adidas Euro 2016 match ball

France will be hosting the 2016 UEFA European Championships this summer from June 10th-July 10th. UEFA’s equipment sponsor adidas unveiled the match ball for the EUROs this past December. We’re going to take a good look at their new official match ball, the Beau Jeu, and see if it should be the next match ball in your bag.

Simply meaning ‘Play beautiful’ in French, the Beau Jeu is a retelling of the beloved 2014 Brazuca World Cup match ball. Adidas spent many years perfecting the Brazuca and they only made one technological change to the EURO 2016 match ball.

Instead of an opened diamond-shaped dimple pattern across the panels of the Brazuca, adidas introduced a closed checkered board dimpled pattern across the new panels. Although it is one of the more microscopic elements of the match ball adidas thought that this advanced pattern made a noticeable enough difference to overhaul their original design.

adidas Euro 2016 ball closeup

The new Beau Jeu match ball will continue to carry most of the same personality traits the popular Brazuca gave us. The Beau Jeu is a fast paced traveler, has a firm bladder, strong consistency in touch, its durability is without question (when treated appropriately), it plays naturally through impeding weather conditions and, most importantly for a top tier match ball, it is consistent in flight.

The graphic design on the Beau Jeu is very intriguing. The colors are taken from France’s EURO 2016 logo and it seems as if Adidas brighten them a little for the match ball.

It is interesting to note that Adidas returned to a monochromatic tournament logo for the first time since EURO 2008. The Kopanya, Jabulani, Tango12, Cafusa and Brazuca all used a full color tournament logo. I think this is a subtle and nice design touch from Adidas.

adidas Euro 2016 Beau Jeu

The major hash mark graphic designs on the paneling are unique in a way that we are not used to seeing from Adidas. When a panel design is not cyclical in nature, I am always skeptical that its flight pattern may deceive me visually. While playing with the Beau Jeu I did not notice any differences in visuals from short-sided passing or varying forms of long balls. Since the ball is of such high quality, rotations are frequent and the design elements do not play a factor.

The Beau Jeu is another stunning ball by Adidas. I would certainly suggest it if you are serious player in the market for a new quality match ball.

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