FIFA deploys AI avatars and data tools to transform offside calls at 2026 World Cup

FIFA to use '3D avatars' powered by AI to improve offside calls at World Cup

FIFA has announced it will use artificial intelligence to improve the accuracy of semi-automated offside decisions at next summer's World Cup - one of a series of new AI features set to be introduced at the tournament. World football's governing body's technology partner, Lenovo, will make an "AI-enabled 3D avatar" of every player participating in the finals, allowing the existing offside technology to track players in-game "during fast or obscured movements". In a joint-statement with Lenovo, FIFA described the move as "a significant development in semi-automated offside technology". "Players participating in the upcoming global showpiece will be digitally scanned to create a precise 3D model," explained the release. "Each scan takes approximately one second and captures highly accurate body-part dimensions, allowing the system to track players reliably during fast or obstructed movements." FIFA claimed the move would also improve understanding of offside calls for fans in the stadiums and television viewers, saying: "The 3D models will be incorporated into the host broadcast, enabling offside decisions determined by the video assistant referee (VAR) system to be displayed more realistically and in a more engaging way to fans at stadiums and to viewers around the world." The technology was trialled at last year's Intercontinental Cup, where the players of Flamengo and Pyramids FC were scanned before their meeting in December. FIFA said the test was a success, "demonstrating its capability and readiness to support the match officials at the World Cup". Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) has already been used at two World Cups (Qatar 2022 and the 2023 women's tournament in Australia and New Zealand), and is a tool for the VAR that automates key elements of the offside decision-making process in a bid to speed it up. These key elements are the "kick-point" (the exact time the ball was played) and the positioning of the relevant defender and attacker. AI builds a better picture of the decision through multiple cameras tracking different body points on each player, and with the system connecting to the match ball. FIFA also announced that every team at the tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will have access to Lenovo's "generative AI knowledge assistant", which uses millions of data points to simulate "text, video, graphs and 3D visualisations". The tool could be used, for example, to show a team's last ten corner kicks. Nations will have access to the tool before and after games but not during matches in a bid to level the playing field between opponents at the first 48-team World Cup - where tournament debutants including Curacao and Cape Verde will be competing with traditional heavyweights such as Brazil, Germany and France. "At the highest level of the game, access to sophisticated analysis often depends on the financial and technical resources at a team's disposal," FIFA's statement read. "Football AI Pro seeks to address this imbalance, with all of the 48 competing teams at global football's premier event set to benefit from the same advanced pre- and post-match analytical capabilities." After a successful trial at last summer's Club World Cup, FIFA will also use AI to stabilise and improve the footage from referee cams at the tournament, which it said would improve transparency and the viewing experience for television audiences.

World Cup players to have lifelike 'AI avatars' for use in VAR offside decisions

Every player at this summer's World Cup will have their own physically accurate "AI avatar" that will be used in taking VAR decisions. The innovation, which will involve every player being digitally scanned and leaves the possibility of size mattering in future offside calls, was part of a package of technological measures announced by Fifa's president, Gianni Infantino, as he made a keynote appearance at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. Infantino described the upcoming World Cup, with 104 matches due to played across the US, Canada and Mexico, as "the greatest show ever on planet Earth" and said the AI avatar would "ensure" that more accurate offside decisions would be made. "AI-enabled 3D avatars will ensure precise player identification and tracking," Infantino said, describing it as "a big advancement in semi-automated offside technology providing great images, faster decisions and a clear understanding by everyone". Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is an extension of the VAR protocols that automates key elements of the offside decision-making process for the video assistant referee. In the Premier League, SAOT involves 30 cameras identifying the position of the ball and tracking "up to 10,000" data points on a players' location but the graphical models used to reach a final decision do not match with a player's actual size. By adding personalised avatars, Fifa believes that the precision and speed of decision making will be improved, with the avatars allowing "the system to track players reliably during fast or obstructed movements". The use of player-specific dimensions will personalise offside decisions as never before. Fans may be wondering whether the avatars will make the 6ft 5in Erling Haaland more likely to be caught offside than the 5ft 7in Lionel Messi. According to Fifa, every player will be scanned before the World Cup to create a 3D model. It said each scan would take "approximately one second" and capture "highly accurate body-part dimensions". These models would then be used by VAR in calculating offside decisions via SAOT, and Fifa intends that the models be incorporated into TV coverage so that decisions could be "displayed more realistically and in a more engaging way to fans at stadiums and to viewers around the world". Also announced as part of an expanded relationship between Fifa and its official technology partner, the Chinese company Lenovo, was a new data platform - Football AI Pro - that is to be made available to all nations at the World Cup and will "help level the playing field" between better- and less-well-resourced nations "in an increasingly data-driven sport". There is also to be a World Cup edition of the Motorola Razr phone, a Lenovo brand. Infantino said: "The Fifa World Cup in 2026 is going to be the greatest show ever on planet Earth. Seven million people will attend the 104 matches - 104 Super Bowls - dozens of millions of fans will travel to North America to feel the Fifa World Cup vibe, six billion people will watch it from home, and the world will stand still."

FIFA will use AI-tech to help teams and referees in World Cup, such as 3D player avatars to catch offsides

FIFA attended CES 2026 in Las Vegas alongside Lenovo, with both companies introducing a series of AI-powered technologies in place for World Cup 2026, that will mainly help teams, managers and referees, and in the future fans. The first announcement is Football AI Pro, a generative AI knowledge assistant that all 48 teams participating in the competition will be allowed to use (and in the future fans as well, although it's not clear how). This system will analyse millions of football data and will show it in text, video, graphs and 3D visualisations, and teams and managers will be allowed to use before and after, but not during the matches. FIFA remarks that this will allow all team to access a sophisticated analysis system regardless of their financial and technical resources, "democratising access to data by providing the most complete set of football analytics to all competing teams and soon to fans as well". Referees will also benefit from the innovations by Lenovo with improvements in semi-automated offside technologies. Using AI, the computers will create 3D player avatars scanned to create a 3D model, that helps the system track players reliably during fast or obstructed movements. Those 3D images will also be shown in the video assistant referee (VAR) and presumably in TV broadcasts, so that fans can have a clearer understanding of refereeing decisions. Finally, the Referee View, a body camera that the referees wear, already used as a trial in last year's Club World Cup, will be improved with AI stabilisation software, reducing motion blur, to deliver "higher quality, first-person perspective for global audiences, enhancing transparency, understanding and engagement throughout the match."