The official match ball for the FIFA World Cup 2026 was made in Sialkot, Pakistan, a city that produces around 70% of the world’s footballs. From hand-crafted expertise to cutting-edge technology, Pakistan’s football industry has been at the heart of the global game for the last four decades

St. Petersburg | On impact of Pakistan-China relations on India, Russian President Vladimir Putin says, "We are well aware of the intricacies of the issues concerning the border between India and Pakistan. I don't think Pakistan is a country that is fully under the control of China. Pakistan is a large country, and it has multi-faceted ties with different countries. They need to take into account the cooperation with China, but everyone is developing relations with China... India ranks third, Russia ranks fourth in terms of GDP... China, US, India, and Russia are the top four countries... These are delicate, multi-faceted relations between India and China, and interfering in them is not a good idea. We interact with our friends in both India and China... President Xi and PM Modi are both trying to resolve all the issues of mutual interest, including the relations on the border... As for Russia, we have our own relations with China and India. No one is holding grudges... Relations between Russia and India do not disturb China, our relations with China do not disturb India... Take BRICS for example. At one point, I suggested that leaders of India and China meet here; which is how Russia-India-China was established. We had things to talk about, to agree upon, we started doing later on, then we were joined by Brazil..." (Source: Host Broadcaster via Reuters)