The presentation of the soccer ball that will accompany a competition between national teams is always highly anticipated. Curious to get to know “Uniforia”, the Euro 2020 ball that details the names of the twelve cities that will host the tournament, including Rome, let’s review the balls that together with players and coaches have made the history of world Cup.
Football: from the evolution to the first World Cup in 1930
Football has had several evolutions since it was officially established as a game in 1863 and precisely on October 26 in London at Free Mason’s Tavern on Great Queen Street. We went from wool sweaters to stretch uniforms to highlight the restraints with the famous “stop stopping” system introduced by Kappa. The ways of following the matches have changed: from the radio passing through the “direct goal” Serie A of Sky now and TELE + before, arriving at the smartphone applications. It all happened in less than 20 years. The ways of having fun with bookmakers and sports bets of any kind have also changed: we have gone from the famous 1-X-2 of the ticket to various combinations of bets, including the possibility of betting on which team will be “to beat the kick-off”. Even the focus of the game, the most contested thing for 90 minutes by 22 people on a green rectangle has changed. Not in the shape, obviously the balloon was born and continues to be spherical from that October in London, but in the materials, in the inner tubes and in the technology. This is also due to the large investments of millions of euro technical sponsors, who apply their best technologies to football. What are the balls that accompanied and experienced victories, defeats and great technical gestures as a super partes judge during the World Cup? obviously the balloon was born and continues to be spherical from that October in London, but in the materials, in the inner tubes and in the technology, yes. This is also due to the large investments of millions of euro technical sponsors, who apply their best technologies to football. What are the balls that accompanied and experienced victories, defeats and great technical gestures as a super partes judge during the World Cup? obviously the balloon was born and continues to be spherical from that October in London, but in the materials, in the inner tubes and in the technology, yes. This is also due to the large investments of millions of euro technical sponsors, who apply their best technologies to football. What are the balls that accompanied and experienced victories, defeats and great technical gestures as a super partes judge during the World Cup?
Once upon a time there was a World Cup final played with two different balls. That’s right: the all-South American final won by Uruguay over Argentina valid for the first world championship held in 1930 was played with two different balls. In fact, in the first part of the competition the Pelota Argentina was used, while for the second half the Modelo T, both of South American manufacture: containing an inner tube, the balls were made up of 12 strips of hard leather sewn together which gave a certain weight. specific especially when the balloons soaked in water.
The two successes of Italy and the first stylistic evolutions
Always a twelve-stripe leather ball was the one with which Italy triumphed in the first of two consecutive successes. We are talking about the 1934 World Cup, held in Italy and the protagonist ball was the “Federale 102” whose name bears witness to the historical period. In 1938 it was the turn of the Allen ball: World Cup in France won again by the Italian national team, the ball had the name of the manufacturer and did not differ from its predecessor. The 1950 World Cup has a very special charm: life resumed after the war period and so did the prestigious national team competition. Sara remembered as the world championship of the famous “maracanazo”: the sports drama that hit Brazil after the national team had lost the final against Uruguay at home at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. The ball that delivered the second trophy to Uruguay was the Allen Super Duplo T, which wanted to be a tribute to the Model T, used in 1930. It did not abandon the 12 leather strips or the inner tube of the Allen Super, but the color became lighter. The yellow Swiss World Champion ball, created by Kost Sport for the World Cup in Switzerland won by East Germany, is definitely of an original color, even if the structure remained the same as the previous ones, as was the Top Star ball created by 12 bands. Sydsvenska Lader och Remfabriken for the Swedish World Cup in ’58. This is the year in which the whole world definitively knew Pele who dragged Brazil to victory against the hosts of Sweden. In 1962 Brazil offered its encore, imposing itself against Czechoslovakia in the final in the Chilean world championship The ball of the edition hosted in Chile was the Crack, conceived in co-ownership between Salvador Caussade and Custodio Zamora, the style of the Chilean ball broke a bit the mold, at least in the geometry of the panels of leather. 1966 is the first time on the roof of the world for England who wins in the world championship hosted at home. In the Wembley final in front of over 90,000 spectators, the queen’s team put the Salzenger Challenge ball four times in the Germans’ goal for the final result of 4-2. The Salzenger returned to the style of the 1930s, re-proposing a brown leather ball with 12 sewn bands, but the year of the 1966 World Cup saw the presence of the first ever mascot of national football competitions: the lion Willie.
70s and 80s: Adidas arrives, Tango arrives
The 70s arrived and with these Adidas became the official producer for the Mexico 70 World Cup football. For the first time the ball changed completely design and looked as we remember it at least until the 90s: 32 leather panels, 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons, sewn together. The ball was made extremely more spherical and the Brazilians took home the world championship by beating the Italy of Rivera and Riva back from the historic 4-3 victory with Germany. In addition, the Brazilians closed the era of the Jules Rimet Cup, as the world championship had been called up to that moment, winning the competition for the third time. The world championship organized in Germany in 1974 featured the Telstar Durlast ball, almost identical to the one in 1970: Adidas had in fact only changed the writing on the sphere that passed from gold to black. In 1978 the Tango appeared for the first time, a name given in honor of Argentina which hosted the competition: and here the turning point is epochal. The 32 panels remained, but the difference was that they were all white, a black pattern was printed on the leather bands that gave a particular effect to the ball that increased the myth of Tango. Tango will be the protagonist of two World Championships: 1978 won by Kempes’ Argentina at home and 1982, won by Italy. The 1982 World Cup ball was identical to the previous one, it changed its name for brand reasons and became Tango Espana. The next edition in Mexico, the whole world bowed before the class of the player recognized as the strongest of all time: Diego Armando Maradona.
Italy ’90, the fourth Italian victory and the versions for the final
Etrusco Unico was the football star of the “magic nights” of Italia ’90, a competition organized in Italy and won by Germany. Balloon that paid homage to Etruscan art by showing three lion heads in the mosaic on the graphics, was characterized by the insertion of a particular foam that made it more waterproof. The ball used in the USA ’94 World Cup, lost on penalties by Baggio’s Italy against Romario and Dunga’s Brazil, was the Questra, again produced by the German Adidas. The American ball represented an evolution of the Tango, just as a last and romantic version of the Tango was that of the 1998 World Cup ball in France. On that occasion it was called Tricolore and became the first colored ball of a world cup and France won a world cup for the first time in its history. 2002 was the year of the World Cup in Japan and Korea and the ball became a completely white pearl-colored sphere, with a single design in the center representing a triangle with golden edges, which recalled a shuriken, an Asian throwing weapon. In 2002 Ronaldo’s Brazil triumphed against Kahn’s Germany, while in 2006, Grosso’s last penalty ball that gave Italy the victory was a + Teamgeist Berlin, the first prototype with 14 curved heat-sealed panels, no longer sewn. which differed from the ball used in the rest of the world for the presence of gold inserts in the graphics to honor the final. In Africa it was the turn of Jabulani and also on this occasion for the final between Spain and Holland an ad hoc version was created: Jo’bulani. This balloon further reduced the heat-sealed panels to eight units and beyond the graphics that recalled the 11 African communities, the innovation lay in technology. The “grip ‘n’ groove” system was introduced, which aimed to improve shot accuracy and ball control. The panels decrease again in 2014 with the Bazuca for the World Cup in Brazil won by Germany. This ball improved the grip, avoided any variation in case of rain and made a more faithful rebound. The 2018 Russia World Cup ball was the Telstar 18, a clear homage to the one used in 1970. Obviously nothing to do with the 48-year-old prototype: inside the ball there is a chip that can be controlled with a smartphone via a ‘app, which then allows you to process data and performance.
Football will continue its evolution with the unstoppable entry of technology in all aspects. We have already seen it with the VAR and goal-line technology: the technological assistance on the green rectangle allows a greater fluidity of the game and makes the game more spectacular and fun. The ball itself, an indispensable tool for this sport, is a confirmation of this trend: from a mere tool to a commercial product with millions of euros in technological investments.
