A Look Back at the Euro Match Balls Down the Years

There is no record from UEFA on the designs for the first two Euros in 1960 and 1964, so the Telstar Elast in 1964 (below) is the earliest memory we have of the official Euro ball. It was as basic as it could possibly be, with the traditional football look of black and white and this would remain near enough the same until 1980 with the odd change here and there, such as further lamination t make it more resistant to water intake in 1976.

In 1980, there was a big change for the first time to the official Euro ball (below) and it was also used at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and referenced the culture of that hosting nation, Argentina. 1984 would come and the first non-leather ball would be used at the Euros.

The 90s witnessed another dramatic change in the official Euro balls and this change during this decade is how we ended up with the Euro 2020 official ball.

By this point, non-leather balls were well and truly the norm and things like enhanced coating and seam sealing was added to protect the balls against water penetration back in the late 80s. Then came the 90s and the Etrusco Unico was formed, and it was also used at the 1990 World Cup in Italy and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona - it was in Italy where it got its name as it was named after ancient Italian history and the art of the Etruscans.

Then we move onto the 1996 tournament, and this was the biggest change to date and the main reason why we have the euro 2020 official ball, as this was the year that we saw colour added to a match ball. Questra Europa was its name and the design came with lions and red roses which are symbolic with the hosts England, who were hosting their first major since last triumphing at the 1996 World Cup.

Whilst Euro 2004 was memorable in its own way Euro 2008 and Euro 2000 were a bit more predictable as the world champions France won in 2000 and the soon-to-be world champions Spain won at Euro 2008.

The balls were all special in their own right, however, and we particularly like the Euro 2000 match ball for it's traditional look and nostalgic feel.

The Euro 2020 official ball will make history in some fashion, as they always do. But the Euro match balls down the years have made their own name and each has a story.

Euro 2004 was an all-time classic summer tournament. It was a competition hosted tremendously well by the Portuguese but with Greece beating the hosts in the final, an instant classic was created.

The official Euro ball, however, didn't go down well with everyone as it was deemed as dull and quite basic with it's crosshair-like covering. Nevertheless, as we look back on it 17 years later, it's a bit of a classic, right?

Euro 2016 was the last European Championships, and once again, it was a summer full of history. Iceland's victory over England will go down in European folklore, whilst Portugal's first-ever triumph on the international stage made history in its own way.

However, we've included Euro 2016 on this list as it was a little different because it was the first time ever that a summer international tournament witnessed two balls in one competition. The Beau Jeu was the ball used in the group stages, which looked very similar to the ball used in the knockout stages. All that really changed on the Fracas ball for the knockout rounds was the stripes on the Beau Jeu began to fade into graffiti-like spray paint.

The Uniforia is the name of the Euro 2020 official ball and it was officially revealed back in November 2019 and it is named after both the unity and the euphoria that top-level national-team competition can bring as Euro 2020 takes place across several countries.