Presentation of the official ball for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was held in Moscow on Thursday, November 9. It was attended by Argentina's national team forward Lionel Messi, Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane, Brazil's midfielder Kaká, Italy's striker Alessandro Del Piero and Spain's midfielder Xabi Alonso.
The ball, developed by the German company Adidas, was called Telstar 18.
"I was lucky enough to get to know this ball a bit earlier and I managed to have a try with it," Argentina star Lionel Messi said. "I like all of it: the new design, the colors, everything."
While in Moscow, some of the football stars squad, including Zidane, Del Piero and Alonso, visited the recently-opened park Zaryadye, where they took a neat picture with Telstar 18 on the "Floating Bridge" against the backdrop of the Kremlin.
The World Cup matches will be held from June 14 to July 15, 2018 in at 12 stadiums in 11 cities of the country: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don and Saransk.