Joe Hart finally tries the World Cup ball he was worried about and shares what he learned
Joe Hart has been wondering how the World Cup football affects goalkeepers during the tournament, and now he’s shared what he found after testing the ball himself to see if his idea was right.
The former England goalkeeper knows about tricky World Cup balls — he was part of Fabio Capello’s team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Even though he didn’t play, he trained with the Jabulani ball, which famously fooled his teammate Rob Green in a match against the USA.
Now, working as a BBC pundit during the 2026 World Cup, Joe has noticed something interesting: this year’s ball seems to come at goalkeepers faster, and they’re having trouble stopping it. He showed several times when keepers got a hand on the ball, but it still went into the net.
Joe teamed up with Conor O’Keefe, a goalie who shares videos on TikTok, to test his theory. Early in their video, Joe said, “It’s good to get the ball in your hands. I’m not trying to start a conspiracy — just sharing what I’ve seen. The usual guesses about how the ball moves didn’t quite add up. I thought those types of goals would stop, and they have, since we’re watching the best players here.”
Then came the real test. Joe handled the ball pretty well during the first drills, but then he made a cool comparison. He said, “This ball feels a lot like the Jabulani. If you don’t catch it just right, it can cause real problems.”
Conor then challenged Joe with the famous Jabulani ball. They used both the 2010 and 2026 balls one after the other to see how Joe would do. Interestingly, Joe found the Jabulani harder to save than the current ball.
So while Joe still thinks today’s ball keeps goalkeepers on their toes, it’s not nearly as tricky as the Jabulani was.
During the coverage of France’s 5-0 win over Iraq, Joe told BBC Sport, “It’s all about a goalkeeper’s brain and timing. Usually, you set yourself, move, and dive for the ball. But in this tournament, goalkeepers are diving too early. Their timing is off. When the ball doesn’t spin, it seems to reach them faster than they expect, so they just can’t make the save, even when they get a hand to it.”