Which country is not playing any World Cup match yet participating in all?

Corentin Tolisso during the World Cup 2018, France vs Australia at the Kazan Arena stadium in Kazan, Russia on June 16, 2018. Source: AAP Image/ Christian Liewig/ABACAPRESS.COM.

The World Cup is already off to a flying start with some scorching free-kicks, penalty kicks, headers and even some great keeping.

Billions of fans have been enjoying every second of the game at the stadiums, watching on TV screens or on mobile phones.

Yet while there are 32 countries participating in the beautiful game many more nations are not playing in Russia.

FIFA’s ranking table shows more than 200 teams in the world ranging from Germany ranked 1^st to Tonga ranked 206^th.

However, there is a country which is neither in the ‘top 200’ nations in the table nor playing any World Cup match - yet is part of every match in FIFA World Cup 2018.

The country is ‘Pakistan’.

The South Asian nation with a population of over 220 million currently ranks 201st on FIFA ranking table and has yet to qualify for the World Cup since its affiliation with the Football governing body in 1948.

However, the unique reason it is participating in the World Cup is that it is the producer of the official match ball for the 2018 FIFA World Cup  – the ‘Adidas’ Telstar 18. 

The new ball designed for the World Cup is produced by the Forward Group in the sports goods manufacturing city of Pakistan – Sialkot.

The company has also made footballs for German Bundesliga, France league, and the Champions League.

Yet, this is not the first time Pakistan has produced footballs for the World Cup.

In the last FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil, the Brazuca ball was also made in Pakistan.

Pakistan exports around 40 million balls across the globe annually.

'A reinvented classic'

The iconic design of the 1970 FIFA World Cup ball - the Adidas Telstar - made of 32 hand-stitched panels including 12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons, became the most recognised football design in the world.  It was designed to be clearly visible on television screens which were then mostly black and white, before the days of colour.

The new Telstar 18 is the redesigned version of the earlier Telstar used in Mexico in 1970. The ball is now thermal bonded compared to the previous hand stitched version.  It also carries an embedded NFC (near-field communication) chip to provide information directly to a mobile phone.

World Cup footballs and their names:

1. 1970 - Mexico – Telstar
2. 1974 - Germany – Telstar Durlast
3. 1978 - Argentina – Tango
4. 1982 - Argentina – Tango Espana
5. 1986 - Mexico – Azteca
6. 1990 - Italy – Unico
7. 1994 - USA – Questra
8. 1998 - France – Tricolore
9. 2002 - Korea and Japan – Fevernova
10. 2006 - Germany – Teamgeist
11. 2010 - South Africa – Jabulani
12. 2014 - Brazil – Brazuca
13. 2018 - Russia – Telstar 18

Telstar18 made its debut in the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia in World Cup.

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