Nike TiempoEvery Generation

This page starts here, but the Premier isn't the first Tiempo: SoccerBible traces the name back to the Tiempo D in 1984.

It starred in Nike's 1994 ad The Wall. After the World Cup came Cantona, Ian Wright and Pirlo. It barely changed for four years. For France 98 it got a royal blue Swoosh on the soleplate. In 2001/02 Nike made the Swoosh smaller and moved it forward, like on our 2003 pair. By 2004 it sat on the Mercurial soleplate, one of the lightest K-leather boots around.

• Black/White (1994)
• Black/White/International Blue

Nike launched it in 2005 to take over from the Tiempo Premier, as a boot for No. 10s. Ronaldinho was the face, with Andrea Pirlo and Joe Cole. He was FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

His 2005 R10 pair was white with gold: an R on the right tongue, 10 on the left. He wore it at his Barcelona peak, including the 2006 Champions League final win over Arsenal.

Before the knockout stage of the 2006 World Cup came the gold version with a white Swoosh, an R on the tongue and Brazil's five stars on the heel. That's our pair in the photo.

• R10 White/Gold (2005)
• R10 Gold/White (2006)

Out in 2006, it stayed for three years in bright colourways.

• Euro 2008 Brown/Blue

Nike unveiled the collection in September 2006: the Tiempo Ronaldinho boot, plus clothing and kit made to his specs. Nike had done this before for Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, never for a footballer.

His earlier pairs were Air Legends with his details on top. This one was designed from scratch for him: kangaroo leather, five-eye lacing and a bigger tongue for more touch. Three colours of stitching on the heel stand for strength, inspiration and joy.

Then came the Dois, "two" in Portuguese, during his time at AC Milan. No tongue this time, very soft leather and a quilted stitch pattern that later Tiempos kept.

• 10R Team Red/White/Gold
• Dois True Yellow/Navy/Gold
• Dois White/Red/Black

It landed in 2009, a year after Spain won Euro 2008. The same year the CTR360 took over the playmaker role, and the Tiempo became Nike's comfort-and-control boot.

For the 2010 World Cup came the Legend III Elite: a carbon fibre soleplate and a light KangaLite upper, part of Nike's two-tone Elite Pack across five boots.

• White/Red/Black (2009)
• Elite Pack (2010)
• Pearl/Black/Team Orange

Gerard Piqué was its new face at the launch in Barcelona in June 2011. The Elite came in Black/White/Total Orange, at $349.99 in the US. Each boot had 56.5 metres of Flywire.

New studs, a carbon plate and K-leather. SoccerBible reported it 20g lighter than the Legend III and the lightest Tiempo at the time. It lasted two years. For Euro 2012 it went half white, half black.

In 2020 the Legend 8 Future DNA wore its colours again.

• Black/White/Total Orange (launch)
• White/Metallic Gold
• Euro 2012 White/Black

Out on 31 May 2013, at about €100, to take on the adidas Copa Mundial. Its look came from the 1994 Tiempo Premier and Nike's first Swoosh boot, from 1971.

The Premier II brought back old Tiempo looks, like the Legend IV's split white and black (2019). The Premier III (November 2021) kept K-leather and got a tongue you can trim along a dotted line.

• Premier II White/Black (2019)
• Premier II White/Red (2021)
• Premier III Retro (2024)

Launched on 12 December 2013 in Desert Sand/Black/Orange, after two and a half years of work. The quilting came from Ronaldinho's Dois. ACC on the leather, and Hypershield on the instep so it doesn't soak up water.

Then the special editions. The Legend XX in January 2014, for 20 years since the Tiempo Premier: white with a silver Swoosh, 500 pairs. A Totti Premium in 2015 that brought his tongue back. And the Touch of Gold, in Remakes. In all, 16 colourways and three special editions.

• Desert Sand (launch)
• 2014 World Cup
• Legend XX
• Totti Premium

Launched on 18 November 2015 and on sale from 1 December, in Pure Platinum/Black/Orange, at £165. Kangaroo leather with ACC, a skeleton inside for fit, a low collar and only part of a tongue. Pirlo was a face of it too.

Two special editions. Pirlo's own, in merlot leather with "Aged Since '94" in gold and a box like a wine bottle. And Totti X Roma, in gold with "Aeterno" inside: 2,500 numbered pairs, 100 for each of his 25 seasons.

• Pure Platinum (launch)
• Euro 2016 Clear Jade
• Tiempo Pirlo
• Totti X Roma

Revealed on 26 June 2017 and on sale from 10 July, in Black/Laser Orange/White. SoccerBible says it was the first Tiempo with Flyknit built in. 22% lighter than the Legend VI, and the new Hyperstability plate took 60g off.

Inside, Fit-Mesh stops the leather toe from stretching too much. Defenders like Piqué and Ramos made it theirs. Ronaldinho's 2018 re-release sat on it too: see Remakes.

• Black/Laser Orange (launch)
• Fire
• Ice
• Corazón y Sangre

Launched on 24 June 2019, two years after the Legend 7, in Under The Radar and an all-white Nouveau. A Flyknit tunnel wraps the midfoot, Quadfit mesh lines the heel, and the Hyperstability plate stayed.

In March 2020 the Future DNA edition brought back the Legend IV's colours.

• Under The Radar (launch)
• Nouveau
• New Lights
• Future DNA

Out at Pro:Direct from 12 July 2021. 207g in a size 9, down from the Legend 8's 228g. Still K-leather, on a new soleplate.

• Recharge
• Blast

Nike said in March 2023 it would stop making anything with kangaroo leather that year. It showed the Legend 10 with the United Pack in June 2023, on sale from July. The first pairs in shops came in the Shadow Pack, Black/Chrome/Hyper Royal. Nike also called it the lightest Tiempo yet.

On 14 August 2023 came the Golden Touch: gold fading to black, a nod to Ronaldinho and Totti, with an orange tab from the Legend IV. In April 2024 the Pearl edition marked 30 years of the Tiempo. In 2025 alone there were 11 Legend 10 editions, and Footy Headlines says it was the last Tiempo Legend.

• Shadow (launch)
• Golden Touch
• Mad Ready
• Pearl
• Mad Energy
• Luxe
• Max Voltage

Unveiled on 4 December 2025 and on sale from 22 January 2026, in Metallic Red Bronze/Metallic Rose Gold. Techleather is a synthetic made to feel like leather. A 360-degree wrap holds the foot, and there are two central studs up front where the Legend 10 had one.

The Tiempo Ligera came out alongside it: the same Techleather on a traditional full plate, with a fold-over tongue, for nearly £100 less.

Faces: Foden, Enzo Fernández, Paquetá, Vitinha and Arda Güler, with de Jong, Musiala and Cunha already in Tiempos. The Jordan pair dropped on 13 March, the anniversary of Michael Jordan's 1989 Sports Illustrated cover.

• Red Bronze/Rose Gold (launch)
• Jordan Infrared 23
• Breakout
• Shadow
• Break Em
• Bright Lights