Three global companies are competing for World Cup players' shoes, in a race dominated by Nike and Adidas for the majority of player choices, with a limited presence of Puma, according to an analysis of the starting lineups in the tournament's opening matches by Reuters.

232 out of 528 starting players wore Nike shoes, compared to 218 who chose Adidas, while Puma came third with 44 players, and the rest were distributed among other brands. This distribution reflects a near-duopoly of the market between the American and German giants.

Looking at the details of usage within the starting lineups, it is clear that the competition is not limited to brands only, but extends to specific models within each company, as certain models accounted for the largest share of players.

The Nike Mercurial topped the list as the most used shoe among players with 144 cases, ahead of the Adidas F50 worn by 109 players, then the Adidas Predator with 82 players. Also, Nike Phantom and Tiempo models appeared among the popular choices, along with the Puma Future shoe worn by 36 starting players, reflecting the market concentration within specific product lines of each company.