Nicos Livesey depicts Bale, Mbappe and Ronaldo in the Euros waiting room for BBC trailer

Nicos Livesey has directed the animated trailer for the BBC’s Euro 2020 coverage, uniting international players and fans in a giant waiting room for the delayed tournament as it finally arrives. Livesey, a multi-disciplinary animation director who has a strong reputation in the sports sector, depicts thousands of beautifully hand-drawn characters in a charming 60-second spot with plenty of footballing stars and easter eggs to find along the way.

Livesey again shows he’s not one to shy away from laborious projects, with his 2018 animation for the BBC World Cup coverage comprising 600 fully embroidered frames. This spot, while more traditional in animation style, takes place in a waiting room apparently “big enough to fit the whole of Europe,” and is so packed with action and narratives that you could watch a dozen times and still miss something. Gareth Bale works on his putting, Kylian Mbappe swaps football stickers, Cristiano Ronaldo runs on a treadmill and poses for pictures… that is before the Chemical Brothers soundtrack kicks in and so does the football, with Marcus Rashford getting in the first boot.

The campaign was put together by BBC Creative with animation studio Blinkink, with post production by Factory and Black Kyte. It premiered during the FA Cup final half-time; the Euros starts on 11 June.