FOX gears up for World Cup with films and ad campaign

FOX Sports is beginning to gear up for its coverage of 2018 FIFA World Cup with a series of films as well as a soon-to-be-released advertising campaign that will emphasize the most marketable stars in the United States featuring Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo and Chicharito.

The advertising campaign, entitled The World Becomes The World Cup, is expected to be unveiled in early March. In addition to promoting its unprecedented coverage from Russia, which will include more than 350 hours of programming, FOX Sports plans to emphasize how it’ll feature the iconic players, the best teams in the world and most compelling storylines.

Just as ESPN has done in the past with their World Cup documentaries and films, FOX Sports will be copying ESPN’s playbook by broadcasting a film entitled Nossa Chape about the Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense’s tragic 2016 plane crash in Colombia. Created by filmmakers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist (best known for their work on The Two Escobars), FOX Sports will debut the film on US television in the run-up to the World Cup, which begins June 14.

SEE MORE: World Cup TV schedule for US TV and streaming

FOX will also launch PHENOMS, a documentary series chronicling the journey of the next generation of hopeful World Cup stars on their quests to represent their countries this summer. One of the executive producers on the documentary is none other than FOX Sports analyst Mario Melchiot.

The release date for PHENOMS is May 2018, while the release date forNossa Chape films have not been finalized as of press time.