***UPDATE*** The adidas Copa al Hilm never reached the market with adidas opting to release the multi-colored al Rihla the only Word Cup 2022
With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar only months away, we’ve been seeing some leaks of potential adidas world cups packs making their way into the public domain. One such boot, is the adidas Copa Sense.1 ‘al Hilm’ edition (World Cup Pack). The boot is expected to be adidas on of a few offering in their Qatar World Cup pack alongside the Adidas Al Rihla 2022 World Cup pack that will debut new, more extravagant colorways in the current Copa, Predator and X boot ranges.
Where did adidas get the al Hilm name?
Having trademarked it in 2021, adidas have clearly been keen to attach the ‘al Hilm’ name to the line of football boots.
But where exactly did adidas come up with the name?
Paying tribute to the Arabic hosts in Qatar, ‘Al hilm’ is taken from the arabic language and means to be:
forbearing, mild, lenient, clement; to be forgiving, gentle, deliberate; to be leisurely in manner, not hasty; to be calm, serene; to manage one’s temper; or to exhibit moderation. Hilm, is in a sense, an ability to have the wisdom to control your anger.
And that’s something that’s more important in at the holy grail of international football than at any other tournament. Controlled anger might not be enough to get you very far in footballs top club competitions, with the worlds best superstars assembled to pick teams apart with their skill.
But the representing hits different.
Just ask the Euro 2020 winning Italy team that had a center-back pairing with a combined page of 70.
What does the Copa al Hilm boot look like?
There’s lots of other reviews out their detailing the specs of the adidas Copa Sense.1 range so we’re not going to dig too deep into the details.
The ‘al Hilm’ pack retains all of the same technology from it’s predecessor including SENSEPODS, TOUCHPODS, SOFTSTUDS and a FUSIONSKIN upper.
However, the colorway is something of a thing of beauty, with simple, clean colors and a touch of class with some extra attention to detail.
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The inner and outer of the boot feature the OG adidas 3 stripes (something we haven’t seen on previous editions of the boot) in black. This sure to be something the adidas purists will be delighted to see the return of. After all, the 3 stripes are a staple icon of any world cup and adidas will be keen to soak up the brand exposure that comes with the tournamet.
The inner of the boots follows the same refined design principle. What we like about the stripes, is that they practically cover the outer and inner giving it a classic, yet contemporary look.
What is hard to tell from photos of the boot, is that the white leather upper of the boot actually has a metallic-type finish that reflects a prism of colors when exposed to direct sunlight. This is a pretty cool feature of the boot that will of course bring more attention to it in the blazing sun on Qatar.
For us, the best design element of the al Hilm Copa Sense is the soleplate. The SENSEFRAME soleplate fades from a gold to white going from heel to toe, and again hosts the classic adidas logo directly underneath the toebox of the boot. A very simple touch, but on that is again going to make the three-stripe purists very happy.
World Cup packs have found themselves a little lost in the boot release of the past with new season packs finding their way to market in the months immediately after. But with a split-season format meaning player will line-out for the tournament around Christmas, we may see a lot more of this edition than those in the past.
The World Cup has always been the the platform for young superstars to announce their arrival and put themselves in the shop window. These superstars can also carry the legacy of the boot they wear during the tournament too (just think of Rooney’s Nike T90 Supremacy as it left an imprint on Ricardo Carvalhos’ groin at 2006 before the ‘Winking Ronaldo’ controversy.
With young star Jude Bellingham sporting the Copa Sense for his club, Dortmund this past season, could he be the one to immortalize the Copa Sense al Hilm pack as a classic football boot?
