As the 2026 FIFA World Cup is now underway, FIFA and Lenovo have introduced a range of artificial intelligence-powered innovations designed to support participating teams, assist match officials, enhance broadcast coverage, and create a more engaging experience for fans in stadiums and around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FIFA first partnered with Lenovo in October 2024, as football\u2019s global governing body looked to explore how AI could be used to improve broadcasts, match operations, data analysis, and the overall fan experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest technologies include Football AI Pro<\/strong>, AI-generated 3D player avatars for offside decisions, and a new AI-stabilized version of Referee View<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the main innovations introduced by FIFA and Lenovo is Football AI Pro<\/strong>, a generative AI knowledge assistant created to support all 48 national teams competing in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The platform is powered by Lenovo\u2019s technology stack and trained using FIFA\u2019s football language model. It is designed to analyze hundreds of millions of FIFA-owned and organized football data points and turn them into practical insights for teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These insights can be delivered in several formats, including text, video, charts, graphs, and 3D visualizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tool will be accessible through prompts in multiple languages, allowing teams to gain tournament-wide intelligence and analyze every match. FIFA said Football AI Pro can be used before and after matches, but not during live games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The platform gives competing teams access to a deeper level of football analysis, helping them study match trends, player performance, tactical patterns, and tournament data more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIFA will also use AI to create 3D player avatars for every player participating in the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each player will be digitally scanned to generate accurate body-part dimensions. These digital models are designed to improve the accuracy of semi-automated offside technology by helping the system detect player movement and positioning more precisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 3D avatars will also be used in the official host broadcast. According to FIFA, this will allow offside decisions made through the video assistant referee system to be displayed in a more realistic and engaging way for fans inside stadiums and viewers watching around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIFA said the technology was successfully tested during a match at last year\u2019s FIFA Intercontinental Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By using AI-enabled 3D models, FIFA aims to make offside decisions faster, clearer, and easier for fans to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIFA and Lenovo have also introduced a new version of Referee View<\/strong>, a broadcast feature that uses footage captured from a camera worn by the referee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest version uses AI-powered stabilisation software to smooth the footage in real time. This allows broadcasters to use clearer and more stable clips from the referee\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The feature is designed to give fans a more immersive viewing experience by showing key moments from the centre of the field and closer to the action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With AI stabilisation, Referee View can offer a more realistic look at how the match unfolds from the official\u2019s point of view, adding a new layer to football broadcasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIFA President Gianni Infantino said FIFA and Lenovo are embracing digital technologies and artificial intelligence to support teams and match officials, while also delivering a new experience for fans worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said Football AI Pro will help democratize access to football data by providing all competing teams with advanced analytics, with plans to make some of these capabilities available to fans in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Infantino also said the next generation of Referee View will provide AI-enabled stabilized footage, giving audiences a viewing experience that feels closer to the center of the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that AI-enabled 3D avatars will support more precise player identification and tracking, marking a major step forward for semi-automated offside technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The use of AI during the 2026 FIFA World Cup reflects a wider shift in how major sports organisations are adopting advanced technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI is no longer limited to post-match analysis or behind-the-scenes data processing. It is now becoming part of the live football ecosystem, supporting teams, assisting match officials, improving broadcast storytelling, and helping fans better understand key decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With 48 teams competing for the first time, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is not only the largest edition of the tournament so far but also one of the most technologically advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through its partnership with Lenovo, FIFA is positioning AI as a central part of the future of football, from data-driven team support to more transparent officiating and more engaging fan experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FIFA and Lenovo have introduced a new set of AI-powered technologies during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, aiming to support national teams, improve semi-automated offside decisions, and deliver a more immersive viewing experience for fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":67839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1772],"tags":[12905,12906],"class_list":["post-67843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startups","tag-fifa","tag-lenovo"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67843"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67845,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67843\/revisions\/67845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Football AI Pro Supports All 48 World Cup Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
AI-Generated 3D Avatars Improve Offside Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Referee View Gets AI-powered stabilization.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
FIFA Says AI Will Transform the Fan Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
AI Takes a Bigger Role in Modern Football<\/h2>\n\n\n\n