Revealed: The Chip Inside The 2018 World Cup Ball is a Completely Unnecessary Gimmick

The Adidas Telstar 18 2018 soccer ball is the first Official Match Ball ever that features an embedded NFC chip, making it the 'most innovative World Cup ball to date'. Let us find out if there are any big advantages of the NFC chip for players.

Roland Rommler, Category Director Soccer Hardware, said: "The original Telstar is one of the most iconic soccer balls of all time and one which changed soccer design forever, so developing the Telstar 18 while staying true to the original model was a really exciting challenge for us. The new panel structure and inclusion of an NFC chip has taken soccer innovation and design to a new level and offers both consumers and players a completely new experience."

Adidas Telstar 18 Ball - NFC Chip Features

Pictures via Sport Greifenberg.

The Adidas Telstar 18 chip enables consumers to interact with the ball using a smartphone. However, while Adidas already proved in the past that they are able to produce a smart football (Adidas miCoach ball) that gives players unique insights into their game such as the power, spin, strike and trajectory of their shots, the NFC chip technology of the Adidas Telstar 18 ball is not nearly as innovative.

In fact, the Adidas Telstar does only unlock exclusive content and information for the user to provide access to challenges which users can enter in the run-up to the World Cup. Nothing more than that, really.

Are you disappointed that the chip does not offer insights such as the miCoach ball (flight speed etc)? Let us know in the comments below.