Joe Hart finally uses World Cup ball he raised major concerns about and reveals what he found out

Joe Hart has questioned the impact the World Cup football has had upon goalkeepers at the competition this summer, and now he has revealed his findings after testing the ball himself to see if his theory was correct.

The former England international has experienced controversial World Cup football previously, as he was part of Fabio Capello’s squad that took part in the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

While he did not get any game time at this tournament, he will have trained with Jabulani, a football that caught out his teammate Rob Green against the United States in the group stage.

Now, working as a pundit for the BBC during the 2026 World Cup, he has suggested that the ball was coming at goalkeepers quicker in this tournament, which has seen them fail to save the ball, with Hart showing several examples where they get one hand to the ball as it finds its way into the back of the net.

Hart has joined with Conor O’Keefe, who is a goalkeeper that shares content on TikTok, and now the pair have joined to create a video to see if they can prove the former Manchester City keeper's theory.

Early on in the clip, he said: “Good to get it in your hands. Sounded like I was trying to make some sort of conspiracy about this ball. I’m not; it was just my observations.

“The usual calculations they were making with the higher balls, it wasn’t quite adding up. I thought those sorts of goals would dry up, and they have done because we are talking about the best of the best in this tournament.”

After these comments, the former Celtic shot-stopper would be put to the test to see how he would deal with the ball.

He appeared to deal with the ball with relative ease throughout the first few drills before making an interesting comparison.

Hart said: “I just think it was very much like the Jabulani. If you don’t catch it right, then there is a real threat to it.”

O’Keefe would then test Hart with the infamous Jabulani, and for their practice, they would use both balls, one after the other, to test the former Birmingham City keeper.

Hart would find it more difficult to save the 2010 ball compared to the one being used at the 2026 tournament.

So, while Hart still suggested that the current ball requires keepers to remain fully focused, it is nowhere near as difficult as the Jabulani.

What did Hart say about the World Cup ball?

During coverage of France's 5-0 win over Iraq in the group stages, Hart told BBC Sport: "It's the brain calculation of a goalkeeper. You see it, you get set, you get your movement in, you fly after the ball.

"But in this tournament, they're getting set and they're flying after it, and it's just not matching up with what they do daily.

"They're just not timing that save. Lower down, you're seeing it sharp. But as soon as that ball hasn't got spin on it, it seems to be on them before they can react. They're just not making that save once they do make contact."