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The Adidas Brazuca () was the official match ball of the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...
, which was held in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. It is designed by the company
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacture ...
, a
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
Partner and
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
official match ball supplier since 1970.


Naming

The name of the ball was revealed on 2 September 2012. It was selected by a public vote organised by the Local Organising Committee and Adidas, with over one million Brazilian football fans voting. The name ''Brazuca'' was chosen with 77.8% of the vote. Two other voting options were given: ''
Bossa Nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovat ...
'' (14.6% of the vote) and '' Carnavalesca'' (7.6% of the vote). According to FIFA, "the informal term 'brazuca' (our fellow) is used by Brazilians to describe national pride in the Brazilian way of life", and "mirroring their approach to football, it symbolises emotion, pride and goodwill to all". The term is also used as slang for "Brazilian" and became well-known abroad due to the
Brazilian diaspora The Brazilian diaspora is the migration of Brazilians to other countries, a mostly recent phenomenon that has been driven mainly by economic recession and hyperinflation that afflicted Brazil in the 1980s and early 1990s, and since 2014, by the p ...
.


Technical aspects

The ball is a developmental successor to the
Adidas Tango 12 The Adidas Tango 12 () was the official match association football of the UEFA Euro 2012, with variants being used for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The ball is named after the original and successful Adidas Tango family of footballs from the late 1 ...
series of balls, with the same bladder and carcass but a different surface structure. The ball weighs 437 grams and has a circumference of 69 centimetres. The ball has been made of six polyurethane panels which have been thermally bonded; the reduction in the number of panels is claimed to increase the consistency in the ball. The Brazuca ball has been stated to avoid aerodynamic problems with the Jabulani ball used in South Africa for the previous World Cup. It is textured to feel more like the Adidas Finale 13, the official UEFA Champions League ball, than the Jabulani.


Design

The ball has a multi-colour design referenced from the traditional wish bracelet to represent Brazil. The colours used in the match balls are blue, green, red, white and black.


Final match – Brazuca Final Rio

The match ball for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, announced on 29 May 2014, featured a variation of the Adidas Brazuca named the ''Adidas Brazuca Final Rio''. Whilst the technical aspects of the ball are the same, the colour is different from the Brazuca balls used in the group stages and other playoffs, with a green, gold and black colouring. It is the third special ball for FIFA World Cup final matches, after the +Teamgeist Berlin (
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...
) and the Jo'bulani (
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
).


Testing

The Brazuca went through an extensive testing process before its use at the World Cup. Adidas had been developing the ball for over 2 years, and had worked with many teams and players to ensure the ball was acceptable. The ball has appeared in the
FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...
,
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
final as well as disguised as the
Adidas Cafusa The Adidas Tango 12 () was the official match association football of the UEFA Euro 2012, with variants being used for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The ball is named after the original and successful Adidas Tango family of footballs from the late 1 ...
in international friendly matches. Each team participating in the World Cup finals were delivered a set of Brazuca balls after the unveiling in December 2013 to have sufficient time to practice with it.


Production

The original Brazuca balls for the World Cup finals were contract manufactured in Pakistan, however bona fide replica balls are made in both China and Pakistan.
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
-based Long Way Enterprise were originally asked to manufacture the ball in their subsidiary YaYork Plastic Products in
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
,
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
province,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. The company has been associated with production of Adidas balls since 1997. Long Way, however, was unable to meet the high demand for the ball. A second supplier, Forward Sports (based in
Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
), was brought in to help manufacture the ball. Forward Sports, who have been associated with Adidas since 1995 and already supplied footballs for both the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
and the German
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
, were awarded the contract by Adidas at short notice after the original manufacturer in China failed to meet the demand . Over 42 million Brazuca balls were exported from Sialkot. Each ball is expected to be sold for around US$160.


Unveiling

Adidas unveiled the Brazuca at a launch event on 3 December 2013, two days ahead of the traditional unveiling of the World Cup match ball at the draw of the group stages of the World Cup Final. The launch event took place in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
at
Parque Lage Parque Enrique Lage is a public park in the city of Rio de Janeiro, located in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood at the foot of the Corcovado, on top of which Christ the Redeemer is located. The land was formerly the residence of industriali ...
and featured a 3D light projection, which revealed the Brazuca to everyone in attendance. On 7 December 2013,
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
announced a FIFA-approved version of the Brazuca as the official match ball for the league's 2014 season.


Usage of the same or similar ball around the world

''The following competition used Brazuca ball which was also used in the World Cup, unless named different.''


AFC

* :
2014 K League Classic The 2014 K League Classic was the 32nd season of the top division of South Korean professional football, and the second season of the K League Classic. Teams General information Stadiums Managerial changes Foreign players Restricting ...


UEFA

* :
2014–15 UEFA Europa League The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2015 UEFA Europa League Final was ...
(''Adidas Europa League 2014/15'') * :
2014–15 Ligue 1 The 2014–15 Ligue 1 season was the 77th season since its establishment. Paris Saint-Germain were the two-time defending champions and successfully defended their title. Teams There were 20 clubs in the league, with three promoted teams from Li ...
(''Adidas Pro Ligue 1 2014'') * :
2014–15 Bundesliga The 2014–15 Bundesliga was the 52nd season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. The season started on 22 August 2014 and the final matchday took place on 23 May 2015. Bayern Munich won their 25th German title on 26 Apri ...
(''Adidas Torfabrik 2014'') * :
2014–15 Ekstraklasa The 2014–15 Ekstraklasa (currently named T-Mobile Ekstraklasa due to sponsorship reasons), is the 81st season of the highest level of football leagues in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1927. It began on 18 July ...
* :
2014–15 Primeira Liga The 2014–15 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. It began on 15 August 2014 and concluded on 23 May 2015. ...
* :
2013–14 Copa del Rey The 2013–14 Copa del Rey was the 112th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The competition began on 4 September 2013 and ended on 16 April 2014 with the final. The final took place at Mestall ...


CONMEBOL

* : 2013–14 Argentine Primera División (Torneo Final) and
2014 Argentine Primera División The 2014 Torneo de Transición or Torneo Doctor Ramón Carrillo was the 124th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season was scheduled to start on August 1, 2014 but was postponed after the death of Julio Grondona, pre ...
(''Adidas Argentum'')


CONCACAF

* : 2014 Major League Soccer (''Adidas Prime 3'')


Scottish Premiership

* : 2013–16 Scottish Premiership ("Adidas Unknown Orange")


References


External links


Official website
(Archive, 16 Dec 2014) {{FIFA World Cup official match balls Brazuca 2014 FIFA World Cup Goods manufactured in Pakistan Products introduced in 2012 FIFA World Cup balls