Powerade taps La Liga stars Lamine Yamal and Rodrygo Goes for new campaign

Serena Williams wore the same pair of socks until she lost during tournaments. Mia Hamm had to tie her right shoelace over her left when she was lacing up her cleats. And LeBron James is famously superstitious.

Athletes from pick-up players to pros have their sacred pregame rituals, or “moments of pause,” as Matrona Filippou, Coca-Cola’s president for the global category of hydration, sports, coffee, and tea, calls them. And so do La Liga’s Lamine Yamal and Rodrygo Goes, the two newest additions to Powerade’s sponsorship roster.

Yamal and Goes are both front and center in the latest campaign under Powerade’s “Pause is Power” platform, which is focused on supporting athletes’ mental health and was inspired by Simone Biles’s decision to temporarily step away from competition during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

In the new ads, both soccer players are shown finding moments of reflection ahead of competing.

“We really wanted to showcase how impactful that moment is in terms of how they prepare, how they hydrate, how their whole focus…comes together at a critical time to unlock their peak performance,” Filippou told Marketing Brew. “Since we started ‘Pause is Power’ in 2022, the shift has been from education, to celebration, to emphasizing that pause isn’t a weakness, but a strength.”

In addition to building on “Pause is Power,” the campaign marks a push from the brand to get more involved with soccer ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Pregame: Powerade’s latest campaign features two short films, both running globally on social, digital, broadcast, and out-of-home platforms. The film centered on Yamal is titled “The 304,” a reference to his hometown neighborhood of Rocafonda in Spain; its postal code is 08304, and the FC Barcelona player gestures “304” with his fingers to celebrate goals. In the spot, he imagines himself sitting on top of a wall in Rocafonda to get inspired before a game.

The second, “My First Love,” shows Real Madrid player Goes “tapping into his childhood passion for futsal,” a 5-on-5 indoor soccer game, in order to physically and mentally prepare to play, according to Powerade.
In addition to starring in the spots, Filippou said that Yamal and Goes both joined Powerade’s athlete roster and are part of the brand’s “Athletes Code” initiative, which gives its partners the option to pause their contractual obligations without forfeiting their sponsorships. That initiative is part of Powerade’s ongoing work to embrace mental wellness on top of physical health through its athlete partnerships.

“Our priority is to create the work that supports Powerade’s broader business goal, which is to fuel the next era of sports, whether you are a professional athlete or an everyday athlete, and redefine what it means to be a holistic athlete, taking both mental and physical well-being all into account,” Filippou said. “We expect the campaign to resonate with a broader audience and consumer, and sports fans around the world.”

Footy fever: Powerade selected Yamal and Goes for the campaign for a few reasons, Filippou said. They’re both “young and inspiring,” she said—Yamal is 17 and Goes is 24—and they naturally embody “Pause is Power” by taking time to honor their roots as they compete at high levels.

With the next FIFA World Cup coming up in 2026, Filippou said Powerade is leaning into soccer, especially considering partner company Coca-Cola is a longtime FIFA partner. The brand activates in other sports like basketball, but with the major competition, along with the FIFA Club World Cup, the Women’s World Cup, and the Summer Olympics and Paralympics on the horizon, the sport is one of its current priorities.

“Soccer is a key passion point of all our consumers,” she said. “It’s the most-followed and loved sport globally…Because it’s a key passion point of our consumers, we felt that this is a place where we should continue to create experiences and connect with consumers around the world.”