The New York Times Magazine has posted beautiful photographs of the all the balls used in the World Cup, starting from 1930!
And here I thought they were still using the black pentagons, white hexagons ball circa 1970. That just goes to show how much I know about soccer.
Benjamin B
That’s pretty interesting. Was there something special about the 1970 World Cup that made that ball design iconic?
Geek in Heels
@Benjamin B — Great question! I too, became curious after reading your comment so I did a bit of research on the web. It turns out that the black and white pentagon-hexagon ball is the most iconic because it set the standard for soccer balls — even the ones made today. However, the main reason the design of the official World Cup balls changes is so that FIFA can generate extra revenue selling the new designs to the public. Of course, they will advertise the new design as being physically superior, but I personally don’t think it makes THAT much of a difference.