From World Soccer Shop:
The History of the FIFA World Cup™ Soccer Ball
Often times, a soccer ball is just a soccer ball.
But not when it’s the FIFA World Cup™ ball.
These soccer balls – and their respective designs – cement themselves in our mind and our practice fields for years and years to come. Slowly, they become the default image in our head when we think of a soccer ball.
This is why when your average sports fan thinks of a soccer ball, they think of the white and black hexagonal pattern. That design (called a Telstar) was popularized by being a FIFA World Cup™ ball.
Here, we break down every single FIFA World Cup™ ball for you – their designs, their tournaments and their place in history.
One last note before we begin – the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ Official Matchball, known as the Al Rihla, has been revealed! You won't find it here in this article because we broke down its every detail in our Closer Look piece below.
1930 | The Tiento & The T-Model
- 12 panels
- Leather laces (T-Model)
- Without laces (Tiento)
- Name inspired by T-shaped panels (T-model)
- Sewn and inflated by hand
- Grew heavier in wet conditions
- Tournament location: Uruguay
After the idea for the FIFA World Cup™ was conceptualized in 1928, FIFA awarded the hosting rights of the first ever tournament to Uruguay, the reigning Olympic champions – not just because of their excellence in obtaining the gold medal, but also because 1930 would mark 100 years since the South American Nation became independent.
As fate would have it, the Uruguayans advanced to the final and won the tournament, but not before a disagreement with their final opponents, Argentina.
The tradition of a tournament official ball had not been created yet – teams supplied their own for each match.
At this point in time, soccer balls were individually hand-crafted, and thus could vary by size and shape. Before each match, team captains would select from a handful of options the ball they preferred to play with.
According to some sources, a dispute erupted prior to kickoff, as both teams debated which ball would be used in the final match – the Argentinian’s Tiento, or the Uruguayan’s T-Model. FIFA, excellent mediator as they always are, required that the first half be played with Argentina’s Tiento, while the second half be played with Uruguay’s T-Model.
Argentina ‘won’ the first half with their ball by a score of 2-1. Uruguay ‘won’ the second half with their ball by a score of 3-0 – making the final score 4-2 in Uruguay’s favor.
1934 | The Federale 102
- Cotton laces
- 13 panels
- Manufactured by Ente Centrale Approvvigionamento Sportivi in Rome
- Manufactured under order of Benito Mussolini
- Tournament location: Italy
The updated cotton laces made heading the ball a much softer, safer experience on the Federale 102. Can you imagine smacking your forehead on the laces of an NFL football? That’s what it was like, before this miraculous innovation.
Prior to the tournament, Benito Mussolini ordered the construction of an official tournament ball to be made in Italy, as they were the host nation. This set a precedent for “official” FIFA World Cup™ soccer balls.
As mentioned above, soccer ball construction of the time meant that each ball was different and thus chosen from a larger group of options prior to kickoff. This ball was actually not used in the final as a result, as Italy and Czechoslovakia chose an English build instead.
1938 | The Allen
- Cotton laces
- 13 panels
- First to feature a ball name and official branding on the ball itself
- Produced by French manufacturer Allen
- Tournament location: France
Another very similar ball to the last few tournaments, with the main difference here being the more rounded edges of the panels and the “Allen” branding – the name of the Paris-based manufacturer who constructed the ball, since the tournament took place in France.
1950 | The Duplo T
- 12 panels
- First FIFA World Cup™ ball without laces
- Added air valve, simplifying inflation
- Manufactured by Brazilian industrials Luis Pole, Antonio Tossolini and Juan Valbonesi
- Tournament location: Brazil
The introduction of the “Superball” at the FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil brought soccer balls much closer to the modern era. These balls could achieve a rounder shape thanks to the added air valve feature – meaning a pump and needle could inflate them, as we use today.
This also removed the need for professional construction and thus, laces as well.
1954 | The Swiss World Champion
- 18 panels
- Yellow color scheme
- Manufactured by Kost Sport (Switzerland)
- Tournament location: Switzerland
This ball, used in Switzerland's hosting of the FIFA World Cup™, is remarkable for it being the first to use 18 panels – and this construction would catch on, as similar builds followed suit through the 1960s.
1958 | The Top Star
- 24 panels
- Chosen in a blind test by FIFA officials
- Only official ball to be used in more than one FIFA World Cup™
- Sydsvenska Läder & Remfabriks Manufacturing (Sweden)
- Tournament location: Sweden
The Top Star was yellow in color and featured interlocking zigzag seams to create less tension on the ball itself. It was used during the FIFA World Cup™ in Sweden.
The big story here is how it got to be 1958’s official ball.
FIFA held a competition where the tournament ball would be chosen in a blind test from a batch of submissions from all over the world.
Soccer’s governing body received over 100 submissions and the Top Star passed the test.
1962 | The Crack
- 18 panels of irregular shapes
- Silver in color
- Featured latex valve for longer air retention
- Ditched at the ‘62 FIFA World Cup™ in favor of the previous Top Star
- Manufactured by Zamora & Brine Chile
- Tournament location: Chile
The Crack, despite how things ended up, is one of the earliest ‘modern’ style balls on this list. The irregular shape of its paneling structure allowed for a much-closer-to-perfection-than-usual spherical shape.
The only problem was the referees and European teams at the tournament in Chile didn’t like it. So they requested old Top Stars be sent in, and now we’re left with the laughing stock of FIFA World Cup™ balls – even though it may truly have been an innovator. The Crack was hardly used at the very tournament it was the official ball for.
1966 | The Challenge 4 Star
- 25 panels
- Three different colors (orange, yellow, white) were created for the tournament
- The last to include ‘striped’ (volleyball-like) paneling
- Manufactured by Salzenger (UK)
- Tournament location: England
Before players and officials could see the light The Crack provided, they returned to the striped paneling system they were accustomed to. Old habits die hard.
Thus, The Challenger 4 Star was selected via another blind test for the ‘66 tournament in England, but it would be the last ‘volleyball’ style soccer ball to be used at a FIFA World Cup™.
1970 | The Telstar
- 32 panels
- 12 black pentagonal panels
- 20 white hexagonal panels
- Named after the Telstar communications satellite
- Leather build
- Combination of the words ‘television’ and ‘star’
- Only 20 balls supplied for the tournament
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: Mexico
Whispers began in the 60s after the discrepancies between The Crack and The Top Star. Officials and referees were telling their FIFA compatriots that a more serious, regional or world-wide manufacturer was necessary to ensure quality and control amongst soccer balls of such prestige.
Thus, adidas stepped in.
The Telstar is the soccer ball. You only have to glance at it to know that. The 1970 FIFA World Cup™ in Mexico is where it made its name.
But it got its name from the Telstar Communications Satellite launched by Bell Telephone Laboratories and AT&T – it was the first active communications satellite, sending live television signals, phone calls and fax messages through space.
What did it look like? Well, a lot like a soccer ball, with a round white surface and black reflective paneling in spots all around it. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that the ball looks like the satellite.
This satellite heralded a new era of instantaneous world-wide communication. This ball is now the symbol of soccer anywhere you go, because the whole world could watch on together and all see the same thing.
1974 | The Telstar Durlast
- Identical to The Telstar, but…
- The first polyurethane coated ball
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: West Germany
Maybe this is also part of the reason The Telstar design is so iconic. It was essentially used for back-to-back FIFA World Cups™, with a name change and a slight addition the only differences.
The Durlast here was used in the 1974 tournament in West Germany and has the world’s first polyurethane coating on a soccer ball, making it more durable and water resistant.
1978 | The Tango
- 32 panels
- Genuine leather
- Waterproof coating
- Used in Euros and Summer Olympics for the next 10 years
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: Argentina
Designed for the FIFA World Cup™ in Argentina, the Tango comes inspired by the Argentinian tango style of dance. A dance that is described in Argentina as elegant and exciting, the colors of the ball come inspired by the black and white suits and shirts that men traditionally wear during the tango.
The ball itself was built of 32 identical hexagonal panels creating triads which give the impression of 12 circles around the ball. A genuine leather build and polyurethane coating for water resistance rounded up the tech upgrades.
1982 | The Tango Espana
- 32 panels
- Nearly identical to the Tango, but with new and improved rubberized seams
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: Spain
The only update here for the FIFA World Cup™ in Spain was the improved seam structure.
1986 | The Azteca
- 32 panels
- First fully synthetic FIFA World Cup™ soccer ball
- Design inspired by Aztec architecture and murals
- Called the Jalisco in Argentina due to naming rights and license issues
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: Mexico
The use of synthetic material to create The Azteca for the FIFA World Cup™ in Mexico was a large step forward for soccer ball builds, allowing for increased durability and better performance across varying weather conditions. Hard terrain, wet conditions and high altitudes were no longer a problem.
1990 | Etrusco Unico
- 32 panels
- Inspired by Etruscan (mid-central Italian) art and design
- Features Etruscan lion heads on each panel
- First ball with an internal layer of black polyurethane foam
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: Italy
Inspired by the fine art and historic Etruscan region of Italy – a mid-central area of the country comprising of Tuscany and northern Lazio – the FIFA World Cup™ ball for the second tournament held in Italy features three Etruscan lion heads on 20 of the Tango panels.
The Etrusco Unico was the first ball with an internal layer of black polyurethane foam – which kept the ball just as weatherproof as before, but made it lighter and faster.
1994 | Questra
- 32 panels
- Named after an ancient word meaning “the quest for the stars”
- Constructed from five different materials
- Featured a space-inspired theme
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: United States of America
The adidas Questra was built for the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ in the USA. For this ball, adidas set out to make something lighter and more responsive and used five different materials along with a polystyrene foam.
The result was a more waterproof final product with great acceleration off the foot.
The ball keeps a similar design from the Tango and Etrusco, but uses an outer space-inspired theme coming from the States’ 25th anniversary of the moon landing.
1998 | The Tricolore
- 32 panels
- First multi-colored ball to used at a FIFA World Cup™
- Manufactured by adidas (Germany)
- Tournament location: France
The tricolor flag and cockerel, traditional symbols of France, were used as inspiration for the design of the next FIFA World Cup™ ball on our list. Other than that, it remains very similar to the preceding two-decades worth of match balls.
2002 | The Fevernova
The Fevernova finally departed from the Tango build that lasted for twenty years. It introduced a more modern, more dynamic design based on asian Tomoe structures and using the classic red of Japanese calligraphy.
The ball was built with 11 layers, one of which was a syntatic foam layer. That may mean nothing to you (and that’s perfectly ok), but what it translated to on the pitch was a ball that was extremely light – so light, in fact, that players and goalkeepers blamed it for losses throughout the 2002 edition of the tournament split between South Korea and Japan. It would start a bit of a trend.
2006 | The Teamgeist
The adidas Teamgeist technically is named the +Teamgeist, with the plus sign being silent. No joke.
The word Teamgeist in German translates to ‘team spirit’ and can’t be trademarked as it’s such a common phrase, so adidas had to jump through some loopholes to find an allowable name.
The bonded panels matched that of Euro balls used just before the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany. They allowed for a rounder shape and more consistent ball reaction no matter where it was struck. This was the first ball since 1970 to not have 32 panels.
2010 | The Jabulani
This ball received possibly the most academic and data-driven input of any other so far, being developed in tandem with researchers at Loughborough University in the UK.
All the smarts in the world couldn’t protect the Jabulani, though.
Here’s Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas on the matter: “It is very sad that a competition so important as the world championship will be played with such a horrible ball.”
Brazilian striker Robinho went for the jugular: “For sure the guy who designed this ball never played football. But there is nothing we can do; we have to play with it.”
Other players on record publicly and verbally criticizing the ball include Joe Hart, Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Buffon and David James.
But, thanks to science, we have a conclusion. NASA researchers chimed in on the discussion, identifying exactly why the Jabulani knuckled the way that it did.
"It's quite obvious. You're seeing a knuckle-ball effect," said Rabi Mehta, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames. Mehta explained that when a relatively smooth ball with seams flies through the air without much spin, the air close to the surface is affected by the seams, producing an asymmetric flow. This asymmetry creates side forces that can suddenly push the ball in one direction and cause volatile swerves and swoops.
From his research on tennis and cricket balls in wind tunnels, Mehta believes that the Jabulani ball will tend to knuckle at 45 to 50 mph, which coincides with the speed of the ball during a free-kick around the goal area. Another point made by Mehta is that many of the stadiums for the World Cup are located at high altitude (Johannesburg is at 5,500 feet) and this will affect the ball aerodynamics as well, since the air density is lower. At this high altitude, the ball will tend to fly faster (less drag) and swerve less (less lift).
2014 | The Brazuca
After the controversy surrounding the Jabulani, adidas made changes with the Brazuca to intentionally avoid too much knuckle on the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ ball.
Tested for over two years, the ball introduced less panels in the overall construction to enhance consistency in ball flight and retextured those panels to mimic past soccer balls.
In terms of design and name, the ball calls upon all the local Brazilian flavor you could ask for, with a bright and vibrant color scheme meant to recall Brazilian wish bracelets (also known as Bahia bands) – a symbol of faith and good fortune.
The name of the ball itself was chosen by the Brazilian people in a public poll run in partnership with adidas.
This ball solved the problems of the Jabulani and holds a special place in Brazilian hearts.
2018 | The Telstar 18
The Telstar 18 saw a departure in true, creative, innovative soccer ball design. Much like the jersey of the modern day, adidas dipped into the past to inspire their modern model. The Telstar 18 is a shout out to the beloved ball that started it all, which we’ve already covered in detail above.
This ball, like others before (are you noticing a theme here?) received criticism from players. Its flight paths were unpredictable and it was described as slippery in some conditions.
This ball had some unfortunate run-ins throughout the tournament.
Two Telstar 18s bursted in a first round match between France and Australia and a few deflated during Argentina vs Iceland.