World Cup Memories Come Alive in BBC’s Handcrafted Fantasy Film

​BBC Creative, the BBC’s in house creative agency, has unveiled its FIFA World Cup 2026 'Let's Make It Iconic' campaign, a high craft, mixed media film which aims to brings iconic football moments to life across the objects fans use to celebrate the game.

The spot explores different methods of film making, blending live action with 2D animation, hand-craft, stop frame and tactile in camera techniques to transform scarves, enamel badges, flags, drums, face paint and bobbleheads into 'fanvases' where past legends and future stars collide.

Co-created with illustrator, Dan Evans, and BAFTA winning director, Nicos Livesey, from Blinkink, the film is a deliberate celebration of human craft at a time when overly polished, synthetic imagery dominates our screens.

The production combines impressive fabrication techniques with the help of knitting experts, enamel badge makers and stop motion animators to achieve seamless transitions between live action fans and animated worlds.

Nicos from Blinkink said, “It’s one of the most technical shoots we’ve ever taken on. With complex transitions, every object behaves differently and that’s the magic! The imperfections, the fingerprints, the texture are what make it feel alive.”

​Tom Espezel, creative director at BBC Creative said, "In a landscape of AI it felt more important than ever to focus on craft and celebrate the effort that goes into every expression of fandom."

Set to 'Somewhere Else' by Tomora - the collaboration between Aurora and Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers - the film marks the BBC’s celebration of the biggest World Cup to date.

Coverage of the 2026 World Cup will be available live across the BBC: TV, iPlayer, 5 Live, BBC Sounds, the BBC Sport website and app, the new BBC Sport Football YouTube channel and across socials.