History of the balls
It all started in Uruguay back in 1930. With the opening of every world cup, new technological breakthroughs are made regards stadiums, shirts and football boots.
Nevertheless, the magic of football was also improved thanks to the evolution of balls.
At first, balls were heavy, filed with animals´ bladders and outer sewing, that´s why goals converted with those balls were known as “painful goals”.
Ranging from basic strap balls, going through T Shaped leather balls –or hexagonal hand sewed balls- until getting to synthetic layer balls, many years of amazing goals and technologies went by.
Southafrica 2010 World Cup will could with an own ball. Jabulani (which means “celebrate” in Zulu) is the name chosen for it, which thanks to its design and special manufacture, will be of an exact roundness, like it was never achieved before.
1930The first World Cup was that of “painful goals”. Back in 1930, players used a beret so the ball didn’t hurt so much. The ball was made of “tiento”, with rectangular panels and outer stitching.
1934Italy´s World Cup ball was still made of brown “tiento” and keep hurting as much as in Uruguay 1930. This ball, called “FEDERALE 102”, was heavy and could become easily distorted.
1938The 1938 FIFA World Cup brought along a new evolution of balls and with it, header goals. The addition of a carcass made of strong cloths between the bladder and outer cover made controlling the shape easier, provided damping, and made the ball stronger.
1950In 1950 the “Brazilian joy” came to the World Cup. A 12 panel ball T-Shaped was used, hence the name “Super Duplo T”.
1954Along with the 1954 Switzerland World Cup, came the new 18 panel ball stitched with nylon. In trainings a ball with the world cup logo was used, but in actual matches a plain orange ball was used.
1958The 1958 World Cup held in Sweden was played with a 24 panel yellow/brown ball. This time we get close to a more familiar color, since some matches were played with a white ball.
1962The Trans-Andean 1962 World Cup featured the famous “crack” ball, a yellow handmade ball made in Santiago de Chile. It had semi-squared panels, giving the ball greater roundness and a lighter weight.
1966The “Challenge” was the official ball in 1966 World Cup held in England, where ball boys made their debut. 300 units were made (a lot for that time) with 25 white/yellow/orange panels.
1970ADIDAS presented their official ball in Mexico 1970 called “Telstar”, a 32-panel black and white ball, thus making it more visible for the first World Cup broadcast in black and white.
1974In the 1974 World Cup held in Germany, the ADIDAS´32-panel “Telstar” plays on the field again, but now -the ball made in France- featured waterproof leather. A completely white ball called “ADIDAS Chile” was also used in the tournament.
1978The “TANGO” was a design which would be used up to 1998. The ball design represented elegance, dynamism and passion of its host country, Argentina. It was made of twenty panels with ‘triads’ created the impression of 12 identical circles.
1982The Argentina TANGO ball has such a huge success that it was also used in Spain 1982.However, Adidas introduced a new ball which had rubber inlaid over the seams to prevent water from seeping through. It was the first ball with water-resistant qualities.
1986The first FIFA World Cup ball was made with synthetic materials was the ADIDAS TANGOS of 1986 World Cup. The Mexico World Cup saw the introduction of the first polyurethane coated ball which was rain-resistant. The first synthetic match ball, with good qualities on hard and wet surfaces.
1990Considered of the best balls in World Cups, the “Etrusco” was the first ball with an internal layer of black polyurethane foam. It was so revolutionary back then that it was later on used in the UEFA European Football Championship and the 1992 Olympics.
1994The official ball of 1994 FIFA World Cup -held in USA- was enveloped in a layer of polystyrene foam. This not only made it more waterproof but allowed the ball greater acceleration when kicked. The new game ball felt softer to the touch, as well as improved ball control and higher velocity during play.
1998By 1998, FIFA World Cup France was played with a ball which sported the French red-white-blue tri-color. The TRICOLORE used underglass print technology with a thin layer of syntactic foam.
2002For FIFA World Cup Korea Japan, 2002, Adidas created a new ball made up of thicker inner layers to increase the accuracy of the ball in flight. This ball change the traditional design since 1978 Tango ball. It was tested by 736 before the World Cup, and it was an outstanding technical and nice looking achievement.
20062006 World Cup presented the new 14-panel design called “+Teamgeist“, which resulted in a ball with the most consistent performance characteristics ever, enabling the players to show their true skills. Each of the match balls for the FIFA World Cup™ will be personalized with the name of the stadium, the teams, the match date and the kick-off time of each individual game.
2010Jabulani is elaborated with a super carbonate layer, which gives it a unique precision. Its design, in 11 colors, symbolizes the 11 players, the 11 Southafrican official languages and the 11 Southafrican host communities.
Jabulani 2010
History of the balls
