Nike kicks off World Cup with incredible 3D tribute to top players

To coincide with FIFA World Cup 2014's kick off, Nike, Wieden and Kennedy, Passion Pictures and director Jon Saunders have created this striking animated tribute to the world's finest football players.

The five-and-a-half minute long commercial tells the story of safe football versus risky football. A somewhat creepy scientist develops a set of football clones to prove that riskless football is more effective. But Ronaldo Fenomeno and the other original players disagree, resulting in an action-filled, final deciding match.

This has got to be one of the best World Cup commercials we've seen to date, with the perfectly executed 3D showcasing individual players performance, appearance and personalities brilliantly. Featuring everything from Rooney's stocky figure and Ronaldo's fancy footwork to Neymar's nifty moves, quickly followed by a cheeky selfie, and David Luiz's Sideshow Bob-style hairstyle, we can only imagine how much fun this commercial was to make. Pure genius.

What's your favourite World Cup commercial? Let us know in the comments.