How AI is powering the FIFA World Cup 2026

The world’s single largest sporting event—the FIFA World Cup 2026—has just started in Mexico. Three countries—the United States of America, Canada and Mexico—are jointly hosting the Word Cup, a first in football history. The matches are spread across 16 cities—11 in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada.  Over 5 million people are expected to see the 104 matches inside the stadiums. The 39-day sporting extravaganza includes 48 nations, the largest ever and 16 more than the last time.  

The numbers may be great, but what makes this edition different is the large-scale introduction of technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) in almost every facet of the beautiful game.  

So, what are the big tech changes that will change this FIFA World Cup? Right from the ball to player avatars and the command centre, everything is driven by technology. To get it all going, FIFA joined hands with Lenovo to provide the biggest AI driven sporting event with a suite of Football AI innovations. 

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Football AI Pro 

This is an advanced post-match analysis assistant powered by hybrid and generative AI. It has been developed by FIFA in close collaboration with Lenovo for match analysts and coaching staff. It levels the field by providing every competing team with similar analytical tools. It can help analysts compare team patterns using video clips and 3D avatars that bring data to life in real time. Players can get personalised match analysis and coaches can consider how to change tactics against an opponent in the next match. 

Intelligent Command Centre 

This real-time operations platform, designed and built by Lenovo, gives FIFA a live view of everything. It aggregates data from multiple operational systems into a single environment giving officials information from venue-level to tournament-wide trends.  

From its base in Miami, FIFA will be able to oversee the entire tournament. This enables officials to identify potential bottlenecks, risks and disruptions earlier and respond more effectively. 

Trionda—the connected ball that needs to be charged 

Quite like a smartphone, the Trionda (Spanish for ‘three wave’ and the ball developed by Adidas for the FIFA World Cup 2026) needs to be placed on a charging pad for 90 minutes before kickoff. The charging ensures the 14-gram motion sensor chip embedded in one of the ball’s four panels will work for six hours.  

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The Trionda has a three colour scheme—red, green and blue for each of the three countries. The sensor captures every touch, pass, shot and deflection across the 90 minutes of the game. The sensor tracks it 500 times per second and transmits the data in real time to the VAR (video assistant review) room. That ensures match officials can take real-time decisions that will not be challenged. 

While the ball cannot identify exactly who is kicking it, it can identify when, where and how hard the ball was struck. That will help officials make accurate calls in case of controversial offsides.  

3D player avatars  

FIFA, in collaboration with Lenovo, has created precise 3D models of all the 1,248 players in the current world cup. These provide highly accurate body part dimensions of the players. That is key in allowing the system to track players during fast movements. The 3D models have been incorporated into the broadcast, which will allow for enabling off-side decisions realistically. So, when an offside decision is made, a 3D animation of the exact position will be displayed on stadium screens, taking the guesswork out of controversial calls.  

Referee body cameras 

This technology has already been tried in some football leagues. It offers football fans a transparent view of the game as if they were themselves present on the ground. It uses AI-powered stabilisation software to revolutionise body cam footage. It offers viewers a look at what a referee sees before making a decision. It is designed to bridge the gap between fans and officials and provide a look into the pressures of officiating at the highest levels of the game.  

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Robot dogs 

FIFA is deploying AI-powered robot dogs equipped with cameras as part of the security operation. They will be deployed at major tournament facilities, stadium complexes and broadcasting centres.  

AI facial recognition 

At the entrances to the 16 stadiums, FIFA has installed facial recognition software and AI-powered monitoring systems. These tools can scan faces in real-time and match these against security databases to keep people out who could pose a risk.