Enter the Trionda, Adidas' official match ball for the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Like previous World Cup balls, it looks the part, the name and design are a reflection of the region that will host the 48-team tournament. "Tri" stands for the three host nations, represented by three colors – blue for the U.S., red for Canada and green for Mexico – while its curved pattern is a nod to "onda," the Spanish word for wave or vibe. The Trionda's most unique aspects, though, lie in the invisible elements and its years-long journey to the ball's unveiling on Thursday at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Adidas first tested the Trionda's ability to perform at different humidity levels in a controlled space before taking it on the road to seven of the 16 World Cup host cities. There, players from the likes of MLS' Vancouver Whitecaps and Liga MX's Tigres got to try the product themselves as part of the brand's testing process.
Like its predecessor Al Rihla, the official match ball for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Trionda will also have a chip powered by AI, though a few elements are different. The chip will now be lodged in the side of the ball rather than its more central placement four years earlier, its Ai-powered system designed to provide several real-time insights and data for the future. The expectation is that the system will allow referees to make more accurate – and faster – decisions, while the takeaways from the 2026 World Cup will help inform Adidas on their next innovations. The game's tactical evolution over the years makes previous match balls feel out of date at the feet of modern-day professionals, so Adidas pays just as much attention to those statistics as coaches and analysts as they prepare for what's next.
The Trionda, for instance, is stitched together from four fluid panels while Al Rihla was comprised of 20 geometric panels, a change that plays a much bigger role than aesthetics.
The ultimate trials, though, will come in the weeks and months before the World Cup. Some competitions will have access to the Trionda fairly early depending on the nature of their contracts, while national teams competing at the World Cup will have the chance to work with the ball – at least during training sessions – three to four months before next summer's tournament. Time will tell which of its predecessors the Trionda will follow – the ones that became the story or the ones that truly represented soccer's inherent simplicity, serving as an essential but silent participant in the show.
Madonna is in the stadium, lol.