FIFA World Cup 2022: 'Al Rihla' or 'Al Hilm', which ball will kick-off the France vs Argentina final?

What's a game without the ball? And when it comes to FIFA World Cup, the ball of the tournament is inaugurated magnanimously. But at the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay, no official match ball was inaugurated. Instead, two types of handmade leather balls, Tiento and T-Model were used at the tournament which resulted in a messy situation in the finals.

Uruguay wasfacing off against Argentina in a tense finaleat Montevideo's Centenario Stadium. Both teams wanted to play the game with the ball they brought with them. Argentina brought the Tiento, while the home team, Uruguay, argued on the T-Model ball.

After a heated argument between the two teams prior to kickoff, FIFA officials intervened to resolve the dispute, and all came to the conclusion that in the first half, Argentina's ball would be used and for the second half, Uruguay's ball will be used. While this might sound like a logical solution to the problem, it impacted the finale big time. Argentina gained a lead of 2-1 in the first half while Uruguay backtracked it in the second half to win the match 4-2. According to a BBC report, it was this match that led to the birth of the famous phrase in football- "a tale of two halves".

After that match, the FIFA world cup ball is given a name by the host country and the FIFA authority before every match and is displayed at the inaugural ceremony of every world cup.

What is the name of the official ball for the FIFA World Cup 2022?

The official name of this year's FIFA football is Al Rihla which means, 'the journey' in Arabic. Its design is inspired by the culture, architecture, iconic boats and flag of Qatar (the host country). This ball is special and different from other FIFA balls, it is made from water-based glues and inks which makes it the most environment-friendly among the World Cup balls.

What is the name of the official ball for the FIFA World Cup 2022 Finals?

The official name of the ball for the World Cup final is, Al Hilm, which means "the dream" in Arabic. It was unveiled by Adidas for the semi-finals and the finals of FIFA World Cup 2022. During the inauguration ceremony of the ball,Adidas General Manager Nick Craggs said in a statement, "Al Hilm represents a beacon of light on the power of sport and football to bring the world together".The ‘Al Hilm’ weighs between 410 to 450g in weight.

What is specialabout the FIFA World Cup 2022 ball?

The ball has been combined with player position data, and the innovation provides instant data to Video Match Officials to help optimise decision-making for a seamless fan experience. The new technology supports the semi-automated offside system by providing the exact moment the ball is played in tight offside situations using ball data captured by IMU sensors within the 'Al Hilm' ball.

Johannes Holzmuller, the director of football technology and innovation at FIFA said that the ball will track data which will be able to 'unique storytelling' from the FIFA World Cup 2022 final games.

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