DUBAI: The 2018 FIFA World Cup match ball has been revealed – the Adidas Telstar 18.
As with their official kits for the tournament, Adidas have put a modern twist on a classic design by updating the 1970 Telstar – the company’s first ever World Cup ball. Argentina’s great hope Lionel Messi was joined by the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Xabi Alonso, Alessandro Del Piero, Lukas Podolski and Kaka to unveil the ball on Thursday afternoon.
Chelsea and West Ham strikers Alvaro Morata and Javier Hernandez have been given an early feel of the official match ball for next summer’s finals, with the forwards hoping for success in Russia with Spain and Mexico respectively. Germany duo Mats Hummers and Toni Kroos have also been handed the chance to test out the ball, with Die Nationalmannschaft hoping to defend the title they won back in Brazil in 2014.
The ball also fully embraces the digital age, with an NFC chip embedded to enable interaction via a smartphone – a feature which will allow owners the chance to access challenges in the run-up to the World Cup.
In order to avoid the type of problems which have seen Mitre criticised for their EFL Cup ball in recent weeks, a number of top teams and nations were given access to adidas’ ball during the testing stage: Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Manchester United, Juventus, Real Madrid and Ajax.
