Goodbye Al Rihla, Hello Al Hilm - Adidas’ new ball for FIFA World Cup business end

The next four matches will be played with Al Hilm, which translates as “The Dream” in Arabic.

The Al Hilm was designed keeping the environment in mind as all elements of the ball are made with water-based inks and glues | Photo Credit: Twitter/Adidas

Buhbye Al Rihla! You gave us the most goal-shy group stage of a World Cup since 2010 with 120 strikes. The 48 group games in Brazil 2014 had seen 136 goals while the Russia World Cup had 122. But 38 goals have been scored in 12 knockouts games here, taking the goals tally to 158, and has already zipped past the final numbers achieved in 2006 (145) and 2010 (147).  

But only a goal-fest in the semifinals, final and third-place playoff, which will be played with the now unveiled Al Hilm, can help this World Cup beat the mark achieved in Brazil (171) and Russia (169).  

England defender Kieran Tripper had earlier indicated that the Al Rihla ball felt lighter and had the tendency to fly. “I feel it’s a bit lighter. It feels if you put too much power on it, it’ll just fly away, but it’s one of those where we have to deal with that, all of us do,” the Newcastle United defender had told the  Daily Telegraph. “Every time I’ve crossed the ball, I’ve felt the balls are a bit different but there are no excuses.” 

Harry Kane, though, was not looking for excuses after ballooning his second penalty, missing a chance to equalise for England in the quarterfinal against France. “I’m always someone who prepares for getting one or two penalties in a game, I always have an idea of what I want to do. I can’t fault my preparation or anything like that, it was just the execution on the night. The first pen was great, the second one I didn’t quite hit it how I wanted to,” the England captain said.  

The next four matches will be played with Al Hilm, which translates as “The Dream” in Arabic. “With the development of the connected ball technology, Adidas made it possible that an additional important layer of information is available to the video match officials.

The data from the ball unlocks new insights for storytelling around the unique moments on the pitch at this World Cup,” Johannes Holzmuller, Director of Football Technology & Innovation at FIFA, said. 

The Al Hilm was designed keeping the environment in mind as all elements of the ball are made with water-based inks and glues, while it has a textured gold base with subtle triangular pattern, inspired from the deserts surrounding Doha city, the colour of the World Cup trophy, and the Qatar flag. 

“Al Hilm represents a beacon of light on the power of sport and football to bring the world together,” Nick Craggs, General Manager – Football, Adidas, said in a statement.