Footballs for success in the park

We always bring you the latest releases, just as we did a few days ago with Nike’s new Wavelength Pack. But what is the true essence, the very heart of football? As Oliver Atom, our best friend, would say: footballs. Today we won’t be talking about the balls used in the world’s top leagues, nor even the high-end ones – we already have a post detailing the 5 best footballs for that.

Today we’re going back to where it all began, where we grew up playing football: the streets. We’re talking about quality balls that have that bit of durability we so desperately need to play football with friends on the street.

The best balls for street football

adidas Tango Allround

We start the list with a ball from the German brand adidas. Since they launched the ‘Tango’ range three years ago, the essence of street football has been reborn and celebrated. As you can see, we’re talking about a football that costs under €25, ready for the toughest battles on the streets. The reason we’ve included this ball on the list is simply down to the way it’s made. It’s crafted from a rugged synthetic material for greater durability against wear and tear on tarmac. It’s also worth noting that it’s seamless, ensuring a more predictable flight path and better touch. It’s thermally bonded, and best of all, for under €25, you get the FIFA seal of quality.

Nike Airlock Street X

When the X appears on the American brand, we instinctively associate it with the streets of our neighbourhood, with real football, with freestyle. Just like the ball mentioned earlier, this one has a retail price of just over €30, but at the time of writing this post, it can be found for under €25 on the Fútbol Emotion website. A simple, seamless ball with a durable cover, designed and manufactured to withstand the wear and tear of our street football. One of the interesting features of this ball is that it comes with Airlock technology, which maintains air pressure and shape without compromising the ball’s durability in the slightest. Internal reinforcement provides durability, and the spray-painted designs are inspired by street football matches.

SP Mussa

Ladies and gentlemen, a top-of-the-range football for under €20. YES. That’s right. The designers at the Spanish brand SP know exactly what footballers need. Famous for their SP goalkeeper gloves, the brand also offers football protective gear, football kits, SP lifestyle apparel and a whole host of other products. Always designed by and for footballers. Turning to this professional-performance ball, it features an outer layer of high-frequency compressed polyurethane (PU) for a stable flight path. Indirectly, and although this is not the brand’s intention, thanks to its textured surface, we get a ball that holds up well on concrete. It isn’t the most suitable for this purpose, as it will naturally start to peel over time, but it delivers fantastic performance. Beneath each panel, there is a foam layer that improves performance and bounce in wet and cold conditions. One of the best balls on the list in terms of value for money.

Puma LaLiga Hybrid 2019-2020

Perhaps, thanks to you, LaLiga won’t come to an end just yet. It may well be that there’s a little bit of LaLiga in every corner. LaLiga is magic, and Puma is now changing the colour of this competition’s heartbeat, proving that the magic begins when the ball starts to move. This top-of-the-range ball has received no criticism whatsoever, which is excellent given the significant change in sponsorship after 20 years with a rival brand. This football retains the innovative 18-panel heat-sealed structure of the previous model, similar to that of a golf ball, ensuring a straight flight and greater consistency when shooting. The larger panels allow for better contact with the ball, offering a soft feel thanks to the addition of an extra layer of POE foam that increases sensitivity. These small grooves provide extra durability, although it’s worth noting that, sooner or later, the ball will start to peel.

Select Liga Portuguesa Pro

We round off this short list of mid-range footballs for playing on the street with a brand that has only very occasionally featured here. We’re talking about Select, a brand specialising in the design and manufacture of footballs. It is the only one on this list that has built its business entirely around footballs. Select was founded in 1947 by Eigil Nielsen, a former goalkeeper for the Danish national football team. Select Sport is currently the official sponsor and ball supplier to numerous sporting bodies (federations, national professional leagues and teams), including: the Danish Football Association, the International Handball Federation, the Danish Handball Federation and the professional handball leagues ASOBAL (Spain), N1 (Iceland), 1. A DRL (Slovenia), as well as several football and handball teams. In this replica version of the Portuguese League ball, we can see how the panels are joined with traditional stitching, providing strength and durability. Made from synthetic PU, it offers reliability and durability combined with a latex bladder.

We hope you enjoyed this little round-up of mid-range footballs. We’d love for you to get involved in this post by letting us know what kind of round-up you’d like us to put together. Football will be back, of course, and we need to be ready – that’s why we’re continuing to dispatch orders as normal via our website.