adidas UEFA Champions League 2026/27: Starballs Have Arrived
Few designs in the game carry the same instant recognition as the iconic Starball. Under the lights, on Europe’s biggest nights and at the centre of the moments that define a season, it has become one of football’s most recognisable symbols.
For 2026/27, adidas introduces two new official match ball designs for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League. Both stay true to the legendary star identity of their competitions, but visually, they take two very different directions. Learn everything about it here!
A Champions League ball built to stand out
The adidas UEFA Champions League 26/27 Official Match Ball takes the familiar Starball and injects it with serious energy.
At its core is the classic white star-panel construction that immediately connects the ball to Champions League history. Around those stars, however, adidas has gone in a much more expressive direction.
Bright blue, neon green, yellow and pink brushstrokes move across the design, creating a look that feels fast and almost in motion even when the ball is standing still. Halftone patterns are mixed into the graphics, adding another layer of texture and giving the design a modern, digitally influenced feel.
Then comes the finishing touch: a bright pink adidas logo that cuts through the white base and ties into the colour palette surrounding it.
The result is unmistakably Champions League, but with a much more colourful personality.
The Starball enters a new era
Changing the Champions League ball is always a balancing act.
The Starball is bigger than a seasonal graphic. Over the years, it has become part of the visual language of elite European football. See those stars and you immediately think of the anthem, floodlights, knockout football and some of the biggest players in the world competing for the biggest club prize in Europe.
That makes every new interpretation interesting.
For 2026/27, adidas keeps the identity everyone knows while pushing the graphics around it into more vibrant territory. The traditional white creates the familiar foundation, while the flashes of blue, green, yellow and pink bring a completely different energy.
It feels like a ball designed for the spectacle of modern Champions League football: bright, fast and impossible to ignore.
And once it starts appearing on pitches across Europe, this is a design that will quickly become connected to the goals, celebrations and decisive moments of the new campaign.
A different identity for the Women’s Champions League
The adidas UEFA Women’s Champions League 26/27 Official Match Ball takes a noticeably different approach.
Instead of surrounding the stars with an explosion of colour, adidas has created something cleaner and more controlled.
The ball begins with a crisp white base, allowing the Starball graphics to dominate the design. Each star is outlined in deep metallic purple, immediately creating a premium look and a strong visual contrast against the white background.
Inside the stars, the colours transition from bright orange into yellow, bringing warmth and energy to the design without overpowering it.
Silver-grey details connect the different visual elements, while black adidas and UEFA Women’s Champions League logos complete the look with a sharp, understated contrast.
Where the men’s ball feels expressive and energetic, the women’s design feels refined and precise.
Two very different personalities. Both unmistakably made for European nights.