Two teams of eleven players each, four referees on the field of play and a stadium full of fans need only a soccer ball to enable them to shout Goal!

In the 19th century, especially in Great Britain, football started to become popular and with it football; made of leather and with a thick tie (a strap threaded like a corset) used to cover the ball.

It is not perfectly round and tends to deform over time; but its main drawback is its weight, how difficult it is to handle when the pitch is wet and the surface is uneven, in particular because of the feel.

It’s not like today’s balls: it’s waterproof, much lighter, perfectly circular and made with innovative technologies that allow it to stick to headers and bounce better.

The soccer ball used in every official match of the sport is regulated by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and is subjected to the following tests for weight, circumference, air retention, bounce and water absorption.

Since 1930, every four years a new ball has been released for world football events and Qatar 2022 is no exception. At Solaz we give you all the details about Al Rihla.

Best ball of every world cup?

Its name comes from an Arabic phrase which means “Travel” in Spanish and is inspired by Qatar’s architecture, culture and flag; Al Rihla is the protagonist of the 2022 Football World Cup game.

This is the 14th edition in which sports brand Adidas has designed consecutive World Cup balls, since the first time in 1970; Previously, local producers used to do it depending on the location every year.

The Qatar 2022 World Cup ball is the first to be produced using only water-based inks and glue -that is, water is the main ingredient-, therefore it has high flexibility and performance.

According to FIFA’s web portal Al Rihla: “designed to withstand the maximum speed of the match, as it travels through the air faster than any other ball in the history of the tournament.”

Due to the shape of the 20 panels and the texture of the ball, “(it) improves the precision, stability and rotation of the ball in the air thanks to macro and micro textures, as well as surface relief,” it said in its official launch article.

Franziska Löffelmann, director of design, graphics and football equipment at Adidas, said they set out to “make the impossible possible by radical innovation and create the fastest and most accurate FIFA World Cup ball to date.”

Al Rihla also offers new on-ball technology, which complements FIFA’s semi-automatic offside technology and provides more accurate information to speed up refereeing decisions.

history in football

At the World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 there was no official ball, but each finalist -Uruguay and Argentina- chose one to share the time in the cup final. The only common feature of these balls is that they are made of wood and have the animal’s bladder covered in leather.

Over the years, soccer has evolved and with it the specifications of players and fans who want better and better balls.

After several models, some good and others not so good, the Federation decided to leave manufacturing to multinational experts in the subject and do without local manufacturers; This is how the alliance with Adidas began.

With the merger of these companies, black and white hexagons and balls also arrived; the first of this class is TelStar.

Over time, leather was replaced with synthetic materials and the ball became water-resistant.

There was a special design that lasted for six consecutive editions: Tango; personalized hexagonal segments according to the culture or traditions of the host country.

“While the tango persisted, models were created that improved composition using polyethylene foam, braided fiber mesh, resistant micro-gas bubbles, polyurethane on the outside… All of which contributed to creating a ball that was more manageable, resistant and round” explains the website from AS Diary.

Since then, every soccer ball from a world event is different, better than the one before it and with a special graphic design for that event.