Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of football and continues to advance rapidly. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the global governing body FIFA is introducing its latest AI-based innovation.
This technology is designed to improve accuracy while also speeding up decision-making on the pitch. The innovation not only focuses on speed but also emphasizes transparency.
More advanced than before
In fact, Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) has already been used at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and elite competitions such as the UEFA Champions League. This system serves as a support tool for VAR in making offside decisions.
The system uses multiple cameras and around 10,000 data points to track players and the ball. It determines the exact moment the ball is played and compares the positions of attackers and defenders.
Earlier versions used generic player models, which sometimes made very tight offside calls (just a few centimeters) slightly less precise.
Combining AI and 3D avatars
For the 2026 World Cup, FIFA has upgraded the technology by introducing AI-based 3D avatars for each player. Every player will undergo a digital scanning process that takes around one second but is capable of capturing body dimensions with very high accuracy.
This technology has already been tested at the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. The results were considered highly successful—the system performed very well and is ready to assist officials at the highest level of competition.
A major step in modern football transformation
FIFA has also introduced AI-stabilized referee body cameras. This technology produces smoother footage and provides a live, on-field perspective, allowing viewers to better understand match dynamics from the referee’s point of view.
The use of AI in the 2026 World Cup is not limited to offside technology. FIFA, together with its technology partner Lenovo, has also introduced Football AI Pro—a generative AI system capable of analyzing millions to hundreds of millions of match data points.
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