Disney is certainly making sure young soccer fans have plenty to cheer about.
We are already still loving the animated soccer action of “Dragon Striker,” but another very different sports-fantasy adventure is now preparing to kick its way onto Disney+ and Disney Channel—and this one has one of the greatest soccer players of all time behind it.
“Messi and the Giants,” the upcoming animated series executive produced by Lionel Messi, has officially debuted its first teaser trailer at San Diego Comic-Con Málaga in Spain, giving more than 3,000 fans an early look at the new world, characters, music and soccer-inspired battles waiting for families when the series premieres in summer 2027.
And yes, we’re already incredibly curious to see how this one plays alongside Disney’s other recent trip onto the animated soccer field.
Because while soccer might sit at the heart of both stories, “Messi and the Giants” is playing an entirely different game.
The new series follows 12-year-old Leo, voiced by Argentinian actor Milo Burgess-Webb, after he becomes trapped in an alternate reality ruled by giants. Getting home isn’t going to be as easy as finding the nearest exit, either. Leo must compete in high-stakes, soccer-like battles using powerful objects known as “orbs,” take on legendary giants and help restore the fractured realms of Iko.
There is just one rather substantial problem.
Unlike everyone around him, Leo can’t use the world’s code powers to supercharge his game.
That leaves him relying on something considerably more familiar: his own skill, teamwork and determination. It gives the fantastical setup a very grounded underdog story at its center, with Leo having to discover just how far the abilities he already possesses can take him in a world where seemingly everyone else has an advantage.
For young soccer fans, that combination of recognizable sports skills with giant-sized fantasy battles opens up plenty of possibilities. The sport becomes the foundation rather than the limit, allowing “Messi and the Giants” to build its own mythology, rules and challenges around something kids around the world already understand.
And that’s where we’re particularly interested.
“Dragon Striker” has already shown us just how naturally soccer can mix with fantasy and animation, giving the sport an entirely different kind of energy on screen. Now “Messi and the Giants” is approaching that combination from its own direction, with an alternate reality, giants, mysterious powers and an underdog who can’t access the abilities everyone else takes for granted.
We’re not looking for one to replace the other.
We want to see just how different two animated soccer adventures can be.
The first teaser also introduces another major part of the series: its music. Argentinian artist Luck Ra performs the original theme song, “Vamos, Vamos, Vamos,” which accompanies our first look at Leo’s adventure and adds another connection to the series’ Argentinian roots.
Behind the scenes, Lionel Messi Cuccittini and Jorge Messi Pérez (in memoriam) serve as executive producers alongside Kurt Mueller, Bryan Korn, Lacey Stanton and Guy Toubes for Sony Pictures Television, Afo Verde for Sony Music Latin Iberia, and Tom Mackay and Sergi Reitg for Sony Music Vision. Dan Creteur of Atlantis Studios directs, with animation produced by Atlantis Animation.
For Messi himself, the series also provides an opportunity to bring some of the values associated with sports into a much larger fantasy story. Leo might be surrounded by impossible worlds and extraordinary opponents, but the strengths he has to depend on—perseverance, courage, teamwork and believing in himself—are ones young athletes don’t need an alternate reality to understand.
That makes “Messi and the Giants” considerably more than simply putting Messi’s name on an animated soccer series.
It is taking the language of the sport and using it to build an entirely new world around a kid who has to learn that lacking everyone else’s special advantage doesn’t mean he doesn’t have something special of his own.
“Messi and the Giants” will premiere globally on Disney+ in summer 2027 and will also air on Disney Channel in the United States.
By then, we will have spent plenty more time on the field with “Dragon Striker.”
And honestly?
That’s only making us more excited.
Because if Disney wants to give kids multiple animated worlds where soccer, fantasy, friendship and impossible adventures collide, we’re more than willing to lace up our cleats and see just how differently they play the game.