40. Adidas Nativo 21 (2021)
It's called a football. Adidas made that particularly clear when giving MLS their designated soccer sphere for 2021, that featured stars, stripes, red, white and blue, somehow, without looking in the least bit tacky. Great job.
39. Nike Merlin (2019)
Premier League balls used to be black and white. This particular pink effort from 2019, however, was as eye-catching as anything we'd ever seen. A great twist on the Merlin design from Nike.
38. Puma Accelerate (2021)
Puma's Accelerate ball just feels built for LaLiga. Incorporating the logo and with flashes of warm colour, this looked like it was built in a lab with the likes of Benzema and Pique watching over scientists' shoulders. Perhaps the best LaLiga ball in recent memory.
37. Nike Ordem 3 (2015)
Some out there seeth with anger that the Premier League rebranded with a rounded new logo, soft green colours and rounder arm patches, for the 2016/17 season. The Nike Ordem 3 ball recalls a simpler time: a time when Claudio Ranieri was a tactical genius, a time before Joe Hart was given marching orders from Manchester City.
This was the 2015/16 ball, by the way. With its Spiderman-like casing, red gradients and big volt Swoosh, it’s almost the definitive 2010s Premier League football, despite having virtually nothing special to separate it from any other football released that decade. It’s just… nice. Leicesterian souls still yearn for it.
36. Adidas Europass (2008)
Chances are, you don't remember this all that well if you're from old Blighty. Nope – the English never did get to kick this thing about.
The silver Europass from the 2008 European Championship played on the well-worn Teamgeist with simple black dots – to recall the Adidas Telstar look, too. It wasn't groundbreaking but it was lavish and lovely.
35. Nike Joga Bonito ball (2006)
Another ball that never made it to the top leagues, this remains one of Nike's greatest-ever products – and it's just a side product of some of their boots.
With the gold fade of the Mercurial Vapor woven into the design, the American manufacturer created a half-and-half ball that looked regal, simple and stunning when it was spinning on the volley. Forever associated with the likes of Ronaldinho and Henry, who appeared in ad campaigns tapping this thing about.
34. Adidas Questra
For each World Cup, Adidas would take their original Tango and tailor it to the home nation – rather like they've done with the Champions League ball in modern times. The Questra was to become an American hero of the 90s.
The last black-and-white match ball of a World Cup, the Questra incorporated nebulous patterns of stars and swirls for a dreamy World Cup in the States. It didn't take a genius to think of, did it? But it was executed immaculately.
33. Adidas Fussballliebe (2024)
There's something undeniably old-school about the 2024 European Championship ball, with its primary colours, black polygons and huge, blue Adi logo. This is a football that would have felt neither ahead or behind of its time, design-wise, were it used from 1990 onwards. It's very German, right?
32. Nike 'Tunnel Vision' Merlin (2020)
The coronavirus ball. After football returned to a post-lockdown world, Nike brought out a Premier League ball with bright orange spots. The Swoosh and the wavy lines are jagged outside of the orange target spot – as if further emphasising that things were simply not the same right now. It was a work of art.
31. Adidas Finale Roma (2009)
The Finale has been through many guises but one of the most memorable is the 2009 match ball, used when Barcelona won their first European title under Pep Guardiola.
Deep scarlet is offset against silver, with one star panel missing – fittingly, having the icon of the trophy itself. This was a bold evolution of the ball and one of the best efforts Adidas have had in the past 20 years in this competition.
