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Telstar 18 presented as the official ball for 2018 World Cup

Telstar 18 presented as the official ball for 2018 World Cup

Posted November. 11, 2017 07:53,   

Updated November. 11, 2017 08:18

한국어

The Telstar 18, the official match ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, has been unveiled.

On Friday, sports apparel giant Adidas and FIFA revealed the Telstar 18, which has drawn inspiration since the first-ever official match ball Telstar used at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. The original Telstar consists of 12 black and 20 white panels to make it stand out on black-and-white TV sets. In fact, the name Telstar bears the meaning of "television star."

The Telstar 18 stays true to the black-and-white design of the original Telstar and at the same time, uses six polygons. Argentina striker Lionel Messi, who attended the unveiling ceremony held in Moscow, Russia to present the ball, said, "I like all of it: the new design, the colours, everything” and added he can't wait play on the ground with the ball.

The official match ball was first introduced in the Mexico World Cup in 1970 and has been developed technically since then.



Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com