An illustrated history of “The Ball”
written by Christian Wach
The ball that we kick to the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup is always the official World Cup ball for that tournament. If we’d had the idea in 1974, these are the balls we’d have been kicking:
1974: TELSTAR
According to FIFA, this was the first ball with 32 black and white panels to make it more visible on black and white television screens.
1978: TANGO
Supposedly a more design representing “elegance, dynamism and passion”!
1982: TANGO
This ball’s innovation was its waterproof design.
1986: AZTECA
The first synthetic match ball
1990: ETRUSCO
The first ball with an internal layer of foam
1994: QUESTRA
Designed to fly faster through the air
1998: TRICOLORE
The first multi-coloured ball
2002: FEVERNOVA
Radical restyling
2006: TEAMGEIST
Apparently this is the most accurate ball to date — the seams on the official ball (not the replica pictured here) are flush to the surface and should cause less air turbulence as it flys
