Nike Debuts Revolutionary Technology With the Air Zoom Mercurial

The right soccer shoe delivers the traction and support you need while navigating the field. The Nike Air Zoom Mercurial does that and more.

The Nike Air Zoom Mercurial features special technology to create additional support and foot flexibility, even at high speeds. This shoe has a responsive three-quarter length Zoom airbag that sits directly inside the plate to bring your foot closer to the ground. That pressured air system is designed to absorb impact and promote fast movement—and the result is an energy return that feels propulsive.

The airbag also boasts specialized grooves for flexibility as you work the field, responding to the natural movement of your foot.

“Being a Mercurial athlete, I’m always thinking about fast. I want to be faster than my opponent,” says French national team star Kylian Mbappé, who wears the Nike Air Zoom Mercurial. “What excited me most is that this technology is revolutionary. Air is what’s really going to put the Mercurial athletes in the best conditions to perform.”

The shoe’s upper showcases the next generation of Vaporposite, called Vaporposite+. This upper boasts a grippy chevron mesh in a customized fit designed to help with ball control. It’s also crafted from adaptable yarns to create a light feel that won’t weigh you down.

Testing in the Nike Sports Research Lab created a lockdown map that showed all areas of the foot that need to be supported—and that inspired a speed cage with specific zones for the Air Zoom Mercurial. The upper offers a snug “lockdown fit” for a secure feel, even while sprinting and cutting at high speeds, says Collin Eder, Senior Director of Global Football Footwear at Nike.

The Air Zoom Mercurial also features a lining of Flyknit—a comfortable fabric that fits like a sock—to help keep your feet cool and dry. The high-top collar is designed to provide additional coverage and flexibility around the ankle.

As with all Nike Mercurial cleats, the Air Zoom Mercurial features a Nike Aerotrack plate in the footplate with special grooving for lightweight but firm traction. The Air Zoom Mercurial has a new feature on the bottom in the form of a Tri-Star stud pattern. This stud pattern is designed to help soccer players easily shift side-to-side and propel forward for efficient bursts of speed and direction change.

Because you don’t want to blend in on the field, the Nike Air Zoom Mercurial comes in a bold design, featuring a red patterned Air logo on the outside and metallic sole with shades of red, purple, and orange that’s hard to miss as you sail past the competition.

As part of Nike’s 2025 Impact targets, which include donating, refurbishing, or recycling 10 times more used or defective products, the majority of the Mercurial line is made with at least 20% recycled content by weight.

The Air Zoom Mercurial comes in a variety of colorways. It is available across Nike.com and Nike retail in adult and youth sizes. Snap up your own pair of this revolutionary soccer shoe here.