Adidas have unveiled the official match balls for the 2025/26 Champions League season, with the designs drawing on celestial themes for both the men's and women's tournaments. According to 90min, the new balls feature visual references to night skies and the northern lights.
The aesthetic direction marks a continued effort by adidas to give each season's Champions League ball a distinct identity, rather than iterating on a familiar template. The northern lights influence in particular lends the designs a cooler, more Nordic palette — a departure from some of the warmer or more geometric approaches of recent seasons.
That both the men's and women's tournaments receive dedicated designs is itself worth noting. The women's Champions League has grown considerably in profile over the past several years, with expanded coverage and rising attendances, and the provision of a bespoke ball for that competition reflects its standing as a top-tier UEFA event in its own right.
Adidas have held the Champions League ball contract for decades, and the annual reveal has become a minor ritual in the football calendar. The match ball carries a significance beyond the purely functional: it appears in every broadcast frame, every post-match photograph, and — for those clubs fortunate enough to reach the later rounds — in the memories attached to the competition's most consequential nights.
No further technical specifications were included in the 90min report, and UEFA have not yet confirmed the date from which the new balls will be in use. Further details are expected as the 2025/26 competition approaches.