Adidas Jabulani 2010 World Cup Reaches Incredible Prices - Should Adidas Re-release It?

Jan 28, 2024

by PTG

One of the most controversial balls in history, the Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 has seen its price rise to a staggering €499.

Adidas Jabulani 2010 World Cup Reaches Incredible Prices

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Adidas introduced the all-new Jabulani ball. However, after a short period of experience, most players felt that this ball was not good and was of a lower quality than previous balls.

“The football is horrible,” said Julio Cesar. “It is like one of those you buy in the supermarket.”

Why is this ball so opposed? It's because the ball's movement and trajectory are unstable, the way it dips and changes direction seems to defy the laws of physics. Julio Cesar added: "At the last moment its path might change, as if taken away by a gust of wind.", via The Independent.

During that year's World Cup, we still remember Robert Greene's missed catch of Clint Dempsey's not-so-dangerous shot.

That's why the Adidas Jabulani 2010 ball looks like a nightmare for any goalkeeper at the 2010 World Cup. However, the only player who really seems to enjoy the wild, uncontrollable nature of the Jabulani is Diego Forlan. So far, Forlan's magical long-range shots are still fresh in our minds: the rocket against South Africa, the knuckle-ball free-kick against Ghana and the curve against the Netherlands.

The Jabulani 2010 ball has 8 connecting panels with grooves and aerodynamic lines, giving the Jabulani ball a critical speed of around 55mph, which is higher than the previous Teamgeist 2006 ball. This is the main reason for many complaints from players.

Put simply, the new design led to an increase in speed, which in turn resulted in a knuckle-ball effect: volatile swerves and swoops caused by the asymmetry and aforementioned “roughness” of the ball.

The change has also meant that long passes and crosses are constantly deviating from normal directions. Statistics from Opta confirm that there were more missed passes in the quarter-finals than at any previous World Cup.

However, it is this unpredictable movement and trajectory of the Jabulani 2010 ball that makes it so sought after. It has been 14 years since the Jabulani ball was first released, but its appeal is still strong. Especially for football youtubers who really want to experience this 'magical' ball. The Jabulani 2010 ball seems to have become a symbol in the free-kick community.

To this day, Jabulani balls are sold on Ebay and many other e-commerce sites at very high prices. Even used-hand balls are selling at much higher prices than they did back then.