Made in China match ball

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa

Adidas Jabulani

About this Ball

On December 4th 2009, Adidas presented the official 2010 World Cup ball: the Jabulani. This word means celebration or party in the Zulu dialect. The Jabulani was presented as a technological jewel, created by the AIT (Adidas Innovative Team). It consisted of 8 innovative welded panels, 4 minor triangles and 4 bigger ones, which gave the ball a perfect spherical shape never before achieved. The panel surface was a 3D non slip compound called Grip and Groove or commonly known as goose skin. It had already been successfully tested in the 2008 European Championship. This type of surface allowed an optimal grip on all conditions. The panels were crossed by particular channels, which ensured the designers an improvement in the aerodynamics of the ball. Eleven different colors were adopted to compose the decorations on the Jabulani. Numerology indicates that this was the eleventh Adidas World Cup ball, 11 is the number of players on a football team, 11 are the official languages of South Africa and with 11 different communities, make up a country among the most cosmopolitan of the African continent and the world. Finally, the 4 smaller triangles of the design recalls the external facade of the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

Image Gallery

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The original adidas Jabulani match ball consists of only 8 thermally bonded panels and has 11 colors to reflect the host nation South Africa

All the adidas Jabulani matchballs that were used in the 2010 FIFA World Cup were printed with the date and place of the matches and the two participating teams

There were only 15 matchballs provided and imprinted for each match. If a ball was really used in the game, they put this stamp on the ball indicating that the ball is actually a game used matchball from the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The position of the official stamp can be found at different places on the balls. At this USA - Ghana game used ball it is in the bottom

This opening match ball between South Africa and Mexico was made in a limited edition even for the public

Only one ball of each match had the "KICK OFF" text printed on its front panel. The referees took these balls onto the pitch and the matches started with these balls

This is another "KICK OFF" match ball from the South African World Cup. They often come with certificates to prove that the balls are authentic

Adidas made another ball for the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They called it Jo'bulani and provided a limited number for the public

Adidas has put one of the game used Jo'bulani balls in auction on ebay. It was finally sold for 73769 USD and the money was provied for charity (Nelson Mandela Fund), which was a nice gesture

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