My Instagram algorithm led me to one of the more fascinating projects that I’ve seen in the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup. Ben Chehebar is working to bring a DC-based, independent cleat (boot!) company to market later this year and is taking his Instagram followers on the journey with him.
Ben’s path into the Soccer industry has been via the scenic route. After a quick stop at Adidas on the West Coast post-University of Michigan back around 2011, he built a successful waste management company (Compology) that developed monitoring software to gauge whether haulers should empty full dumpsters or whether they could wait until more trash accumulated. When the company sold in October 2022, Ben stayed on with the new company during the transition for a bit and then in December 2023, found himself with time on his hands and a desire to build something different and new.
But he didn’t quite know what to do. That is until a conversation with a friend un-earthered the comment, “you know, Ben, I always thought you’d get into shoes." This planted a seed that is currently taking root and sprouting in Washington, DC.
In January 2024, Eleven Football began. After being out of the industry since his first job out of College, and even then only spending about a year in it, the journey has been filled with navigating choppy seas en route to get the product to market. After finding a kindred spirit in Tom Rushbrook, a designer who has spent time at Puma and Nike, Eleven Football aims to have its first product to market in Fall 2025.
With its first product; Eleven Football will be launching an indoor turf shoe. Ben has been traveling back and forth to a manufacturing facility in China perfecting the design to go from digital design to something you can confidently play in on turf fields.
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