It was subtle, almost quiet. But for anyone watching closely, Désiré Doué’s choice of footwear in the Club World Cup semifinal said more than a celebration ever could.
The 19-year-old Paris Saint-Germain midfielder stepped onto the pitch not just to face Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, but to do so while wearing Messi’s signature Adidas F50 boots. The same model Messi wore at his peak, updated and reissued by Adidas for a new era. The same boots, now carrying Messi’s name on the heel, worn by a teenager trying to beat him.
And beat him, they did. PSG thrashed Inter Miami 4–0. Doué didn’t score, but he didn’t need to. His boots made the statement. “He’s a player who inspired me when I was young,” Doué said post-match. That’s the point. This isn’t just a fashion choice. It’s generational symbolism.
Icons on their feet
Doué is part of a growing trend of emerging players paying homage to their idols by literally stepping into their boots. This goes beyond branding. It’s about connection, inspiration, and sometimes, confrontation.
Kenan Yıldız, the Juventus and Turkey starlet, has been front and center of Adidas’s Messi reboot. When the brand relaunched the iconic F50s, Messi handpicked ten rising stars to wear them. Yıldız is one of them. Lamine Yamal is another. Just 17, the Barcelona winger has been seen wearing boots with Messi’s name etched on the sole, part of Adidas’s Messi +10 campaign. It’s not hard to imagine the weight he must feel every time he laces them.
Nike is scripting its own legacy handoffs. Alejandro Garnacho showed up to a Premier League match in Cristiano Ronaldo’s throwback Mercurials, pairing them with a retro Sporting CP shirt. He scored shortly after. Garnacho’s celebration? The trademark Ronaldo “Siiiu”—of course. Tyler Dibling, Southampton’s teenage winger, bagged a brace in the FA Cup while wearing Mbappé’s signature Mercurials. Call it divine alignment.
Each of these choices comes with its own message.
Vicky López, the rising star of Barcelona Femení, also showed some respect for her idol. Handpicked by Messi as part of the Adidas Messi +10 campaign, she has worn his signature F50 boots in competitive matches. It’s not just a nod to her technical talent—it’s a reflection of how deeply this trend runs across gender lines. Her inclusion proves that stepping into a legend’s boots isn’t limited by league or category. The symbolism still lands.
Some, like Garnacho, perform cosplay with intent. Others, like Yamal, accept the pressure of inheritance. The boot isn’t just a piece of equipment. It’s a signal. A nod to the past, a claim on the future.
Between legacy and marketing
Of course, brands have their fingerprints all over this. The Messi +10 campaign wasn’t just sentimental. It was strategic. Adidas gave the F50 relaunch a mythic aura—linking the greatest of all time to the next in line. The boots released on October 10. Messi Day. Every chosen player was already a social algorithm darling.
Nike has done the same with its Mercurial line. Ronaldo to Mbappé to whoever comes next—it’s a lineage. Garnacho didn’t just wear CR7’s boots, he wore a Nike campaign. The same goes for Mbappé’s Bondy Dream editions and the young academy kids who are styled to wear them.
And yet, the power of these moments isn’t in the brand orchestration. It’s in the quiet homage. It’s in Doué staring across the midfield circle at Messi, knowing he has the same cleats on. It’s in Yıldız dancing through a defense with the same stripes Messi wore in 2010. It’s in a generation bold enough to idolize, and brave enough to declare themselves next.
We used to say a young player was “following in someone’s footsteps.”
Now, they literally are.
