World Cup Balls

Mexico 70 marked the start of the adidas era of designing and manufacturing the official World Cup football. The Telstar had been introduced at the 1968 European Championships, with the Elast model. The 1970 version was just called the Telstar. Based on the iconic 32-panel ball, with 12 black panels and 20 white panels, not only did the pattern look good, it also helped visibility on black and white TV broadcasts, and this was the first World Cup to be broadcast globally.

The name comes from the Telstar satellite, a number of which were launched in the early 1960s and had a similar appearance to the football with the solar panels dotted around.

Mexico 70 marked the start of the adidas era of designing and manufacturing the official World Cup football. The Telstar had been introduced at the 1968 European Championships, with the Elast model. The 1970 version was just called the Telstar. Based on the iconic 32-panel ball, with 12 black panels and 20 white panels, not only did the pattern look good, it also helped visibility on black and white TV broadcasts, and this was the first World Cup to be broadcast globally.

The name comes from the Telstar satellite, a number of which were launched in the early 1960s and had a similar appearance to the football with the solar panels dotted around.

adidas stuck with the Telstar for the West German tournament, but used the "Durlast" model, its polyurethane coating provided protection from damage and was also waterproof.