The best World Cup balls ever as Adidas tease new release of 2026 ‘Trionda’ ball

Planet Football • 01 Oct 2025

Adidas have used The Sphere in Las Vegas to show every FIFA World Cup ball since 1970 – and teased the official 2026 ball to be revealed on October 2.

We’re now less than a year away from the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States and the anticipation is really starting to build ahead of the biggest World Cup finals ever

FIFA have expanded the field to 48 teams for the 2026 finals, meaning 104 matches will be staged across North America to decide the next world champions.

Down on the Las Vegas strip, the Sphere lit up the skyline with images of every World Cup ball since 1970, teasing the announcement of the ball for next summer.

Ahead of tomorrow’s announcement, one of the traditional milestones in the World Cup countdown, we’ve ranked the five finest balls since the 1970 tournament in Mexico.

WOW🤩

Adidas lit up the Las Vegas Sphere to show every World Cup ball in history & to tease the new one which is revealed tomorrow!

This looks phenomenal😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/cXgawkc2nq

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) October 1, 2025

5. 1974 – Telstar Durlast

Take away the lettering and this is how a football appears in all children’s drawings.

Johan Neeskens scores a penalty in the 1974 World Cup final between the Netherlands and West Germany.

4. 1998 – Tricolore

Everything about France ’98 just oozed cool, from the host country and assortment of star players to Des Lynam calling out 10 million sickies before England’s opening game with Tunisia.

Our totally scientific theory extends to the Tricolore used during the finals. It was the first ball to break from the traditional white and black combo that had been used up to that point and did it superbly by incorporating the colours of the French flag.

Close your eyes and you can picture Dennis Bergkamp bringing it down and spanking home that goal against Argentina. Magnifique.

A history of #WorldCup match balls: The first multicoloured ball the Tricolore, was designed for France 1998. The graphics on it were based on the neck of the French rooster abstracted into waves supposedly recalling TGV trains. https://t.co/h7CaWpeJ1l pic.twitter.com/1kp3NPMdrO

— Creative Review (@CreativeReview) June 12, 2018

3. 1970 – Telstar

The first Adidas ball was designed with television in mind, with black on white making it more visible to viewers.

Sadly, the enhanced visibility didn’t extend to England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti during their quarter-final defeat to West Germany.

But the original Telstar remains a classic design and perfectly befits the most iconic World Cup of them all.

A tradition that began in Mexico 1970 with the Telstar continues today #nomedabola2014 pic.twitter.com/18uPpfnY

— adidas Football (@adidasfootball) September 2, 2012

2. 2002 – Fevernova

This ball design was the definition of Marmite. Luckily, we’re connoisseurs of the iconic yeasty gloop.

Marking the first World Cup of the new century, the Fevernova was a defiant break from established norms which made it the footballing equivalent of a rebellious teenager that’s thrown away all their jeans and embraced Buddhism.

Yes, many players complained the ball was far too light which strangely befitted a World Cup that lacked gravitas but had plenty of novelty value.

But, on pure aesthetics, this remains a unique and dramatic design.