Jürgen Klopp challenges footballing legends Neymar Jr., Endrick, Richard Ríos and Dominik Szoboszlai to the Red Bull Ultimate Football Challenge: a sequence of purpose-built challenges to test control, movement and precision. Designed to push the athletes to their edge of their abilities and with only 100 balls to get them through all challenges, they must perform at their best to reach the final penalty shootout ⚽️ Football icons Zé Roberto, @seanfreestyle Thiago Alcântara, Bastian Schweinsteiger and RB Leipzig’s Nicolas Seiwald join the champions for the tasks, but how many of the 100 balls will be left for the final penalty…?
Neymar Jr., André Ríos, and Dominik Szoboszlai compete in the Red Bull Ultimate Football Challenge across Brazil, Spain, and Austria. Starting with 100 balls, the players face high-difficulty skill tests where mistakes deplete their supply. The event highlights the intersection of elite technical precision and the importance of maintaining a playful, joyful mindset in professional sports.
We have assembled a team of elite football players
to take on a series of football challenges all around the world.
Neymar Jr.
Andre
Rios
and Dominic Soboszlaj
with Niki and Jean.
Each challenge has been designed to push the skills of the players to the limits.
The players will have to work together as a team.
Like it should be.
They will start with 100 balls.
But every time they make a mistake, they will lose one ball.
Problem?
Will there be any balls left by the final challenge?
The penalty shootout.
This is the Red Bull Ultimate Football Challenge.
First stop, Brazil.
And Neymar Jr.
Beat a test of precision and control in the sky.
Neymar will be on the platform 10 meters off the ground
and I will be in the sky.
The challenge, I will pass the ball to Neymar.
He has to keep the ball off the ground and pass the ball back to me.
Once he completes the pass, we can move on to the next level.
The ball can't fall.
It can't fall?
It can't fall.
We have a little more height.
It's different, right?
Let's go.
Are you ready?
Let's go, let's go.
You really learn, huh?
Look, it's already going up, Ney.
But it's good already, right?
Hey, I'm behind.
Down.
Ready?
All right, let's go.
Okay, first one.
Bad.
Good ball, good ball, good ball.
Too much pressure.
Too much pressure, bro.
You need to control what Neymar did now,
because they've already lost six balls.
Seven.
Seven balls now.
Easy, easy, easy.
Next one.
Yes.
Let's go, let's go.
Now let's go to the next level.
This is a game of keeping up, but up in the sky.
We have to complete 10 passes,
but the ball cannot touch the ground.
Too high, huh?
Yes.
Okay, let's go.
Sorry.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
Sorry.
Let's go.
All right, let's go.
Good, good, good.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah!
The next.
In the hardest level,
Neymar will be 15 meters high
and we're gonna be 15 meters apart.
I have to pass the ball to Neymar,
he has to control it and score in the goal.
There?
Yes.
Let's go.
You're capable.
You're skilled.
You like to score goals.
It's been four balls
and they still haven't achieved the challenge.
Even because this is the hardest of all.
Don't touch the pitch.
High.
Directly.
Yes, Ney.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Oh, no.
Left foot.
Well done, John.
Well done, Neymar.
78 balls remaining after challenge one.
I can tell you,
if I would have done it,
we have one ball left.
Thanks.
For the next challenge,
we go to Spain.
André and Richard will attempt
to beat the ultimate test of speed
on giant football treadmills.
Oh, and I've called up a friend
to help them out.
What do you think?
Man,
I think it's going to be...
No, it's nice,
but I think it's going to be more difficult
than playing a game.
And the pressure?
No.
The pressure of the commentator we have there.
Thiago.
How are you?
A pleasure, bro.
How are you?
This is a treadmill challenge.
We have three levels to complete
and each of them is getting harder and harder.
Neymar started with 100 balls
and after his challenge,
he ended up with 78 balls.
How many of these 78 balls
will you pass to Sopo Slay
in the next challenge?
If we leave 10 balls to the last one,
it's fine.
Level one is about speed, dribbling
and agility.
You must dribble around 30 cones
to complete the first challenge.
If they miss a cone
or the ball goes off the treadmill,
it's a fail.
However,
they've been working together
so it's a combined total.
Four.
Who wants to start?
The two oldest, right?
But in football,
the youngest start.
You have to respect that.
You always start, bro.
Go for it.
Let's go, Henry!
Go, go, go!
Let's go, let's go, let's go!
The cones are coming, the cones are coming!
Forward!
Forward, more, more, more!
More, more, more, more!
Good, good, good!
Very good, very good!
Forward, forward, good!
You've got it, you've got it!
Very good!
Forward, that's it, that's it!
Very good, bro, very good!
Let's go, let's go!
You're doing well, let's go!
How wonderful!
Excellent!
How wonderful, eh?
It looks easy, eh?
Forward, forward, forward, forward!
Doctor!
Massage, massage!
It's tiring, eh?
This!
The thing is,
now that you've seen the sequence,
of course,
it's not that there's a red and a red,
it's a red and a yellow,
so when you get out of one,
you go straight to the diagonal.
That's why I said.
We're going to do it a little faster.
Let's go!
Let's go, Richard!
Oh, Lucho!
Where's Luchito Díaz?
Let's go!
Cones, three, two, one!
How do I get out first?
I can't get out in the middle!
Easy, easy!
It's okay.
Let's continue, let's continue!
Three, two, one!
That's it!
Good!
As I told you,
when you start,
you start a little further back,
and then you get closer to the cones.
It's complicated, eh?
Yes, yes, yes.
It's fast.
Come on, Manu!
Come on, come on!
That's it!
Keep going!
It's very difficult, eh?
The second one is very fast.
It's very fast.
Since you've done two,
let's start with the 28th cone, okay?
Let's go!
Of course, Ríos!
Now, yes!
Careful!
Forward, forward, forward!
Forward, forward!
Good, Pai!
You've got it!
And forward!
Forward!
Yes, keep going!
Forward!
Keep going, Pai!
Hey, come here, come here!
Good, Pai!
You're good, you're good!
That's it!
You've done well, you've done well.
He's good.
Team, we're a team.
Leave it to your family.
He's good, he's good.
It's very complicated.
Pai, it's very complicated.
This one is complicated, seriously.
It's very complicated.
Go a little further back.
You're good, you're good, you're good.
Forward, forward, forward!
You're good, forward, forward!
You're good, Pai, forward!
Forward!
Speed up, speed up!
Good!
You're super fast.
The same speed?
Yes.
Very good!
Good, Pai!
Very good!
Short of the foot.
Very good!
Good, Pai!
Come on, come on, come on!
Keep going, keep going!
Speed up, speed up!
Stay behind!
Good!
1-1!
That's what a team is about!
Come on!
That's what a team is about!
What a wonder!
That's what a team is about!
A cone.
I warn you, here's a cone.
Come on!
Let's go!
Here comes the cone!
Here it comes, here it comes!
To win!
2-1!
Come on!
What a wonder!
We've completed the challenge.
That's what a team is about!
You hit it, you scored!
Let him hit it, yes!
The job here is to hit a moving target on a treadmill without hitting the blockers.
They just have to hit the target once.
Come on, Rios!
Let's go!
You've got it in the middle, Pai!
Get ready, man!
Let's go!
That's it, Pai!
That's it, that's it!
When you take the ball out, take it out more towards the middle.
More towards the space in the middle, yes.
And it will also be easier for that long ball.
That's it!
Look for a middle one!
Look for a middle one again!
Now!
You have to hit it once and we've got it.
Yes, yes, now!
It's complicated, Pai, it's complicated.
Rios!
It's complicated.
Last one, now, here it is.
Yes, yes, Rios!
Let's go!
No!
The trick is to throw it a little more towards the middle and look for the far one.
You'll see.
Wow!
We've got 60 balls left.
We're close, we're close!
Hey, give it energy.
I know you want to throw the block down.
Fuchipoli!
Out of the box.
Rios!
Let's go!
What a quality, Pai.
What a quality.
I love it.
I love it because we can see the quality of each one.
The maximum quality of each one.
It's like a football match.
Each one in their own field.
I love it.
Very good, very good.
Here, they must complete a cross to the teammate and the receiving player must then finish in the goal.
Let's go!
Let's go, Pai!
We've got a fan.
Go for it!
Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Mark the time, mark the time.
Richard, if it comes like this, control, low and calm.
Good.
Go, go, go, go.
One, one more.
Good.
Good!
Can I come here, Thiago?
No.
Green.
Good, control.
Dominate it!
Dominate it.
If it's weird, dominate it.
You've got it!
Wait to see what happens next.
There's one more challenge.
There's one more challenge?
There's one more challenge.
There's one more challenge inside this one.
There's one more surprise.
You already know the timing.
We're going to complicate it a bit.
A wall is going to come in between you two and you're going to have to find the pass without looking at it.
Man, but it's more difficult because you're going to have to dominate like this or like that?
Now, think that the pass has to come from above.
Let's go, guys, let's go, guys.
They cannot see each other.
It's really difficult.
First touch.
He did it with the first attempt.
World-class players just make these things look easy.
World-class.
Simple as that.
I would say this challenge is pretty much close to impossible.
Yeah.
And they just did it.
Well done.
For the final challenge, we go to Austria, to the Red Bull Academy.
Can the players beat a test of passing and shooting against the wall?
52 balls remain.
Will it be enough for Sobolschlai to beat the final penalty shootout?
There he is.
The Hungarian legend.
That's not me.
Good to see you.
Are you ready for the final challenge?
You have to tell me what's the challenge.
Before, Hendrik, Neymar and Rios had actually 100 balls.
They have left us 52 balls, so are you ready for it?
Always.
Take a stretch.
I mean, it's important.
The challenge here is to hit targets on the wall.
Balls will be launched at Dominic from our ball launchers.
He must control the ball and then hit the target from behind the 15-meter mark.
This challenge tests whether he can hit a world-class strike from distance under pressure.
You see the frames?
Just one of those.
They are static, they are not moving.
Are you ready, Dominic?
Always.
That was unlucky.
No dead balls.
Was it through?
Of course.
Well done.
Two will be a little bit harder.
Are you ready?
Yes.
It doesn't count?
No.
Through the frame.
Oh boy.
Yes.
Well done.
What a control.
Next, a little bit harder.
Finally.
But not dead.
The height was actually perfect.
Don't forget, we don't have so many balls left.
That was the best I've ever seen from this guy.
That was lovely.
Okay, so we have lost nine balls.
Just give me one more of the last one and I'm super happy with you.
Are you ready?
I want only one touch and then.
So it's moving?
Yes, it's moving.
Yes.
Okay, four.
Good.
Ah, wonderful.
Level one completed.
Well done.
42 balls left.
But now it's a two-man game.
As you never walk alone, we bring in a local hero.
And we've got Niki Seivott here today.
Defense midfielder.
Salzburg local representing Austria.
And came up through the Red Bull Academy.
Another Academy player.
Yes.
Are you ready for a little bit, some passes with Dominic?
I'm ready.
You're ready, okay.
Dominic and Niki will be standing in a playing zone opposite each other.
They must pass the ball through the lit squares on the wall to their teammate.
Each successful pass, I'm going to increase the difficulty.
Don't forget, 42 balls left.
Yes.
Let's go.
Next ball.
Yes.
Perfect.
Okay, perfect.
It's time to go 30 meters apart from each other.
Dominic starts.
Good luck.
Ready, Niki?
No.
Niki, no dead balls.
A bit too short.
Four and a half meters.
Okay, unlucky.
Niki.
Yes.
Perfect.
Well done.
Yes.
Well done, Niki.
Now, they will be 40 meters apart and their playing zone will go to the edge of the penalty area.
Okay, it was a great shot, but not over the wall.
Ah, sorry.
The ball lost.
Oh.
So we have to repeat again, okay?
Okay.
Sorry.
Too much power.
28 balls left.
Yes.
Perfect.
Well done, man.
Hey, you see?
Four.
I'm still going to make like this.
We need a little bit of elegance as well, you know?
Otherwise, it's boring.
Dominic, you will start.
It was a lovely pass.
Not good enough.
Okay, Niki.
Unlucky.
Well done.
Good reaction.
What's good, Niki?
Yeah.
Yes.
Did you sweat a little bit, huh?
A little bit, huh?
I was scared.
Now, it's going to be five.
We have actually lost 17 balls.
We have 25 balls remaining, but this is going to be the most difficult one.
Oh.
Look at that.
Ready?
Yes.
Okay.
Why don't you go up?
That's not good.
Didn't make it, so we have to continue.
Dominic, ready?
Unlucky.
21 remaining.
We still need a few balls for the last one.
A little bit too late.
Come on, come on, come on.
Slow down and watch the button.
A little bit faster, Niki.
It's moving.
12 balls left.
Come on, guys.
11 balls left.
Problem.
Yeah.
Well done.
Relax.
Come on, Niki.
We need one.
No.
Nine balls left.
Yes.
Well done.
Mission completed.
Thank you very much.
That was good.
Good, good, good, good.
Level two.
Fantastic job.
Now, we have nine balls remaining.
We have a penalty shootout.
Okay, so, Dominic, you're going to take the penalty.
There is not a single player who can handle those kind of moments better than you.
It all comes down to this moment.
Can you hold the pressure?
I love pressure.
Dominic must step up to the penalty spot and score through a moving target.
One successful strike is all it takes to complete the ultimate football challenge.
Nine balls remaining.
Okay, you ready?
Take your time.
Just need to put it in.
Eight balls remaining.
Good.
Sorry.
Well done.
Here we go.
Well done.
Six remaining.
Here we go.
I told you.
Was it easy?
No, it was very hard.
Actually, if you would have asked me, I would have said impossible.
But these guys, they made it look so simple.
When you get into professional football, sometimes people tend to forget that it's actually a game.
And if you play a game without fun, without enjoying it, then it looks completely different.
It's a big challenge for players to keep the kid inside alive.
It's a main, main, main thing for a football player to reach the highest level.
Next time, I will have to make it more difficult.