At the end of the greatest World Cup final in history the world held its breath as the final penalty was taken. The ball hit the back of the net, the celebrations began and the world celebrated arguably the biggest football moment of all time - when Leo Messi was finally crowned World Cup Champion with Argentina.

With Budweiser’s Messi Winners Film, we activated around on of the sporting moments, not just of the year, but of our lifetime, creating a beautiful film that perfectly captured the moment for his millions of fans.

This is the story of Leo Messi and Argentina’s long and arduous journey back to the top of the football world. A country that lives and breathes football in the most extreme way. A country going through tough economic times, that has one thing through which it can show the world it’s a powerhouse - football. A country of street-fighters and scrappers who would do whatever it takes to win but have had to put up with a lot of losing over the last 30 years. A country that gets behind its team like no other, and a fan base that drove the Argentinian team through the tournament, creating a bond that fuelled their charge to victory.

And a player who we know is the world’s best, but would forever have been in the shadow of the other little number 10, if he hadn't won the World Cup for Argentina.

It was about taking this momentous occasion and showing it as a moment to be celebrated with Budweiser, paying off the campaign line - #TheWorldIsYoursToTake but in a way which felt human.

We needed something beautiful, tonally spot on and reflective of the sentiment of football fans in Argentina first and foremost, but which would resonate with the whole world who had eyes on the final, to ensure that at Leo’s most emphatic moment, Budweiser was the brand which would be remembered as the ones who got it spot on..

The timing was crucial, ensuring we were set up to go live as that trophy was lifted. To chime with the target audience (18-35 year old young urbanites) and short-form vertical platforms, we focused on delivering the film to 30” rather than a traditional 60”, ensuring both Spanish and English versions for maximum engagement in both Argentina and globally.

We had to be ready for when Leo took his spot as the undisputed greatest of all time. We prepared a film for social media, but with a dual purpose of a TVC in Argentina. Cutting through the mass of Leo related content and putting Budweiser at the heart of the biggest story of the year.

But this moment wasn’t about a brand and we needed to ensure it didn’t come across that way. We didn’t want this to be just another tribute to Leo either. It was about taking this momentous occasion in Argentina's history and, through the World Cup career of Leo Messi, showing how his team's and the fans brilliance had brought the nation together in this moment of triumph - a moment celebrated with Budweiser and paying off the campaign line 'The World is Yours to Take', in a way which felt authentic and human.

In a week, we scripted, defined a treatment, produced, and built a publishing strategy to ensure the world would see our film first.

Navigating legal restrictions, we settled on an approach of beautifully impactful black and white photography of key on and off pitch moments, stitched together with a reflective but inspirational track that captured the enormity of the occasion.

As the world held their breath through one of the greatest finals, we did too, with an editor on standby to finish the film with the trophy shot that would showcase Messi’s eventual elevation to Argentinian icon and pinnacle of an unmatched career.

Two hours post final, the film was clocked to Argentinian TV and published across Budweiser channels.

We played our final trump card, using our last contractual post with Leo to publish on his own Instagram - the first branded film to be shared after the final whistle.

Our film is the 8th most viewed Instagram reel of all time and was the first reel to reach 100M views on Leo’s Instagram - in only 24 hours. It’s Leo’s second most viewed reel of all time and the most viewed branded content - with 70M views more than the next highest.

Across all channels it received over 200M views and 25M engagements. The comments highlighted how much positivity there was towards it, from teammates, other sporting stars and other brand partners.

It's the most shared post of all time on BudFootball and within the top ten most viewed and engaged in history across the brand’s channels. The engagement rate was three times the benchmark, view through rates averaged over 92% and sentiment was 99% positive.

Through the inclusion of the redemption QR code, In Argentina, it contributed to 800K free Budweisers claimed as part of the #BringHomeTheBud campaign.