Inside PUMA's NITRO Lab in LA for the World Cup

The brand that built the first soccer shoe is writing its next chapter inside the NITRO Lab.

PUMA opened the NITRO Lab in Los Angeles, California. | Virisa Yong/BFA.com

PUMA built the first soccer shoe in 1948. Then came the Super Atom, the first boot with screw-in studs. Then Pele in the King. PUMA has been building on football for almost 80 years, and the next chapter just dropped in LA, inside the NITRO Lab, the same week the world's attention turns to the World Cup.

The room hit you in red. Tron, cyberpunk, whatever you want to call it, that was the aesthetic. Around the space sat pieces from across PUMA's NITRO lineup, running shoes next to football kits, every piece speaking the same language: speed, performance, energy.

Inside the PUMA NITRO Lab. | Virisa Yong/BFA.com

At the center of it all was the Ultra Nitro 7. The boot is built around NITROFOAM ELITE in the sockliner and footbed, engineered to compress and rebound instantly so every push off feels faster. At 180 grams, it pairs that responsiveness with an ULTRAWEAVE upper for precision and a SPEEDSYSTEM 2.0 outsole for propulsion, the most complete Ultra boot PUMA has built.

What stuck with me was the process. Most brands build a shoe, then ask players what they think. PUMA does it backward. As Romain Girard, VP of Innovation, put it, NITRO is built on one obsession: what the athlete needs to go faster. "Players wanted to move like a hero."

Inside the PUMA NITRO Lab. | Virisa Yong/BFA.com

Not a marketing line, an actual demand, on how the boot performed underfoot. The hard part wasn't adding foam, it was balance. Too much and you lose proprioception, the feel for the ball under your foot. Too little and the boot stops doing its job. The Ultra Nitro 7 sits right in that gap.

PUMA also had the Cryo Vest on display, a performance cooling top built for athletes competing in extreme heat, a real consideration for a summer tournament. And tucked into the lab was a 3D-printed prototype, white and gold under the lights, a glimpse at where this all heads next, boots scanned and built around how an athlete actually plays.

Inside the PUMA NITRO Lab. | Virisa Yong/BFA.com

Standing in that room, surrounded by NITRO branding and kits from every PUMA nation headed to the World Cup, one thing was clear.

PUMA isn't chasing the future of football; they've been building it since 1948. The Ultra Nitro 7 hits pre-sale on July 13 and general sale July 23 at puma.com and select retailers.

Inside the PUMA ULTRA NITRO Lab. | Virisa Yong/BFA.com

Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Kicks On SI for all your footwear news from the sports world and beyond.