FIFA World Cup 2022 Ball — The Adidas Al Rihla
Everything you need to know about the official match ball of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the 14th ball Adidas has supplied for the tournament since 1970.
The Adidas Al Rihla is the official fifa world cup 2022 ball, used across every match of the tournament in Qatar. As the 2022 fifa world cup ball, it became the first World Cup ball to feature live connected ball technology, marking a turning point in how the sport uses data during matches.
Story Behind the Name
Adidas unveiled Al Rihla on March 30, 2022, ahead of that year’s tournament in Qatar. The name is Arabic for “the journey,” a phrase Adidas described as a metaphor for the game of football itself, built from an endless succession of touches as the ball travels from player to player. Its bold, vibrant color scheme draws directly from Qatar’s culture, architecture, traditional dhow sailing boats, and national flag.
Al Rihla also holds the distinction of being one of the most environmentally-friendly World Cup balls produced to date, manufactured exclusively with water-based inks and glues rather than traditional solvent-based materials.
Designed Around a Single Host Nation
Unlike the multi-host balls that came before and after it, Al Rihla was built entirely around Qatar as the sole host of the 2022 tournament, the first World Cup held in the Middle East.
Performance and Technology
Al Rihla introduced Adidas’s Speedshell surface, a textured polyurethane skin combining macro and micro debossed patterns inspired by the shape of traditional dhow boats, designed to improve flight stability and swerve at high speed. Adidas design director Franziska Löffelmann described it at launch as the fastest and most accurate FIFA World Cup ball produced to that point.
Its real breakthrough was Connected Ball Technology, a suspension system inside the bladder housing an IMU sensor that transmits precise positional data in real time. Qatar 2022 became the first World Cup to use this data to power semi-automated offside technology, giving video match officials far more accurate information for tight offside calls than any previous tournament.
A Different Ball for the Final: Adidas introduced a second ball, Al Hilm, meaning “the dream,” exclusively for the semifinals and final of Qatar 2022, replacing Al Rihla for the tournament’s last three matches while carrying the same Connected Ball Technology.
Where to Find an Al Rihla Today
As an older tournament ball, Al Rihla is no longer sold as a current release through Adidas’s official store, though it was originally available in the same four tiers used across recent World Cup balls: Pro, Competition, League and Club, ranging from professional match-grade construction down to recreational play balls. Genuine and replica Al Rihla balls, including the Pro and mini collector versions, can still be found through resale marketplaces and select retailers.
Adidas Al Rihla Soccer Ball
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