56-572: The Jabulani ( / ˌ dʒ æ b j ʊ ˈ l ɑː n i / JAB -yuu- LAH -nee , Zulu: [dʒaɓuˈlaːni] ) was a football manufactured by Adidas . It was the official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup . The ball is made from eight spherically moulded panels and has a textured surface intended to improve aerodynamics. It was consequently developed into the Adidas Tango 12 series of footballs. Jabulani , meaning "be happy!" in Zulu ,
112-401: A football is roughly 22 cm (8.66 inches) in diameter for a regulation size 5 ball. Rules state that a size 5 ball must be 68 to 70 cm (27 to 28 in) in circumference. Averaging that to 69 cm (27 in) and then dividing by π gives a diameter of about 22 cm (8.7 in). Regulation size and weight for a football is a circumference of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) and
168-464: A good knuckle on the ball... you've just got to pay a little bit more, you know, attention when you pass the ball sometimes." Brazil goalkeeper Júlio César compared it to a "supermarket" ball that favoured strikers and worked against goalkeepers. Despite this, it was suggested by The Guardian on 16 June 2010 that the Jabulani ball might have been responsible for the goal drought in the first round of
224-406: A home-and-away basis. The draw for the first two qualifying rounds was made on 21 June 2010, while the draw for the third qualifying round was made on 16 July 2010. The first legs were played on 1 July, and the second legs were played on 8 July 2010. The first legs were played on 15 July, and the second legs were played on 22 and 23 July 2010. The first legs were played on 27 and 29 July, and
280-409: A lot of champions take part, with a ball like this" while Brazilian striker Luís Fabiano called the ball "supernatural", as it unpredictably changed direction when traveling through the air. Brazilian striker Robinho stated, "For sure the guy who designed this ball never played football. But there is nothing we can do; we have to play with it." Joe Hart of England , after training with the ball for
336-492: A lot of training and again a lot of practice. I got lucky and [the Jabulani] behaved very well back then. And we got along great." Adidas has said that the ball had been used since January 2010, and that most feedback from players had been positive. A spokesperson said the company was "surprised" by the negative reaction to the ball, and highlighted that the frequent pre-tournament criticism a new ball receives inevitably dies down as
392-429: A more modern appearance. In 1838, Charles Goodyear introduced vulcanized rubber , which dramatically improved football. 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
448-492: A number of days, said the "balls have been doing anything but staying in my gloves". He did, however, describe the ball as "good fun" to use, even though it is hard work for goalkeepers to cope with. English goalkeeper David James said that, "The ball is dreadful. It's horrible, but it's horrible for everyone." It was suggested the ball behaved "completely different" at altitude by former England coach Fabio Capello . Denmark coach Morten Olsen , after their 1–0 friendly defeat at
504-445: A place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules: The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: All draws held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon , Switzerland unless stated otherwise. Matches in the qualifying, play-off, and knockout rounds may also be played on Tuesdays or Wednesdays instead of
560-683: A response to the problems with the balls in the 1962 FIFA World Cup , Adidas created the Adidas Santiago – 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 . They also supply the ball for the UEFA Champions League which is called the Adidas Finale . In early FIFA World Cups, match balls were mostly provided by
616-400: A result of the air close to the surface being affected by those seams. This causes unpredictable movement akin to the intentionally pitched Knuckleball in baseball. The speed of the ball is the main factor in its behaviour, but it is also affected by altitude and wind. Where older designs of footballs have a knuckling effect at speeds closer to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) Mehta predicted
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#1732858887813672-546: A weight of 410–450 g (14–16 oz). The ball is inflated to a pressure of 0.6–1.1 bars (8.7–16.0 psi) 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. Following consultations 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. There are different types of football balls depending on
728-641: A yellow version for indoor games. A gold colour version, called the Jo'bulani ( / ˌ dʒ oʊ b j ʊ ˈ l ɑː n i / JOH -byuu- LAH -nee ), was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final . Its name is a portmanteau of "Jabulani" and "Jo'burg", a common nickname for Johannesburg , the match venue. The gold colouring of the ball mirrored the colour of the FIFA World Cup Trophy and also echoed another of Johannesburg's nicknames: "the City of Gold". The Jo'bulani ball
784-406: Is drawn against an unseeded team, with the seeded team hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association may be drawn with each other. In the qualifying and play-off rounds, teams play against each other over two legs on
840-478: Is the imperative plural form of the verb jabula "to be happy". Its design was much maligned by players at the World Cup, and production ceased after two years. The ball was constructed consisting of eight (down from 14 in the 2006 World Cup) thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These then were spherically moulded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of
896-457: Is the qualification scheme for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League: The winners of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League , Atlético Madrid , were guaranteed a place in the group stage as the title holder, since they did not qualify for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League . However, they also qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round through domestic performance, as they were the runners-up of
952-490: The 2009–10 Copa del Rey to Champions League-qualified Sevilla . As a result, this place in the third qualifying round was vacated, which in turn led to the following changes to the default allocation system in order to compensate for this vacant spot: A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When
1008-641: The 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa . The ball was also used as the match ball for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates , and a special version of the ball, the Jabulani Angola , was the match ball of the 2010 African Cup of Nations . This ball was also used in the 2010 Clausura Tournament of Argentina as well as the 2010 MLS season in the United States and Canada in
1064-406: The 2011–12 competition, two extra officials would be used – with one on each goal line. In the knockout phase , teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The draw for the round of 32 and round of 16 was held on 17 December 2010. The draws for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (to determine
1120-544: The Fevernova and Teamgeist at the two previous tournaments, the Jabulani received pre- and post-tournament criticism. Iker Casillas said, "It is very sad that a competition so important as the world championship will be played with such a horrible ball." Similar complaints came from Giampaolo Pazzini and Claudio Bravo . Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said, "The new model is absolutely inadequate and I think it's shameful letting play such an important competition, where
1176-681: The Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board . 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
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#17328588878131232-470: The "home" team) were held on 18 March 2011. The first legs were played on 15 and 17 February, and the second legs were played on 22, 23 and 24 February 2011. The first legs were played on 10 March, and the second legs were played on 17 March 2011. The first legs were played on 7 April, and the second legs were played on 14 April 2011. The first legs were played on 28 April, and the second legs were played on 5 May 2011. The 2011 UEFA Europa League final
1288-679: The 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with the first qualifying round matches, and concluded on 18 May 2011, with the final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin , Republic of Ireland, between Porto and first-time finalists Braga . This was the first all-Portuguese final of a European competition and only the third time that two Portuguese teams faced each other in Europe, following Braga's elimination of Benfica in
1344-522: The Jabulani to only begin to experience the effect at a higher speed of 45–50 mph (72–80 km/h) due to its smoother surface. The higher speed required for the knuckle effect is also a more commonly struck speed - particularly following free-kicks around the goal area. Ball (association football) A football or soccer ball 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
1400-465: The UEFA club competitions during the same period. Clubs are ordered by their coefficients and then divided into pots as required. In the draws for the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, the teams are divided evenly into one seeded and one unseeded pot, based on their club coefficients. A seeded team is drawn against an unseeded team, with the order of legs in each tie also being decided randomly. Due to
1456-482: The ball for poor performance and asked that it be abandoned by FIFA. Will Prochaska, director of the African social enterprise Alive & Kicking , criticised the decision not to use an African-made ball, such as one by his organisation. A number of Adidas-sponsored players responded favourably to the ball. Álvaro Arbeloa , commented that, "It's round, like always." Brazilian midfielder Kaká said, "For me, contact with
1512-456: The ball is all-important, and that's just great with this ball." English midfielder Frank Lampard called it "a very strong ball, true to hit". German midfielder Michael Ballack said it was "fantastic; the ball does exactly what I want it to". Uruguayan forward Diego Forlán , who tied for the Golden Ball , studied the ball in the months before the tournament, explaining he had "lot of practice,
1568-399: The ball was textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called "Grip 'n' Groove" that was intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The design had received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University , United Kingdom. The ball had four triangular design elements on a white background. The number 11 was prominent in
1624-548: 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 . 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
1680-427: 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
1736-883: 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
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1792-416: The football. Modern footballs are 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. The inside of the football is made up of a latex or butyl rubber bladder which enables
1848-471: 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. During the 1900s, footballs were made out of leather with a lace of the same material (known as tiento in Spanish) used to stitch the panels. Although leather
1904-442: The hands of Australia , said, "We played with an impossible ball and we need to get used to it." Argentina forward Lionel Messi stated, "The ball is very complicated for the goalkeepers and for us [forwards]." Argentine coach Diego Maradona said, "We won't see any long passes in this World Cup because the ball doesn't fly straight." American Clint Dempsey was more favorable. He said that, "If you just hit it solid, you can get
1960-716: 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. The most up-to-date balls used in various club football competitions as of 2024–25 season are: Adidas Finale Munich (UCL) Adidas Finale Lisbon (UWCL) Nike Flight Malaysia Cup Malaysia FA Cup MFL Cup Piala Sumbangsih The association football symbol ( U+ 26BD ⚽ SOCCER BALL )
2016-524: The league's colours of blue and green. In Europe domestic leagues, it was used in the 2010–11 Bundesliga in the league signature colours of red and white, known as the " Torfabrik " ("Goal Factory"), and in the 2010–11 Primeira Liga , coloured in white. UEFA used the ball in the UEFA Super Cup and the UEFA Europa League with respective official match ball colours and design. Even more than
2072-457: The limited time between matches, the draws for the second and third qualifying rounds take place before the results of the previous round are known. The seeding in each draw is carried out under the assumption that all of the highest-ranked clubs of the previous round are victorious. If a lower-ranked club is victorious, it simply takes the place of its defeated opponent in the next round. Prior to these draws, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with
2128-469: 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. 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. As
2184-432: 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. 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
2240-423: The number of shots taken. Following Portugal 's 7–0 victory over North Korea in the second round of the group stage, however, Portugal's coach Carlos Queiroz said, "We love the ball." In July 2010, former Liverpool footballer Craig Johnston wrote a 12-page open letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter outlining perceived failings of the Jabulani ball. He compiled feedback from professional players criticizing
2296-403: The performance of the Jabulani design against the predecessor 2006 design which had also received criticism of its behaviour in flight. In discussing the mechanics of the balls Rabi Mehta, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames, described the unpredictable behaviour as "a knuckle-ball effect". He explained that when a seamed ball is struck with little spin it experiences asymmetrical air flow effects as
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2352-583: The principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition, while ensuring that teams from the same association not drawn against each other. In the draw for the group stage, the 48 teams are split into four pots of twelve teams, based on their club coefficients, with the title holder (if participating) automatically placed into Pot 1. Each group contains one team from each pot, but teams from
2408-414: The regular Thursdays due to scheduling conflicts. The draws for the qualifying rounds, the play-off round and the group stage are all seeded based on the 2010 UEFA club coefficients . The coefficients are calculated on the basis of a combination of 20% of the value of the respective national association's coefficient for the period from 2005–06 to 2009–10 inclusive and the clubs' individual performances in
2464-405: The round of 32, where they are joined by the eight third-placed teams from the group stage of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League . If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order): Following a trial at last year's UEFA Europa League , UEFA have announced that in both this year's and
2520-400: The same association cannot be drawn into the same group. In the draw for the first knockout stage, the twelve group winners and the four better third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage (based on their match record in the group stage) are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. A seeded team
2576-590: The second legs were played on 3 and 5 August 2010. The draw for the play-off round was held on 6 August 2010. The first legs were played on 17 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 24 and 26 August 2010. The 48 clubs were drawn into twelve groups of four on 27 August 2010 in Monaco. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format . The matchdays are 16 September, 30 September, 21 October, 4 November, 1–2 December, and 15–16 December 2010. The group winners and runners-up advance to
2632-618: The semi-finals. Porto defeated Braga 1–0, with a goal from the competition's top goalscorer Radamel Falcao , and won their second title in the competition, after victory in the 2002–03 UEFA Cup . Atletico Madrid were the defending champions but were eliminated in group stage. A total of 194 teams from 53 UEFA associations participated in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Associations were allocated places according to their 2009 UEFA country coefficient , which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2004–05 to 2008–09. Below
2688-514: The tournament proceeds. On 27 June 2010, FIFA acknowledged concerns about the ball, but also said that they would not act on the problem until after the tournament. According to secretary general Jérôme Valcke , FIFA will discuss the matter with coaches and teams after the World Cup, then meet with the manufacturer Adidas. NASA scientists at the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California tested
2744-455: The tournament. The Guardian mentioned the FIFA representative, who was queried daily for his opinion on the goal drought, as saying it was probably too early to make a definitive judgment, though it would be hard to deny that the first round was more cagey and defensively minded than usual. Owen Gibson of The Guardian suggested that a lack of confidence in how the ball would travel could be affecting
2800-457: The use of the ball, as 11 different colours were used; representing the 11 starting players in a football squad, the 11 official languages of South Africa , and the 11 South African communities. The Jabulani Angola , used at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola , was coloured to represent the yellow, red and black of the host nation's flag . An orange version is available for winter games and
2856-521: 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 and sizes. 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
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#17328588878132912-591: 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 . Many different designs of balls exist, varying both in appearance and physical characteristics. In
2968-447: Was introduced by computing standard Unicode . The symbol was representable in HTML as ⚽ or ⚽ . The addition of this symbol follows a 2008 proposal by Karl Pentzlin. 2010%E2%80%9311 UEFA Europa League The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League , Europe 's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA , and
3024-405: 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. Another problem of early footballs
3080-576: 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 . This innovative ball (named Superball ) was adopted by the Argentine Football Association as the official ball for its competitions since 1932. The deformation of
3136-471: Was the second World Cup Final ball to be produced, the first time being the +Teamgeist Berlin for the 2006 FIFA World Cup . The balls were made in China, using latex bladders from India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from Taiwan , ethylene vinyl acetate, isotropic polyester/cotton fabric, glue and ink from China. It was announced on 4 December 2009 that the Jabulani was to be the official match ball of
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