It wasn't until 1855, when Charles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber, that soccer balls started taking shape. Literally.

Adidas has supplied balls for the World Cup since 1970. Through 2002, each ball was made with the iconic 32-panel construction. The 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal panels were traditionally made of ...

Through 2002, each ball was made with the iconic 32-panel construction. The 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal panels were traditionally made of leather and stitched together. A new era began with the ...

But in 2006, Adidas, which makes the World Cup balls, started making balls with fewer panels. The ball for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa had just eight. Adidas said the new ball was more ...

It turns out that a soccer ball’s drag coefficient is approximately 2.5 times larger for ... The eight-panel Jabulani ball in the 2010 South Africa World Cup had textured panels to make up for ...

Most people know that a traditional soccer ball is black and white and that the black and white panels are in a pattern. You might even know that there are 32 total panels on a traditional soccer ...

Workers examine soccer ball panels at Anwar Khawaja Industries. Each traditional ball is made up of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons joined by 690 stitches. However, ...

Adidas aims to avoid another World Cup controversy as it gears up for the 2014 tournament with a simple formula: Test, test, and when in doubt, test again. The company is calling the newest ball ...