The 2026 World Cup is now just nine months away, which means the steady drip of marketing and endorsement messages is starting to crank up, with next summer’s tournament in North America set to be the most commercial yet.
This build-up is often one of the best parts of a major tournament, as kits are leaked, sticker albums are released and tournament songs come out, all amid the hope that your country can end their decades-long wait for a major trophy.
This week has seen another staple of a World Cup build-up leaked - the tournament ball.
Adidas’ ‘Trionda’ ball leaked
Fans never forget a good World Cup ball. Images of Pele and company dazzling fans at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico wouldn’t be the same without the devastatingly simple Adidas Telstar ball, while the iconic Tango and subsequent variations over the next couple of decades were a thing of beauty.
There’s the Mexican styling of the 1986 Azteca ball, the Roman-influenced Etrusco Unico used at Italia 90 and also the classy Tricolore used at France 1998.
The History of the World Cup Ball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/UvXwysQYGuAugust 2, 2025
These all shared a similar design template, tweaked to tell the story of the host nations for each tournament.
Recent trends over the past couple of decades have seen Adidas go in different directions, with the 2002 Fevernova a unique design that is very much of its era, while the 2014 Brazuca ball very much had a samba feel. The 2022 ball had plenty of colour in there, which was an achievement, considering the organisers’ stance on rainbow flags at the tournament.
So, what about next summer’s purported effort, which has already found its way online via Footy Headlines?
Well, it’s called the Adidas ‘Trionda’ and frankly, it’s an eyesore.
The ‘tri’ in there is a reference to the three co-hosts (that’s the USA, Canada and Mexico for anyone who’s not been paying attention) and this leaked effort has crammed in colours and emblems from all three nations into one ball.
For a start, red, blue and green do not go well together, then you have stars, maple leaves and Aztec symbols all fighting for space on a limited canvas. It’s a mess and we can’t help but think the design process was similar to one utilised by Homer Simpson, when he came up with a car for his brother Herb in the imperial-era Simpson episode ‘Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?’
It’s an assault on the eyes and in FourFourTwo's opinion somewhat amazed that FIFA’s moneymen didn’t grasp the opportunity to make three official balls, one for each co-host. That would be a cynical money-making play, but one design per ball, rather than this more-is-more three-in-one approach, would give us all a better viewing experience next summer.
