Unlike the surface named after the German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868), which has only one side, the symbol of this global sporting event has a front and a back. With a Möbius strip, you think you are following the outside when, hey presto, you find yourself on the inside. Here, however, follow the floral patterns printed on the outside of the FIFA World Cup symbol... and you will never end up inside. The fact that the ribbon is not twisted makes all the difference: unlike a Möbius strip, it is not made by giving a strip of paper a half-twist before joining its ends.
Yet besides the "8", the logo contains another mathematical symbol: infinity, a "sideways eight", as it were. According to FIFA, it is intended to "highlight the countless interconnections involved in the competition"... See? We told you mathematics is everywhere!
