German sports manufacturing giant Adidas have unveiled the Telstar18 as the official match ball for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
The new ball has a retro-inspired design harking back to the classic white-and-black Telstar balls used at the finals in 1970 and 1974.
The Telstar 18 joins a grand pantheon of World Cup match balls, which includes predecessors such as the Tango, the Azteca, the Questra, the infamously unstable Jabulani from South Africa 2010 and the Brazuca used in Brazil back in 2014.
Squad goals.
Introducing: #Telstar18 ??#HereToCreate pic.twitter.com/aPv6Ygzf3S— adidas Football (@adidasfootball) November 9, 2017
Telstar18 has already found a prominent supporter in shape of Lionel Messi, who offered rave reviews after testing it out during the development phase.
"I was lucky enough to get to know this ball a bit earlier and I managed to have a try with it," Messi told FIFA.com.
"I like all of it: the new design, the colours, everything."
It is pertinent to mention here, that the German sports giant is manufacturing balls for the World Cup since the 1970 tournament in Brazil.