Pre-Adidas World Cup match ball

FIFA World Cup 1950 Brazil

Superball

About this Ball

As we saw in the first three World Cups, all the balls used in the tournaments had laces and had to be inflated by skilled men. The sphericity of these balls depended on the expertise of these people but even when they inflated the balls, they could never be perfectly round due to their construction. Another disadvantage of these balls with laces were the injuries to the players caused by headers. So it was only a question of time before the classic footballs with laces evolved.

Image Gallery

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This is the original game used (England Vs USA) Superball from the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Surprizingly USA beat the English team and they used to display this ball in the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, NY. Unfortunately the museum has been closed for a few years now.

The same ball from the right side (all these pictures were made in 2007 when the ball was on display in the museum)

This is how the ball was displayed when I visited the museum in 2007

This is a vintage advertisement of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil with the official matchball of the tournament, the Superball

The advertisement of the Superball, the official 1950 FIFA World Cup matchball

This is the original 1950 FIFA World Cup magazine with the Superball on the cover

The Superball in action in the 1950 FIFA World Cup

Superballs on the ground waiting for the Italy - Paraguay match

Brazil is celebrating the 6:1 victory over Spain on 13th July (exactly 20 years after the first World Cup started)

Ottorino Barassi from FIFA controls the weight of the Superball

The cover of the France Football on 28th June, 1950 was illustrated with the Superball

On the left side you see the Superball from a private collection

This is another vintage soccer ball with the same panel structure as the real Superball

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