After unveiling a limited run of NikeiD Mercurial designs last week the Swoosh selected a number of young players to debut the "Mercurial Heritage Collection" on pitch this week as a tribute to the past five World Cup tournaments.
Nike began their World Cup 2018 preparations by celebrating the heritage of the Mercurial series with a collection of iconic World Cup designs. The graphics of the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 & 2014 Mercurials were reimagined on the new-generation Mercurial Superfly and Vapor 360 editions and were worn by players from the respective winning nation of that specific year: Kylian Mbappe & Ousmane Dembele (France 1998), Philippe Coutinho (Brazil 2002), Federico Chiesa (Italy 2006) Marco Asensio (Spain 2010), Leroy Sane (Germany 2014).
French duo Kylian Mbappe & Ousmane Dembele both gave winning starts to their design inspired by the first ever Nike Mercurial worn by Ronaldo in the 1998 World Cup in France. Mbappe wore the Superfly 360 edition in a 1-0 win over Bordeaux, and Dembele lifted the Copa del Rey with a 5-0 win over Sevilla.
Dembele's Barcelona teammate Philippe Coutinho switched into the Mercurial Vapor 360 which mirrored the silver design of the first-generation Mercurial Vapor worn by Nike players in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan – a tournament won by Brazil, hence Coutinho wearing the design this week.
Fiorentina's Federico Chiesa was given the privilege of being the only player to wear the bright yellow Mercurial Vapor III inspired design from the 2006 World Cup when Italy beat France. Chiesa was just eight-years-old when his nation last lifted the prize.
The most highlighted Nike Mercurial Heritage display of the week came from Real Madrid's Marco Asensio who wore the 2010 colourway to give his side a 2-1 first-leg lead over Bayern Munich in the Champions League Semi Final at the Allianz Arena. The design replicated the Nike "Elite Series" which was worn in Africa as Spain lifted the World Cup.
Manchester City's Leroy Sane trained in the 2014 design in the week but had to settle for a place on the bench as his side hammered Swansea 5-0 at the Etihad on Sunday. Sane's design paid tribute to the Mercurial Superfly IV colourway which was worn by Mercurial players in Brazil four years ago this summer.
View the full Nike Mercurial Heritage Collection here.
