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It should be round (but not too round, as it turns out) and it should fly true. That’s about all that really matters about any football.

Nonetheless, the official unveiling of the new match ball for the 2026 World Cup ball has provoked a flurry of reaction from passionate adherents of the beautiful game.

The ball had already leaked online months ago, so those who are particularly excited by football design already had a solid idea of what was coming – but for many, Thursday night’s event in New York City was their first look at adidas’ latest effort.

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The Adidas Trionda World Cup ball draws mixed response at best

Zinedine Zidane seems to like the ball, anyway (Image credit: Getty Images)

The superbly-named Sam Handy , general manager of Adidas Football, said after unveiling his ball: “It’s the most visually playful FIFA World Cup ball we’ve ever created.

“A piece of craftsmanship built for the biggest stage that makes you want to hold it, admire it, and above all, play with it.”

We’re disappointed they missed the opportunity to add ‘*(Not actual size)’ to the caption (Image credit: Getty Images)

Adidas claim that its ‘connected ball technology’ will proved helpful in relaying data to VAR, with AI helping to make decisions.

Given that AI struggles to understand today’s date or that petrol is not a good addition to a pasta dish, we’re a little sceptical about just how helpful it is likely to be in reality. We’ll see.

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Still, the main objection people have to the ball is not what’s inside, but how it looks, which is just another example of the sickening way footballs in society are only ever judged by their appearance.

The Trionda certainly stands out when compared with previous World Cup balls thanks to its large colourful sections of red, green and blue – representing co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, respectively.

We’re not sure the comparison with previous World Cup balls was helpful (Image credit: Getty Images)

Plenty of social media comments have hailed it as ‘the second coming of the Jubulani’ , which is not especially meant as a compliment: that was the infamously flyaway ball used at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. We’re honestly not sure how they have decided that, though.

Others disparagingly compare to Trionda to a beachball in its appearance; personally, we think it looks like it is made to be shrunk into miniature stuffed form and given to a toddler to knock around the front room.

Even the more positive comments point out the ball’s slight resemblance to 2014’s Brazuca, which also featured a red, green and blue colour scheme.

We look forward to ceasing to even notice the design approximately three minutes into the opening game of the tournament.

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