FIFA unveiled the 2026 World Cup match ball, named 'Trionda,' at an event in New York on Thursday. The ball features iconography from the three host countries, including Canada's maple leaf.CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images
The Maple Leaf has made it to a World Cup match ball.
On Thursday, FIFA unveiled the official match ball of next summer’s World Cup soccer tournament, featuring iconography of the three host countries: Mexico is represented by an eagle set against a backdrop described by FIFA in a statement as “flash green,” the United States is represented by stars against a “solar blue” backdrop, and Canada is represented by a large Maple Leaf in “hi-res red.”
Dozens of the three national icons are also spangled in embossed form across the ball’s surface.
The ball, designed by Adidas, has been dubbed “Trionda,” which FIFA said in a statement “can be translated from Spanish as ‘three waves.’” (It does not appear to be a literal translation, but instead, a conjunction of “tri” – a reference to the unprecedented three host nations – and the Spanish word for ripple or wave.)
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The ball also contains a 500Hz motion sensor chip, which FIFA said would deliver data in real time to the video assistant referee (VAR) system, “enhancing match officials’ decision-making, including in relation to offside incidents.”
Trionda is the 15th official match ball to be designed by Adidas, which has been crafting World Cup balls since it created the iconic Telstar for the 1970 tournament in Mexico. That ball, consisting of 12 black pentagonal and 20 white hexagonal panels, was named after the TV satellite and optimized to be seen on the millions of black-and-white televisions then still in use across the globe.
The new ball is constructed of four panels that, FIFA said, “connect to form a triangle in the centre of the ball in a nod to the historic union of the three host nations.”
FIFA added that the ball’s construction creates “a surface that produces optimal in-flight stability by ensuring sufficient and evenly distributed drag as the ball travels through the air. Additionally, embossed icons that are only visible up-close elevate grip when striking or dribbling the ball in wet or humid conditions.”
In a promotional video released on Friday, Sam Handy, the general manager of Adidas Football, spoke in lofty terms of the World Cup ball’s evolution over the decades.
“Each time we update a ball, we draw learnings from the one before it,” he said. “So there are learnings from the 2022 event from a performance perspective that led us to enhance what worked really well from the last event into this ball, and obviously, all of that technology experience through 70 years of ball is in this piece of performance art.”
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He added: “I believe this is the ball with the highest shot speed, the highest accuracy, the greatest spin, and all of this is the result of many, many years of experience in ball manufacturing.”
Mr. Handy noted that uniting all three host countries on the surface of one ball represented a challenge for the company. “We opted for a very literal interpretation to ensure all these countries were in perfect balance.”
Mexico and Canada will each host 13 matches, while the United States will host 78, including all of the matches after the round-of-16 knockout round. The tournament kicks off on June 11, with games in Mexico City and Guadalajara. The first match in Canada will be June 12 in Toronto, featuring Team Canada against an opponent that will be determined at the official draw on Dec. 5.
Canada’s other group stage matches will be in Vancouver on June 18 and 24.
Tickets to the general public went on sale on Wednesday.
The Trionda is now on sale, ranging in price from $22 for a mini recycled polyurethane ball available in various colour palettes to $210 for an official match ball in white, green, blue and red, with what FIFA boasts is “thermally bonded seamless construction” and a high-grade butyl bladder.