The Adidas Telstar 18 was the official match ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It was designed by the company Adidas, a FIFA Partner and

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

official match ball supplier since 1970, and based on the concept of the first Adidas's World Cup match ball. The manufacturer of the ball was

Forward Sports Forward Sports is a Pakistani multi-national company based in Sialkot, Punjab that makes sports equipment, primarily soccer balls. It produces 750,000 balls per month for global brands including Adidas. It was founded in 1991 by Khawaja Masoo ...

, a sports equipment supplier based in

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, Pakistan. The Telstar 18 was presented in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

on November 9, 2017 by

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

. Retired Brazilian footballer

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

opened the 2018 FIFA World Cup by introducing a Telstar 18 that was sent into space to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

crew in March 2018, and returned to Earth in June.

Naming

The name of the ball was revealed on November 9, 2017 at the official presentation in Moscow by

, winner of the Golden Ball at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and attended by winners of the World Cup in different years:

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

, Kaká,

Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit ...

Xabi Alonso Xabier Alonso Olano (, ; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his h ...

and

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...

. The Telstar 18 pays homage to Adidas's first World Cup match ball, named the

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...

, which was itself named for its resemblance to the original

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

. The word "Telstar" is a combination of the words "television" and "star".

Design and manufacture

The original Telstar used in the 1970 FIFA World Cup was the first football to show a black and white pattern. This was done to ensure that television audiences would know where the ball was while games were in operation, due to many televisions at the time sporting a black and white screen (

colour television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...

was still rare in many parts of the world in this era). Although the Telstar had 32 panels, the Telstar 18 has six textured panels. They are not stitched, but seamlessly glued together. The ball has an embedded

near-field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...

(NFC)

chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...

. However, it is of no value to players, providing no information about their

kicks A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of atta ...

or headers of the ball, although Adidas has provided this in a previous football. Consumers who purchase a Telstar 18 are able to connect to the chip using a

smart phone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...

to access content and information that is unique to that ball, personalized and localized, providing the consumer with

interactivity Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

themed on the upcoming World Cup competition. Speed Sports manufactured Adidas Telstar 18. The Telstar 18 balls are manufactured in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and China.

Criticism of performance

Although Adidas stated that the Telstar 18 was scientifically designed to be predictable in flight and was "the most perfect piece of equipment ever used in the game," international

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

s including

Marc-André ter Stegen Marc-André ter Stegen ( ; born 30 April 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Barcelona and the Germany national team. Regarded as a highly promising player in his youth, he has since established ...

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...

and

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...

assessed prior to the tournament that the ball changed direction unpredictably and could be slippery due to the smooth coating and lack of seams.

Dani Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

, full-back for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, was quoted as believing that "Telstar 18 is an absolute joy for those shooting with it, but a nightmare for those who have to second guess its trajectory and try and stop it". According to Joaquín Maroto of ''

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns '' El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The paper particularly covers news of the Community of M ...

'', the ball "encourages players to shoot from distance because if the ball is struck well, it fizzes through the air but loses none of its intensity on impact", citing

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. A versatile player, Müller has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking mi ...

's goal for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

from range in a March 2018 friendly against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Criticism of the Telstar 18's instability continued after several long-distance goals in early rounds of the World Cup. According to news channel

Russia 24 Russia-24 (russian: Россия-24) is a state-owned Russian-language news channel from Russia. It covers major national and international events as well as focuses on domestic issues. It is owned by VGTRK. History The broadcast began January 1 ...

, this was part of an intentional shift in the balance of the game. Further commentary on the ball's performance arose after two balls burst in a first-round game between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Australia, and another ball failed in the

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

between

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. A fourth Telstar 18 was found to have lost pressure in the

between

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

on June 20.

Telstar Mechta

At the end of the 2018 World Cup group stage, FIFA revealed a new design to be used in the knockout stage: the Telstar Mechta (Мечта). "Mechta" means ''dream'' or ''ambition'' in Russian. At the

2018 Russia–United States summit Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

, Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

gifted a Telstar Мechta to U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, whose

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

was not qualified for the tournament. The ball, which included the standard chip and transmission devices, incited a political controversy within the U.S. over fears of spying.

References

External links

Adidas
* {{FIFA World Cup official match balls

Telstar 18 Telstar 18 is a communication satellite in the Telstar series of the Canadian satellite communications company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of ...