection, supported by the rise in the Samba Jane product model,” MacFarlane said. “Overall, while we consider the World Cup to be a positive, albeit brief, benefit to Adidas’ apparel business, we view the continued footwear momentum to be notable looking ahead.”

In the shoe segment, running also continues to fuel excitement for the brand, which was front and center during another major sports moment this spring.

That came during the London marathon when its new super shoe swept the London Marathon, with Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha making history in the men’s race in a sub-two-hour race, while Tigst Assefa won and broke the women’s world record. All three winners wore the new Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 shoe to victory. The Adizero franchise gave Adidas shares a boost in April.