The Jabulani Returns?! Joe Hart’s Analysis of the 2026 World Cup Match Ball Has Fans Talking

The Return of the King: Analysis of World Cup Football Divides Opinion, and Emulates a Certain World Cup Icon

FIFA has largely got the World Cup ball right ever since the infamous complaints about the 2010 Jabulani. The 2014 Brazuca quickly became an icon, and while Russia’s Telstar 18 and Qatar’s Al Rihla garnered significantly less prominence, they did their job exactly by not hogging the limelight in the same way the Jabulani "beach ball" did in 2010.

For a week of the 2026 World Cup, it looked as if that streak may continue, with very few picking up on any issues with the ball. However, towards the end of the first gameweek, familiarly ugly talking points raised their heads once more.

These were laid bare to the UK public through a brief analysis by former England number one and multiple-time Premier League champion Joe Hart, whose examination of the 2026 Adidas Trionda football on BBC One suggested that it could be the long-awaited and somewhat dreaded successor to the divisive Jabulani.

Predictably Unpredictable

Though Hart didn’t experience the unfiltered chaos of the 2010 tournament, having not made the cut to be in Fabio Capello’s squad, he did earn his second, third and fourth caps for his country the same year.

Though the infamous 2010 World Cup ball quickly became unpopular with professional players, fans enjoyed the unpredictability it brought to the game, and as such, it was used in international games for over a year after, with FIFA desperate to make a success of their tournament figurehead.

As such, Hart is certainly well placed when it comes to discussing unusual ball flights, and that was very much the focus of his investigation.

It took an expert eye to notice, but across the first 24 games of the tournament, there were a handful of incidents that indicated the Trionda was not your standard football. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Martin Baturina all scored from saveable shots, while in a forgettable clash between the Czech Republic and South Africa, the ball made headlines for an altogether more bizarre reason.

Hart targeted the ball’s aerial flight as the object’s weakness, saying, “I’m noticing it with the higher balls in this game. It honestly feels like it’s coming onto the goalkeepers a lot faster than they feel it is off the foot.”

Using Baturina’s goal as the first example, Hart highlighted how, despite getting a hand to the ball on its way into the net, current England number one Jordan Pickford actually got his hand to the ball too late, making contact with the top of his thumb rather than the middle of his palm.

This angle of 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢’𝐬 goal is unreal. pic.twitter.com/alqpqqni2n

— World Cup Xtra (@WorldCupXtraa) June 18, 2026

It wasn’t just one example either, with Hart also underlining Mbappe’s stoppage time screamer against Senegal: “I noticed this with Mbappe against Edouard Mendy earlier in the tournament, and he just doesn’t get his hands up, he doesn’t time it, and I’m noticing it more and more with the higher balls.”

In defence of Mendy, Mbappe’s attempt was a superb one and, despite it technically being saveable, deserved to end up in the back of the net. However, Hart made the point of these being “world-class goalkeepers at World Cup level”, and using that logic, both of the prior two examples could, and possibly should, have been saved. The same cannot be said of Messi’s first goal against Algeria later that evening.

Hart once again dissected the incident: “This is Messi against (Luca) Zidane, which is a crazy thing to be saying in World Cup football. As it leaves his foot, that’s not a brilliant strike. It’s a good strike, but Luca Zidane is more than capable of saving that ball.”

“Again, he doesn’t quite time it – it seems that it’s on him before he can get his hands up there in the right position, he ends up kind of pushing at it rather than pushing it over the bar.”

Messi’s strike is by far the best example. A very saveable shot, it simply seemed that the Algerian stopper was caught off guard by the travelling speed of the ball, which meant that instead of parrying it away, he could only nudge it into the top corner, a contribution that actually made the goal look magnitudes better than it actually was.

So, what could be causing the deceptive ball flight?

Smart Balls

The Trionda football is a world first in one extremely important aspect - it is the world's first rechargeable ball, as hidden inside are sensors that register every touch, pass and shot. These sensors are fine-tuned to streamline the VAR process, with the exact moment a pass is made helping with offside calls, while tiny nicks and scrapes from the hairs on a head or the studs on a boot are fed back to the VAR room with the potential of turning a disallowed goal into a straight-up goal.

We have already seen this introduction make a positive impact at the tournament, with VAR decisions taking considerably less time than we are used to seeing in the Premier League, while in Sweden's 5-1 win over Tunisia, a tiny flick from Viktor Gyökeres meant that Mattias Svanberg’s finish was legal, despite the midfielder being offside from the initial cross.

The World Cup Ball Needs to Br Charged ! pic.twitter.com/Z4ldTMyzMq

— Alina (@Alina20455) June 18, 2026

But while decision-making has certainly improved on the whole, is there the possibility it is wreaking subtle havoc on the flight of the ball, the extra weight making the strike speed and movement in the air virtually unreadable for goalkeepers?

The Trionda also boasts a minimalist four-panel design, the fewest ever used on a World Cup ball. This means that, although these panels are textured, the lack of stitching or glue lines means less friction in the air, meaning a more variable ball flight that is more easily influenced by humidity, heat or wind. For context, the Jabulani boasted a whopping eight different panels.

Hart predicted that as the tournament progresses, goalkeepers will become used to the conditions, and previously unsaveable shots will become saveable as shot-stoppers become better at anticipating what the ball will do.

But as soon as variable flight inserts itself into the conversation, there is always going to be an element of doubt in the goalkeeper's mind, resulting in a longer wait to see if the ball is going to jag in a surprising direction and leaving too little time to react.

One to keep an eye out for as the tournament goes on.

Make It Pop

On a lighter note, one particular Trionda encountered an unusual end to its life in South Africa’s 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic in what was otherwise a game featuring a distinct lack of quality.

In the second half, having let off two absolute rockets in the first period, South African centre-back Mbekezeli Mbokazi let off yet another thunderous attempt on goal, and he didn’t half strike it well – there was almost an audible gasp when a Czech player sacrificed their well-being and threw themselves into the firing line to block it. Had it struck anything other than his boot, there certainly would have been an injury stoppage.

But as the ball ricocheted back to Khuliso Mudau on the halfway line, the Mamelodi Sundowns defender waved to the referee, gesturing that the ball was suddenly deflated.

Mbokazi’s strike had been so powerful it had popped the ball, an incident which, unless someone corrects me, is unlikely to have ever occurred at the World Cup before.

FIFA needs to bring back the Jabulani ball, these new technology balls are too soft for Mbokazi pic.twitter.com/yasBOw7UI8 https://t.co/mOUHB6HgwU

— Frank ⭐⭐👆 (@Thee3nthusiasts) June 18, 2026

It is worth noting that Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar had a shaky game and seemed to struggle with the ball flight. The fact that he didn’t concede from his less-than-convincing shot-stopping is the only reason it didn’t become a post-game talking point, and it lent extra weight to the argument that goalkeepers are struggling to accurately judge the ball’s path towards goal.

It’s certainly not as bad as the Jabulani was. In South Africa, we were seeing multiple critical keeper mistakes every day, whereas 16 years later, we only have a handful of examples.

However, if the problems persist, and if some knockout goals start being scored as a result of inaccurate keeper judgement, there could well be more discussion around the ball design.