On Football Is Here: Mbappé, LightSpray & On Football Boots
On Football Is Here: Mbappé, LightSpray & On Football Boots
On Football is officially here.
The Swiss performance brand has made its move into the game with Kylian Mbappé as its headline athlete, Thierry Henry as Director of Football and Barcelona midfielder Sydney Schertenleib involved in product development. More importantly for us, On isn't arriving with a finished boot and a few launch photos. Its first football boot is still being developed, with players involved in shaping what eventually reaches the pitch.
For a brand best known for doing things differently in running, that makes this one worth following from the very beginning.
What Is On Football?
On was founded in Switzerland in 2010 and built its name through performance running, particularly around technologies such as CloudTec and, more recently, LightSpray. Football is now the next sport getting that engineering-led treatment.
The early On Football brief is centred on bringing foot and ball closer together. That's a familiar ambition in football boots, where every generation seems to chase a thinner touch, cleaner lockdown or lighter construction, but On is arriving without an old silo to protect or a famous boot name to update.
It gets to start with a blank sheet.
The brand is calling the launch Dream On, Football, with Mbappé, Henry and Schertenleib all involved while the product is being built rather than simply appearing once it is finished.
What Do We Know About On Football Boots?
On's first football boot is being developed around a simple brief: get the foot closer to the ball.
The brand talks about lightweight, precise footwear with a close, second-skin feel, and it is building that product with direct input from elite players. Mbappé will work with On's product teams on footwear and apparel, while Schertenleib is also involved in testing and development.
That immediately makes On one of the more interesting new names entering the modern football boots market.
Most established boot brands are working around decades of existing silos. Mercurial, Predator, Copa, Tiempo, Future, Ultra and Morelia all arrive with history attached. On gets to begin without any of that baggage.
For the boot obssesed, that means the first model is going to tell us a lot about what On thinks a modern football boot should actually be.
LightSpray Is Coming to Football
On has confirmed that LightSpray is being adapted for football boots
LightSpray is the robotic manufacturing technology already used on some of On's highest-performance running shoes. Rather than constructing an upper from numerous separate pieces, a robotic arm creates it from a continuous sprayed filament, producing a very lightweight, close-fitting structure in minutes.
The football application is being developed around the same principles: low weight, precision and a close feel around the foot.
You can see how central that technology is to the project in the launch itself. Mbappé, Henry and Schertenleib were photographed by Juergen Teller inside On Labs in Zurich, with the LightSpray setup sitting right in the middle of the development environment.
There is no need to guess what the finished boot will look like yet. On has already told us the useful bit: LightSpray is coming onto the pitch.
Kylian Mbappé Joins On Football
Few current players arrive with a more recognisable football boot history. His career has moved from Hypervenom at Monaco into years of Nike Mercurial, eventually producing one of the biggest signature archives in the modern game.
We've already covered that whole journey in our Kylian Mbappé Football Boot History.
His move to On is very different from switching from one established speed boot to another. There is no On equivalent of Mercurial waiting on the shelf. Mbappé is joining while the product is still taking shape and will feed directly into its development.
That changes the usual question from "which colourway will he wear?" to something much more interesting: what kind of football boot does On build around a player like Mbappé?
We will have to wait for the product before answering that one properly.
Thierry Henry Is On's Director of Football
Thierry Henry is also much more than a face in the campaign.
The former Arsenal and France forward has been working with On on its entry into football since late 2025 and now takes the official role of Director of Football. His involvement spans product development, athlete relationships and the wider direction of the football project.
For a brand entering the boot market for the first time, that is a fairly useful person to have around the table.
Sydney Schertenleib Joins the On Football Project
Sydney Schertenleib brings another perspective into the development team.
The Barcelona and Switzerland midfielder first joined On through Training and Lifestyle before expanding her role into football. She will work directly with the brand on product development and testing, giving On input from the women's game while its first football boot is still being created.
That means the first generation of On football boots is being shaped with both men's and women's elite football represented from the start.
When Will On Football Boots Launch?
On Football is here, and the first On football boot is taking shape. Keep an eye on this page as the project moves towards launch. We'll be adding the boot name, first-look details, tech, specs and release information as soon as they land.
For the quickest updates, follow Pro:Direct Soccer on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. That's where we'll be watching Mbappé's feet, digging into the first On boot sightings and getting into every new detail as it appears.
Until then, there are plenty of football boots already fighting for space in the Bootroom.
On has Mbappé. It has LightSpray. It has Henry and Schertenleib helping shape the project.
Next up: show us the boots.
