The design of the official ball of the 2026 World Cup could become a determining factor in the scores of the 104 matches that will be played during the tournament. According to new research, the ball known as the “Trionda” is the first in the history of the men’s World Cup to be made with only four panels, a feature that changes the way it cuts through the air and consequently alters the ball’s acceleration, trajectory, and range.
As has been the case every four years since 1970, Adidas unveiled the official ball of the 2026 World Cup in October last year. The Trionda attracted attention for its appearance with a tricolor scheme representing the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the host countries for this year’s cup, but it also raised doubts due to its unprecedented structure of four panels thermally bonded together with heat and adhesives, a configuration that made some question the stability of the ball on the field.
John Eric Goff, visiting professor of physics at the University of Puget Sound and coauthor of a study on the ball’s performance, explained in an article published in The Conversation that “fewer panels could indicate a shorter overall seam length and, therefore, a smoother surface. And smoothness is important because the thin boundary layer of air that adheres to the surface determines where the flow separates, how large a wake is formed, and how much drag the surface experiences.”
The “Jabulani,” the ball used in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, had a similar characteristic that during matches caused unexpected changes in the direction of the ball or sudden reductions in speed during flight. In an attempt to counter that, Adidas incorporated deep stitching, three pronounced grooves in each panel, and a textured surface designed to improve aerodynamic stability into the Trionda.
Goff and his colleagues sought to determine whether these modifications were sufficient to avoid the irregularities observed with the Jabulani. To do so, they subjected the Triwave to a series of wind tunnel tests, a technique used to analyze the interaction of air with moving objects under various conditions. The tests made it possible to measure the ball’s aerodynamic force coefficients, for example, the parameters that describe how the air generates drag and modifies flight stability.
In addition, the researchers analyzed the so-called “aerodynamic drag crisis,” a phenomenon that occurs when the air resistance changes abruptly when certain speeds are reached. The results obtained with the Trionda were compared with identical simulations performed on previous World Cup balls: Al Rihla (2022), Telstar 18 (2018), Brazuca (2014), and Jabulani (2010).
The experiments showed that the Trionda reaches its critical point of aerodynamic drag at a speed close to 43 kilometers per hour (km/h). This figure is below the 50 to 65 km/h range recorded by Adidas’ Al Rihla, Telstar 18, and Brazuca, as well as the 79 to 97 km/h reached by the Jabulani.
Courtesy of Adidas
