List of FIFA World Cup official match balls

This is a list of the official match balls for the FIFA World Cup finals tournaments.

From the 1970 FIFA World Cup, different official match balls have been used by FIFA.[1][2][3]

World CupMatch ballManufacturerAdditional informationRefs
1930Tiento (1st half)
T-Model (2nd half)
Two different balls were used in the final: Argentina supplied the first-half ball (the 'Tiento') and led 2–1 at the break; hosts Uruguay supplied the second-half ball (the 'T-Model' which was larger and heavier)[4] and won 4–2.[4][5]
1934Federale 102ECAS
(Ente Centrale Approvvigionamento Sportivi), Rome
[6]
1938AllenAllen, ParisMade up of leather, consisted of 13 panels and had white cotton laces on a separate, thin panel.[7]
1950Duplo TSuperballFirst ball to have no laces and introduce the syringe valve.[8]
1954Swiss World ChampionKost Sport, BaselThe first 18-panel ball.[5][9]
1958Top StarSydsvenska Läder och Remfabriken, Ängelholm
(aka "Remmen" or "Sydläder")
Chosen from 102 candidates in a blind test by four FIFA officials.[10][11]
1962CrackSeñor Custodio Zamora H.,
San Miguel, Chile Remmen
The Crack was the official ball. Referee Ken Aston was unimpressed with the Chilean ball provided for the opening match, and sent for a European ball, which arrived in the second half. Various matches used different balls, with the apparent rumour the European teams didn't trust the locally produced ball.[4][4][5][10][12]
1966Challenge 4-StarSlazenger18-panel ball in orange or yellow. Selected in a blind test at the Football Association headquarters in Soho Square.[5][13]
1970TelstarAdidasTelstar was the first 32-panel black-and-white ball used in the FIFA World Cup finals. Only 20 were supplied by Adidas. A brown ball (Germany-Peru) and a white ball (first half of Italy-Germany) were used in some matches.[5][14]
1974Telstar DurlastThe first polyurethane coated ball, making it waterproof and resistant to wear and tear.[5]
1978TangoThe first of a family of footballs that was also used in the UEFA European Championships and the Summer Olympics until 1988.[5]
1982Tango EspañaSimilar to its predecessor the Tango the Tango España had a polyurethane coating. It had new and improved rubberized seams and was the last leather ball to be used in the World Cup.[5]
1986AztecaFirst fully synthetic FIFA World Cup ball and first hand-sewed ball[5]
1990Etrusco Unico[5]
1994Questra[15][5]
1998TricoloreFirst multi-coloured ball at a World Cup finals tournament.[5]
1999 (women)IconFirst ball specifically created for a Women's World Cup. Technically identical to the Tricolore, but with a different visual design.[16][17]
2002FevernovaFirst World Cup ball with a triangular design. The ball for the 2003 Women's World Cup was technically identical to the Fevernova, but had a different visual design.[18][5]
2006TeamgeistThe Teamgeist is a 14-panel ball. Each match at the World Cup finals had its own individual ball, printed with the date of the match, the stadium and the team names.[19] A special variant, the gold-coloured Teamgeist Berlin, was used in the final match. As in 2003, the ball used for the 2007 Women's World Cup was identical in performance to the ball used in the previous year's World Cup, but with a different visual design.[20][5]
Teamgeist Berlin
2010JabulaniThis ball has 8 panels. A special variant was used for the final match, the gold Jabulani (picture on the left), which was named after "Jo'burg", a standard South African nickname for Johannesburg, site of the final game. The ball was notable for the controversy it attracted, with players and fans contending that its aerodynamics were unusually unpredictable.[5][21]
Jo'bulani
2011 (women)SpeedCell
Technically identical to the Jabulani, but with a different visual design.[22]
2014Brazuca
This is the first FIFA World Cup ball named by the fans. The ball has been made of six polyurethane panels which have been thermally bonded. For the final game, a different colour scheme was used, featuring green, gold and black.[23]
Brazuca Final Rio
2015 (women)Conext 15
Based on the technology introduced in the Brazuca. The Conext15 Final Vancouver is the first ball created specifically for a Women's World Cup final.[24]
Conext 15 Final Vancouver
2018Telstar 18For the 48 matches in the Group stage, teams competed with a ball designed in tribute to the original Adidas Telstar, used in the 1970 and 1974 World Cups.[25][26]
Telstar MechtaAt the end of the 2018 World Cup group stage, FIFA revealed a new color scheme to be used for the 16 matches played in the knockout stage: the Telstar Mechta (Мечта). Mechta means 'dream' or 'ambition' in Russian.[27]
2019 (women)Conext 19
Used for 36 matches in the group stage. It shares the same seamless, mono-panel design as the Telstar 18, but with a glitched graphic that's inspired by the Tricolore ball that was used in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[28][29]
Tricolore 19
Inspired by the Tricolore ball and based on the same template as the Conext 19, the Tricolore 19 ball features a mono-panel aesthetic with a blue-and-red glitch graphic. This ball was used in the knockout stage.
2022Al RihlaAl-Rihla, the Official Matchball for the 2022 FIFA World CupThe ball was designed with sustainability as a priority, making it the first ever official match ball created with water-based glues and inks. The name of the ball, Al Rihla, means 'the journey' or 'the excursion' in Arabic. Two Al Rihla match balls went on a suborbital mission onboard SpaceX's Falcon 9's first stage booster before being used in the World Cup on 15 October 2022.[30] For the final four matches, a different color scheme was used featuring burgundy and gold—the colors of Qatar and the World Cup. Its name Al Hilm means 'the dream' in Arabic.
Al Hilm
2023 (women)OceaunzThe official match ball used during the early stages of the FIFA Women's World Cup, this ball stands out with graphics that reflect the importance of Australia and New Zealand's spectacular coastlines and life-sustaining lakes and waterways. Oceaunz features the same connected ball technology as was seen in Qatar at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This provides precise ball data, which will be made available to video match officials in real-time. For the final four matches, a different color scheme is used featuring orange and gold, reflecting the sunsets across the Sydney skyline, where the final was held.[31]
Oceaunz Final Pro[32]

See also

References

External links