If, like us, you're already counting down the days until next summer's FIFA World Cup, we have a new release that will help the time go just that little bit more quickly. Fittingly, it's a book made in collaboration with Nike, who, as we all know, are also very good at making things - especially athletes - go just that little bit more quickly.
Nike Football Boots is a lavishly illustrated homage to the beautiful game and the legendary footballers who bring it to life – and, of course, the boots they wear. Created in close collaboration with Nike, it charts the history of the brand’s football journey, from the all-black leather boot introduced in the early 70s – the first of any shoe to feature the famous Swoosh – to the present day, through four key product lines that encapsulate Nike’s design ethos: Tiempo, Mercurial, Total 90, and Phantom.
Along the way, readers will discover stories behind the boots worn by football’s greatest names, including Brazilian striker Ronaldo, Portuguese phenomenon Cristiano Ronaldo, US Women’s National Team star Megan Rapinoe, and French icon Kylian Mbappé, among others.
Award-winning author Caleb Azumah Nelson distils the nostalgic magic of growing up a football fan in southeast London across four illuminating essays, discussing how the culture and style of the period informed the evolution of Nike’s iconic footwear.
Meanwhile, Thomas Turner, a historian and lecturer at London College of Fashion, delves deep into the materials, form, fit, design, and technology that makes these boots special. And an accessible introduction by curator Eleanor Watson provides an overview of football design more globally, while an afterword by ELLE Mexico Editor-in-Chief Claudia Cándano de la Peza discusses athletes as style icons.
Nike Football Boots moves in chronological order, with each of the signature lines given their own chapter. The Tiempo, first released in 1984, is the classic boot. This silhouette is what you imagine when you think of a football boot. Nike Football Boots features Nike's new Tiempo boot, destined to be one of the international stars of the FIFA World Cup next summer.
The Mercurial, engineered for speed and lightness, was made famous by Brazilian superstar Ronaldo at the 1998 World Cup and is still worn today by Kylian Mbappé and Sam Kerr. The Total 90, prioritising striking power and accuracy, was a short-lived champion of unconventional early noughties design that took on a life and cultural relevance away from the pitch and was recently revived as a lifestyle silo. The Phantom was worn proudly by USWNT captain Megan Rapinoe in her final game.
Generously illustrated with almost 500 images, Nike Football Boots showcases boot close-ups, on-feet shots, concepts, posters and advertising, film screenshots, material swatches, sketches, prototypes, and ephemera from the Department of Nike Archives (DNA). A 12-page glossy insert displays every model of boot, dating from 1971 to current day, in the DNA boot room, including the forthcoming Tiempo model. The back cover features the signature Nike Swoosh and the title translated into over ten different languages, highlighting the global appeal of the beautiful game, while the front cover showcases some of the most emblematic boots ever released.
Pulling from a deep well of archival images and anecdotes, Nike Football Boots is steeped in design history, and football mythology. Published to coincide with the FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2026, when many of today’s best football players will step onto the pitch to represent their country kitted out in Nike – from their shirts to their boots – this book will be the perfect accompaniment to the world’s most anticipated sporting event.
You can take a closer look, and pre-order Nike Football Boots here.
