A football is the ball used in the sport of association football. The ball's spherical shape, as well as its size, weight, mass, and material composition, are specified by Law 2 of the Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board.[1] Additional, more stringent standards are specified by FIFA and other big governing bodies for the balls used in the competitions they sanction.
Early footballs began as animal bladders or stomachs that would easily fall apart if kicked too much. Improvements became possible in the 19th century with the introduction of rubber and discoveries of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear. The modern 32-panel ball design was developed in 1962 by Eigil Nielsen, and technological research continues to develop footballs with improved performance. The 32-panel ball design was soon joined by 24-panel balls as well as 42-panel balls, both of which improved on performance prior to 2007.
A black-and-white patterned spherical truncated icosahedron design, brought to prominence by the Adidas Telstar, has become a symbol of association football.[2] Many different designs of balls exist, varying both in appearance and physical characteristics.[3]
In the year 1863, the first specifications for footballs were set by the Football Association. Previous to this, footballs were made out of inflated animal bladder, with later leather coverings to help footballs maintain their shapes.[4] In 1872 the specifications were revised, and have been kept essentially unchanged by the International Football Association Board. Differences in footballs made since this rule came into effect have been with the material used to create them.
Footballs have dramatically changed over time. During medieval times balls were normally made from an outer shell of leather filled with cork shavings.[5] Another method of creating a ball was using animal bladders to make it inflatable inside. However, these two styles of footballs were easy to puncture and were inadequate for kicking. It was not until the 19th century that footballs developed a more modern appearance.
In 1838, Charles Goodyear introduced vulcanized rubber, which dramatically improved football.[6] Vulcanization is the treatment of rubber to give it certain qualities such as strength, elasticity, and resistance to solvents. Vulcanization of rubber also helps the football resist moderate heat and cold. Vulcanization helped create inflatable bladders that pressurize the outer panel arrangement of the football. Charles Goodyear's innovation increased the bounce ability of the ball and made it easier to kick. Most balls of this time had tanned leather with eighteen sections stitched together. These were arranged in six panels of three strips each.[7] [8]
During the 1900s, footballs were made out of leather with a lace of the same material (known as in Spanish) used to stitch the panels. Although leather was perfect for bouncing and kicking the ball, when heading the football (hitting it with the player's head) it was usually painful. This problem was most probably due to water absorption of the leather from rain, which caused a considerable increase in weight, causing head or neck injury. By around 2017, this had also been associated with dementia in former players.[9] Another problem of early footballs was that they deteriorated quickly, as the plastic used in manufacturing varied in thickness and in quality.
The ball without the leather lace was developed and patented by Romano Polo, Antonio Tossolini and Juan Valbonesi in 1931 in Bell Ville, Córdoba Province, Argentina.[10] [11] This innovative ball (named Superball) was adopted by the Argentine Football Association as the official ball for its competitions since 1932.[12]
The deformation of the football when it is kicked or when the ball hits a surface is tested. Two styles of footballs have been tested by the Sports Technology Research Group of Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in Loughborough University; these two models are called the Basic FE model and the Developed FE model of the football. The basic model considered the ball as a spherical shell with isotropic material properties. The developed model also used isotropic material properties but included an additional stiffer stitching seam region.
Manufacturers are experimenting with microchips and even cameras embedded inside the ball. The microchip technology was considered for the goal-line technology. The ball used in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia had an embedded chip which did not provide any measurements, but provided 'user experience' via smartphone after connecting with the ball via NFC.[13] [14] [15]
Companies such as Umbro, Mitre, Adidas, Nike, Select and Puma are releasing footballs made out of new materials which are intended to provide more accurate flight and more power to be transferred to the football.[16] [17]
Modern footballs are much more complex than past footballs. Most footballs consist of twelve regular pentagonal and twenty regular hexagonal panels positioned in a truncated icosahedron spherical geometry. Some premium-grade 32-panel balls use non-regular polygons to give a closer approximation to sphericality.[18] The inside of the football is made up of a latex or butyl rubber bladder which enables the football to be pressurised. The ball's outside is made of leather, synthetic leather, polyurethane or PVC panels. The surface can be textured, weaved or embossed for greater control and touch. The panel pairs are either machine-stitched, hand-stitched or thermo-bonded (glued and bonded by heat) along the edge. To prevent water absorption balls may be specially coated, or the stitches bonded with glue. The size of a football is roughly 222NaN2 in diameter for a regulation size 5 ball. Rules state that a size 5 ball must be in circumference.[19] Averaging that to and then dividing by gives a diameter of about .
Regulation size and weight for a football is a circumference of and a weight of . The ball is inflated to a pressure of 0.6bar1.1bar at sea level. This is known as "Size 5". Smaller balls, Sizes 1, 3, and 4, are also produced for younger players or as training tools.[20] Following consulations with football associations, clubs and ball manufacturers, FIFA has developed non-compulsory recommendations for appropriate sizes, circumferences and weights of balls for different age groups of youth football.[21]
There are different types of football balls depending on the match and turf including training footballs, match footballs, professional match footballs, beach footballs, street footballs, indoor footballs, turf balls, futsal footballs and mini/skills footballs.[22]
See also: List of FIFA World Cup official match balls, List of UEFA European Championship official match balls, List of AFC Asian Cup official match balls and List of Olympic Football official match balls. Many companies throughout the world produce footballs. The earliest balls were made by local suppliers where the game was played. It is estimated that 40% of all footballs are made in Sialkot, Pakistan with other major producers being China and India.[23]
As a response to the problems with the balls in the 1962 FIFA World Cup, Adidas created the Adidas Santiago[24] – this led to Adidas winning the contract to supply the match balls for all official FIFA and UEFA matches, which they have held since the 1970s, and also for the Olympic Games.[25] They also supply the ball for the UEFA Champions League which is called the Adidas Finale.
See main article: FIFA World Cup official match balls. In early FIFA World Cups, match balls were mostly provided by the hosts from local suppliers. Records indicate a variety of models being used within individual tournaments and even, on some occasions, individual games. Over time, FIFA took more control over the choice of ball used. Since 1970 Adidas have supplied official match balls (all of which were made in Sialkot, Pakistan) for every tournament.[26]
The most up-to-date balls used in various club football competitions as of 2023–24 season are:
| Balls used in football leagues | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| width=300px | Ball | width=300px | League |
| Adidas Conext 24 Pro |
| ||
| Molten Vantaggio 5000 AFC | AFC | ||
| Umbro Neo Precision | CAF | ||
| Nike Flight CONCACAF 2023 | CONCACAF | ||
| Nike Flight CONMEBOL 2023 | CONMEBOL | ||
| Pasifika Taniwa | OFC Champions League (OFC) | ||
Adidas Finale 23
Adidas Finale London (UCL)
Adidas Finale Bilbao (UWCL)
| UEFA | ||
Molten Europa League
| |||
Molten Conference
| |||
Puma Orbita LaLiga
|  LaLiga
| ||
| Puma Orbita Liga F | Liga Profesional Femenina de Fútbol
| ||
| Adidas Antwerp | RFEF | ||
Nike Flight Premier League
| Premier League | ||
Nike Flight WSL
| The Football Association | ||
Puma Orbita EFL
| English Football League | ||
| Mitre Ultimax Pro 2 | The Football Association | ||
Puma Orbita Serie A
|  Lega Serie A
| ||
| Kappa Kombat Ball | Serie B | ||
| Erreà | Serie C | ||
| Nike Flight | Serie D | ||
| Puma Orbita | Serie A Femminile | ||
| Puma | Serie B Femminile | ||
Select Derbystar Brillant APS[27]
| Deutsche Fußball Liga | ||
| Adidas Conext 24 Pro | German Football Association
| ||
Decathlon Kipsta
|  Ligue de Football Professionnel
| ||
| Nike Flight | French Football Federation
| ||
Select Derbystar Brillant APS
Nike Flight |  Royal Dutch Football Association
| ||
Puma Orbita Liga Portugal
| Liga Portugal | ||
| Puma Orbita TFF |  Turkish Football Federation
| ||
Puma Orbita SPFL
| SPFL | ||
| Voit Bliss |  Liga MX | ||
| Nike Flight |  Primera Division | ||
| Golty |  Categoría Primera A | ||
| Nike Flight |  Campeonato Brasileiro Série A | ||
| Adidas Argentum |  Argentine Primera División | ||
| Nike Flight |  Russian Premier League | ||
| Nike Flight | Superleague Greece | ||
| Select Brillant Super |  Liga I | ||
| Adidas Oceaunz Pro |  J1 League | ||
| Adidas Oceaunz Pro |  K League 1 | ||
| Puma | Parva Liga | ||
| Adidas Telstar 18 |  Ekstraklasa | ||
| Adidas MLS Pro |  / Major League Soccer | ||
| Derbystar Brillant APS | Canadian Premier League | ||
| Nike Flight | Chinese Super League | ||
| Nike Flight |  A-League | ||
| Nivia Ashtang |  I-League | ||
| Molten VG-5000A | United Football League | ||
| Adidas Brazuca |  Eliteserien | ||
| Decathlon Kipsta |  Pro League
| ||
| Select Derbystar Brillant Super |  Danish Superliga | ||
| Select Derbystar Brillant Super |  Veikkausliiga | ||
| Select Derbystar Brillant Super |  Allsvenskan | ||
| Select Derbystar Brillant Super |  Iceland Úrvalsdeild | ||
| Voit | / National Premier Soccer League | ||
| Nivia Ashtang | Indian Super League | ||
| Nike Ordem 3 NWSL 2016 | National Women's Soccer League | ||
| Nike Ordem 3 | Saudi Premier League | ||
| Dong Luc Group Galaxy UHV 2.07 | V.League 1 | ||
| Grand Sport Group Primero Mundo 5 |  Thai League 1 | ||
| Mitre Delta Max |  Singapore Premier League | ||
| Mitre Delta | National Football League | ||
| Mitre Delta Hyperseam | Women's Premier League | ||
| Mitre Delta Hyperseam | Women's National League | ||
| Mitre Delta Max | FFA Cup | ||
| Mitre Delta V12 | National Premier Soccer League | ||
| Mitre Delta WPL | Welsh Premier League | ||
| Adidas Al Rihla Pro |  Lithuanian A Lyga Lithuanian I Lyga | ||
| Puma Orbita Ball |  Ukrainian Premier League | ||
| Select Brilliant Super PFL | Professional Football League of Ukraine
| ||
| Puma Orbita MFL 1 | Malaysia Super LeagueMalaysia Cup Malaysia FA Cup MFL Cup Piala Sumbangsih | ||
The association football symbol was introduced by computing standard Unicode.[28] The symbol was representable in HTML as or . The addition of this symbol follows a 2008 proposal by Karl Pentzlin.[29]