The football used in Sunday’s Fifa World Cup final will carry an unexpected connection to Abu Dhabi through a material discovered by chance almost 90 years ago.
The Trionda Final, made by Adidas for the tournament's closing stages, uses polyurethane technology supplied by Covestro. The German materials company was acquired by the Abu Dhabi investment company XRG last year.
Its outer shell is formed from thermoplastic polyurethane, a flexible and durable material that helps the ball retain its shape, resist water and withstand repeated impact.
Covestro has worked with Adidas on materials for professional footballs for more than 30 years. The company’s connection to polyurethane dates to 1937, when German chemist Otto Bayer and his team first produced the material while working in Leverkusen.
The discovery in the German laboratory was not initially regarded as a breakthrough. The first experiment produced a foam-like substance whose commercial potential was unclear, but further development turned polyurethane into one of the world’s most widely used synthetic materials.
It can now be found in products ranging from mattresses and car seats to building insulation, electronics and sports equipment.
Adidas’s Trionda, the official match ball of the 2026 World Cup, uses a new four-panel construction rather than the more numerous panels found on earlier designs. Its layered outer shell includes polyurethane foam and compact polyurethane surfaces intended to improve elasticity, durability and flight consistency.
The gold, white and black Trionda Final was introduced for the tournament’s semi-finals, third-place play-off and final at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19.
Covestro has supplied polyurethane materials and adhesives for previous Adidas World Cup balls. For the Telstar 18, used in Russia in 2018, it provided materials for the outer skin layers, including an elastic foam that allowed the ball to return rapidly to its spherical shape after being kicked.
The company has continued to highlight its role in the materials used in modern professional footballs during this year’s tournament.
That relationship gained a UAE dimension when XRG, Adnoc’s international investment company, completed its acquisition of Covestro in December.
XRG took control of the Leverkusen-based company after a takeover offer that valued its shares at €62 each. It also provided a €1.17 billion capital increase to support Covestro’s investment plans and strengthen its balance sheet.
Covestro operates 46 production sites and makes high-performance polymers used in the automotive, construction, electronics, health and leisure industries.
The acquisition forms part of Adnoc’s broader effort to expand beyond the production and sale of oil and gas, and into chemicals and advanced materials.
Rather than being burnt once as fuel, hydrocarbons can be processed into products that remain in use for years and command greater value across global manufacturing supply chains.
On Sunday, that strategy will have an unusual place at the centre of the world’s most-watched football match. The final will be played with a ball whose outer material traces its history to an accidental German experiment and that is now supplied by a company owned by Abu Dhabi.
