The 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico featured numerous football legends, including England’s Sir Geoff Hurst, Brazil’s Pelé, and West Germany’s Gerd Müller.
It was also the first edition of the competition to feature an official match ball created by Adidas.
Since then, the three-striped sportswear manufacturer has provided a ball for every global soccer showpiece, and on Thursday, it unveiled its latest offering.
The Trionda will be kicked around Canada, Mexico, and the United States in 2026.
Regarding the design, Solène Störmann, Global Category Director of Football Hardware for Adidas, said, “Each arm is dedicated to each host nation and reunites in the middle of the ball in the form of a triangle, which showcases how they’re hosting the World Cup together.”
The patterns and color scheme are representative of each country, and embossed symbols—a maple leaf for Canada, an eagle for Mexico, and a star for the United States—are dotted all over the ball’s surface.
But the Trionda has another interesting feature: there is a motion sensor inside it.
Hannes Schaefke, Football Innovation Lead for Adidas, said upon unveiling: “We can track every event, every interaction the player has with the ball. Every location at any given moment is being tracked by a local positioning system. So this sensor essentially sends a signal 500 times per second, to anchor points around the stadium, which is generally pretty cool.”
Ahead, we’ve taken a punt at ranking every official World Cup match ball produced by Adidas up until the Trionda, using factors such as each ball’s name, aesthetics, relevance to the host nation, and gameplay characteristics to inform their placing.
Where do you think the Trionda will land among this group after all 104 games have been played at the 2026 World Cup?
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