It was a silver-coloured ball whose carcass, bladder and panels were connected by thermal bonding, with each match ball at the tournament personalised with the names of the teams playing, the date and the venue. Over four million were sold worldwide, from mini-balls to official match ball. Uniforia's design encompasses the notion of crossing bridges, the blurring of boundaries, and the diversity that will accompany the tournament, through a unique mixture of art and football. These elements were the starting point for the design process, which began in 2018. Since 2006/07 there has been an official adidas match ball used at every UEFA Champions League fixture throughout the season. The Europa League also has its own specially designed ball, previously made by adidas but now produced by Molten since 2018.

In this ground-breaking tournament, adidas will celebrate football – and sport – as something that can bring the world together," said Florian Alt, vice-president of brand marketing at adidas. All footballs had to pass six quality controls – seven in the case of top-class footballs. In the same decade, the Premier League in England introduced a uniform official match ball. Soon other club competitions were following suit. Slight variations in those early designs survived into the television era, though white balls had been trialled as early as 1951, with orange balls also used the same year for matches taking place in snowy conditions. It was used at the 1968 European Championship before becoming the first adidas World Cup ball two years later at Mexico 1970. The model for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany featured the introduction of a Durlast polyurethane coating which provided waterproofing and helped maintain the ball's shape and resistance against abrasion. Football is for everyone, regardless of who you are, where you come from or what surface you play on – it unites us all when we play. With Uniforia, while it is just a symbol, it is a symbol we all can – and should – unite behind."The modern ball is said to gain just 0.2% weight in wet conditions, compared with up to 20% in the days of the old leather editions. Between these two extremes are almost 60 years of man-made ingenuity. The transformation in ball technology since adidas produced the first tournament ball, the Telstar, has been remarkable, and so too its impact on the game itself. From the Telstar and Tango through the first entirely non-leather designs of the mid-80s to the products we see today, footballs have grown ever lighter and faster.

adidas has revealed the official match ball for UEFA EURO 2020. Named after both the unity and the euphoria that top-level national-team competition can bring, the Uniforia ball is designed to celebrate the inclusiveness that next year's tournament will inspire throughout the continent. By 2016, when adidas launched the Beau Jeu, the official match ball for EURO 2016, after an 18-month testing period, top-of-the-range balls boasted six identical panels, thermally bonded to provide a seamless surface, and the promise of a predictable trajectory, better touch and low water uptake. To mark the 60th anniversary of the UEFA EURO, next summer's finals will be played in 12 different European countries and the tournament's fresh format is the inspiration for the official match ball. What we saw in our cities – all our key cities – is the need to come together and unite for change. As one of the major sporting events in the world, UEFA EURO 2020 is a great opportunity to proudly showcase the power of unity and to celebrate sport as a connector of people, ideas and creativity."Before that, it was common practice for away teams to spend the days leading up to a match training with the ball used by their opponent. If, of course, they could find out what it was. The UEFA Champions League Star Ball appeared for the first time in 2001 – true to its name, it was adorned by eight stars, a design that has remained consistent through to 2020's unveiling of the Finale Istanbul.

At EUROs, the first truly significant design change since the 1980s came in 2004: this was the introduction of the first seamless ball, the Roteiro, for the finals in Portugal.

When I was a boy, the ball was like a treasure. The boy with the ball was the king of the playground." When designing an official match ball, we always look to reflect culture; what is the spirit of the street that we can proudly showcase in the stadium," said Anika Marie Kennaugh, product designer at adidas. Unlike leather, polyurethane is flexible and does not stiffen in cold conditions. The 1984 European Championship in France was the first major tournament to showcase a wholly non-leather ball, and two years later, the first such synthetic World Cup ball – the Azteca México – was deployed at the finals.