Football boots dominate the sneaker scene: Is the era of the Air Jordan now officially over?

The competition also seems to have seen this as an opportunity to jump on the trend. Nike recently added a tongue to its popular Cortez model, like the ones we know from football boots. A new edition of the Total 90 III from the 2000s was also announced for early 2025. Reebok has also brought back two football sneakers, the Hammer Street and the Campio X, which are reminiscent of the Samba silhouette.

The Nike Total 90 III, the sneaker version of the shoes once worn by Wayne Rooney, Luis Figo and many others.

The Hammer Street by Reebok, an indoor soccer shoe that was launched in 1993.

Secondary sales of Jordans have declined

The rise of football sneakers naturally calls into question the influence of basketball. For a long time, basketball was the sport that inspired new sneaker models, a development that began in the USA and spread to the world. Just five years ago, sneakerheads were setting their alarms to sell a SNKRS raffle for the latest Air Jordan, designed by Travis Scott and Off-White. Shoe trends started in the tunnels of the NBA, snaps of celebrities sitting on the sidelines went viral. LeBron James and the Lakers were preparing to win a title, the era of super teams was not over yet. In the USA, all eyes were on this sport.

But lately, that star look has lost its sharpness. It would be foolish to claim that basketball doesn’t still have a major influence on sneakers and fashion. But the NBA is now in a transition phase, with megastars like LeBron and Steph Curry in the midst of their careers. Of course, there are still plenty of young superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic. But their appeal is not yet at the level of the prescribed generation.

Even if the retro sneaker is on the rise, the era of sneaker resale is well and truly over. Secondary sales of Jordans in particular have plummeted, and many hotly anticipated collaborations are being offered for barely above retail price on sites like StockX. Basketball will be fine, that’s for sure – transition periods are normal. But in the midst of this phase, a window has opened for football to reinforce its ever-present influence on the culture.

Football is becoming more and more present in the USA – this also affects the sneaker scene

While the NBA was figuring out who its next superstars would be, soccer’s heroes have long been decided. Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Vincinius Jr., Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford – to name a few – seem ready to carry the torch while Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar prepare for their final career steps. Will the sport completely displace basketball in America? Capozzi-Shanks didn’t think so – but he didn’t think that was the point. “We are a very fragmented sporting nation,” he says. “Soccer must continue to be the most beautiful game, the most popular sport in the history of the world, and if it becomes the second or third most popular sport in America, then that will be a huge success.”

Football may have always existed, but there is no denying that the sport has grown even further in recent years. Of course, the hype surrounding Adidas will die down at some point. But the influence that football already has on our society spans generations. Where children in the USA once grew up with posters of Jordan, LeBron and Curry on their bedroom walls, there are now posters of football players. Basketball shoes may one day reclaim first place in the sneaker hierarchy, but the next generation’s childhood memories are being made on the football field.

This article originally appeared on GQ US.