adidas have unveiled the official match ball of the 2018 World Cup and it is called the Telstar 18. The ball takes it's design cues from the original Telstar World Cup ball from the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. That ball, which consisted of 32 black and white panels has become one of the iconic products within the sport. The black and white panels on the original Telstar were featured so that the ball would be better seen when fans were watching own black and white TV's.
The new Telstar 18 takes that initial design and modernizes. The ball still features predominantly in black and white with design elements that look like a gradient in areas of the black. The construction of the ball is similar to that of the Brazuca which features only six panels and is embedded with an NFC chip which will consumers to interact with the ball via a smart phone.
adidas has been doing a great job recently of digging into their incredible history which has seen them update and modernize some great products from their archives. The Telstar 18 follows suit with this and is a great modern take on the ultimate classic soccer ball.