Adidas won the World Cup battle

Adidas is an official sponsor of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, meaning its balls are used in World Cup matches and its logo adorns sideboards.

And it’s the sponsor of the tournament’s top scorer so far, Colombia’s James Rodruigez, as well as Germany’s Thomas Muller and Argentina’s Lionel Messi, the second and fourth top scorers in the World Cup respectively (either of whom could realistically claim the top scorer mantle once the quadrennial centerpiece of the world game is over.) As we discussed earlier in the tournament, Nike’s branding strategy at the World Cup was to sponsor more star players and individual teams than Adidas did (including host nation Brazil).

Adidas has been selling soccer products for 66 years, reports Businesweek; Nike only got into the business in 1994.

Nike is also well-positioned to tap rising enthusiasm for soccer in the US (which is Adidas’s biggest market for soccer products), because it sponsors the US men’s national team.