Football fever is at its peak right now as the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ gains momentum and moves forward. The fans are in full mode, the players have their adrenaline pumping, the teams are giving it their best shot, and the football used in the tournament is in full on goal mode.
This World Cup sees a revival of the very first Adidas ball that was used in the FIFA tournament in Mexico in 1970. The Adidas Telstar 18 is ‘the’ ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ and its living up to its performance in the tournament. The original ‘Telstar’ name comes from combining ‘television’ and star. It was white with black panels so the ball would stand out on the black and white television screens of that era. The original ‘Telstar’ completely reinvented the design of footballs for the future.
Designed by Adidas with better aerodynamics and an improved shape, the Adidas Telstar 18 is made up of a synthetic leather covering and has six panels. The panels are thermally bonded using heat to seamlessly patch the panels together. This is a lot more durable than stitching the panels; it gives the ball a seamless touch and feel so the ball can glide through the air and maximize performance.
The Telstar 18 also comes embedded with an NFC chip so consumers can interact with the ball through a smartphone and get exclusive detailed information of each ball and content which includes challenges that they can enter and try to overcome.
The Telstar 18 is based around the concept of sustainability and is made up of recycled packaging and backing material.
The Telstar 18 is manufactured in Sialkot in Pakistan which is the world’s biggest manufacturer of hand-stitched footballs, and a hub of local factories that manufacture around 40-60 million footballs every year. In fact, the ‘Brazuca’ football used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil was also manufactured in Pakistan.
The company manufacturing the Telstar 18 for 2018’s World Cup is called Forward Sports. It manufactures around 700,000 footballs per month and like its name delivers forward thinking and innovative footballs that have also been used in major league football tournaments like the Champions League, France Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga.
The Telstar 18 has been extensively tested for its speed, agility and performance on the field by renowned football clubs like Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United; football teams like Mexico, Colombia and Argentina and top football players around the world like Leo Messi, Alessandro Del Piero, Zinedine Zidane, Lukas Podolsk and Alessandro Del Piero. It was also tested by the 32 football teams playing in the World Cup before the tournament to prepare for the matches.
What do you think of the Telstar 18? Do you think it’s living up to its name? Do let us know what you think in our comments section.
Cover image credit: NSS Mag
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