Lenovo deploys AI-powered tech backbone for FIFA World Cup 2026 across 16 stadiums

How Lenovo is using AI to make the 2026 FIFA World Cup even better

Here's what it really means to be the official FIFA World Cup 2026 tech partner Lenovo is the official technology partner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but what exactly does that mean? And more importantly, how is Lenovo using its tech might to improve the spectator, organizer, and team experience? To find out, I sat down with Ryan McCurdy, SVP and president of Lenovo North America, just before the start of the U.S. vs Australia match. From digitally smoothing jittery ref cam footage to creating digital avatars of all 1,200+ athletes to help officials make more accurate calls and fans better understand the game, our conversation covered nearly as much ground as Bruno Guimarães does in a match. Smoothing the match day jitters Sticking cameras on refs for a live on-field POV is not new, but the footage has historically been shaky and unsettling. For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Lenovo decided to address this. "Head cams have been around for a while, but the problem is the referee is really moving, and it was too jittery to kind of get a good picture," says McCurdy. "We're able to -- with technology -- reduce jitter by 60%. So now you're seeing these really unique, never-seen-before views, literally right in the middle of the action." The key here is using technology, i.e., digital stabilization, to keep footage smooth, rather than affixing the refs with bulky physical stabilization rigs, which might slow them down or prove distracting. 1,200+ digital athlete avatars One of the biggest undertakings before the start of the tournament was the process of 3D-scanning every athlete (1,200+) to create digital avatars. These avatars serve several purposes. "They can be used to help in the determination of offsides," says McCurdy during live games. The digital avatar also appears in live broadcasts to help fans better understand ref calls and reconstruct on-field moments for armchair analysis. For the actual teams, these scans play a crucial role in powering Lenovo's FIFA AI Pro app, a fancy, post-match analysis tool for assessing performance and team strategy. It provides insights and metrics for everything under the sun, and more importantly, FIFA AI Pro is available to every participating team's coaching staff. Democratizing post-match data "When we look at the FIFA AI Pro today, this has been distributed to about 300 team analysts from all 48 teams, really democratizing the access for all these clubs that have the latest, greatest information," says McCurdy. At present, FIFA AI Pro's insights are for teams and officiants only, but there is talk of opening up post-match insights to fans, as well. This is something that the NHL did in 2023 with game data, much to the delight of hockey fans everywhere. Moreover, ensuring every FIFA World Cup team has access to the same level of AI-backed individual and team insights during the tournament ultimately makes for a fairer and more fun competition. Improving the live fan experience When it comes to match day, Lenovo's role in making sure things run smoothly might not seem obvious, but the tech giant is responsible for everything from helping keep facilities secure to ensuring that those watching worldwide don't miss a beat of the action on TV. When it comes to safety, similar to the digital player avatars, Lenovo "made digital twins of all 16 stadiums," says McCurdy. "This allows for the FIFA Command Center in Dallas to look at what's going on in [real-time] and monitor the situation there." Lenovo is also helping fans enjoy the game in more pragmatic ways. For example, to help folks avoid wandering a packed stadium, "we have a wayfinding app where fans can find the best path to their seat. For fans who haven't come to an enormous event like this, it really makes the experience better." Lenovo's World Cup app can also be used to check concession and bathroom lines in real-time, all to help you avoid missing a moment of World Cup fun. Bigger than the Super Bowl Ultimately, the FIFA World Cup is right up there with the Olympics as one of the largest sporting events in the world. "It sounds hyperbolic, but we're expecting over 5 billion unique humans to consume and watch the World Cup -- 1.5 billion fans watching for the final. The Super Bowl is around 125 million. So we're talking 5 to 10x the size of the audience," notes McCurdy. Translation: a whole lot of people are counting on Lenovo, as the tournament's tech partner, not to drop the ball. With over 100 matches, that sounds pretty stressful. So, why do it? Obviously, there are clear branding benefits to such a massive partnership, but what else is Lenovo getting out of this arrangement? "If you can deliver at scale to billions of fans, you can certainly integrate your technology into a company that has a distributed workforce and a global supply chain," says McCurd. "So it really helps us to kind of prove out and test the technology on just a massive scale" Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Alternatively, you can read our content on the Tom's Guide app available now for iOS and Android. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok. Finally, you can visit our dedicated Tom's Guide Savings Squad hub for expert help on getting the best products for less.

'We were given a challenge which is unprecedented for the game': I spoke to Lenovo's Ken Wong about the challenges of being "the technology backbone of FIFA" and how the FIFA World Cup 2026 can help democratize AI for everyone

The FIFA World Cup 2026 is well underway, with the group stages already generating huge amounts of action for fans across the world. It's been widely highlighted how this is the biggest edition of the tournament so far, with an expanded roster of 48 teams doing battle in 16 venues across three countries. But with such a sprawling reach, the technology needed to power such a crucial tournament has never been more important - and that's where Lenovo comes in. As FIFA's official technology partner, Lenovo has provided the technical expertise to keep the tournament running, and power some of the most exciting new innovations such as AI Refcam - I went to find out more. An unprecedented challenge "We were given a challenge which is unprecedented for the game," Ken Wong - EVP and President, SSG, Lenovo, tells me in Miami. "For anyone that is going to be a single point of contact for such a complex project, there will be a lot of questions...but after two weeks of operations, I think we have delivered what we promised." Wong highlights how the technology being built and delivered to FIFA is actually Lenovo's own in-house hybrid platform and delivery platforms, so the company was confident about the capabilities it could provide - and then, Wong says, hand it over to FIFA, "to make magic happen." As Wong notes, "keeping the lights on is a given", and Lenovo has deployed more than 350 engineers to World Cup sites, including the stadiums and its Technology Command Center in Miami, with the company providing around 17,000 devices to ensure a resolute and powerful backbone for all the tournament's operations. The technology has (at least at the time of writing) been one of the biggest success stories of the World Cup 2026, with fans around the world praising the immersiveness of the Refcam and realistic VAR avatars. "It's not only about technology - without outcome it is meaningless," Wong notes, with the company looking to provide a fan experience "like never before". "Our role is to make sure based on our understanding of the technology in the platform - how we can maximize the flexibility and outcome for our customer? Now it's up to FIFA to use it." The "power of AI" I ask Wong if the World Cup 2026 can be a good use case for responsible AI deployment, boosting everything from the fan experience to broadcast quality to more effective ground logistics and operations. "Customers are often so focused on, do I have the most powerful model - but more and more, when AI is moving from POC to production and scale, the more people understand the importance of data," he says. Any complex operation that involves a massive amount of data can be a vital learning experience, Wong says - naming building or facilities operations all the way up to smart city oversight as possible use cases which can be extrapolated from the World Cup use case. Lenovo has even established sports as one of its focus verticals, with the company also partnering with the likes of Formula 1, the Olympics, NHL, Serie A and more. "We have confidence that we can provide a great outcome, for other organizations within the sports industry, be it a stadium or fans experience, or a whole federation," he adds. So with the tournament still underway at the time of writing, Lenovo might be hoping, paradoxically, that its technology stays out of the headlines for the time being - as that will mean everything is working smoothly, with no errors or controversies. "We are the technology backbone of FIFA," Wong notes, "our AI is powering the World Cup! To me, the real meaning is that we're part of the great game, but also it is proven now that Lenovo technology can be applied to the most complex operation in the world."