What’s new at World Cup 2026? From match ball sensors to AI and robot dogs

In galore ways, the FIFA World Cup 2026 volition beryllium 1 of a kind.

From the biggest information excavation successful the competition’s past to 3 big countries, the 39-day tourney hopes to beryllium the grandest mentation of football’s showpiece event.

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And to amended the match-viewing acquisition for fans and marque the athletics much precocious for players, the 2026 variation volition besides merge exertion with the game.

Al Jazeera Sport breaks down what’s caller astatine the upcoming World Cup:

1. Sensor-equipped lucifer balls

‘Trionda’ – Spanish for ‘three waves’ – is the authoritative lucifer shot for the 2026 World Cup, acceptable to beryllium played crossed the United States, Mexico and Canada. But what’s peculiar astir this Adidas ball?

A tiny inertial measurement portion (IMU) sensor spot is integrated into the ball, delivering penetration into each constituent of its movement. This sensor captures information 500 times per second, tracking the ball’s acceleration and granular movements successful 3 dimensions.

“This exertion sends precise information to the video adjunct referee (VAR) strategy successful existent time, enhancing lucifer officials’ decision-making, including successful narration to offside incidents,” a FIFA statement read.

Simply put, arsenic FIFA’s Head of Research & Standards, Nicolas Evans, explained successful a BBC video, the sensor tells “what the shot is doing successful a 3D space”.

2. AI-enabled 3D subordinate avatars

The usage of exertion doesn’t extremity astatine the lucifer balls. Players are besides a tiny portion of it.

As portion of the concern betwixt FIFA and Lenovo, the world’s largest idiosyncratic machine maker, a bid of technological innovations driven by artificial quality (AI) was unveiled earlier this year.

Among those are AI-enabled 3D subordinate avatars.

Players astatine the World Cup volition beryllium digitally scanned to make a precise 3D model. Each scan takes astir 1 2nd and captures what FIFA describes arsenic “highly close body-part dimensions, allowing the strategy to way players reliably during accelerated oregon obstructed movements”.

“AI-enabled 3D subordinate avatars correspond a important improvement successful semi-automated offside technology,” a FIFA release from January read.

“In addition, the 3D models volition beryllium incorporated into the big broadcast, enabling offside decisions determined by the VAR strategy to beryllium displayed much realistically and successful a much engaging mode to fans astatine stadiums and to viewers astir the world,” it added.

Referee assemblage cameras – which person already been tried successful large shot leagues astir the satellite – volition besides beryllium utilized astatine each 104 matches, offering fans a presumption of the tract of play, arsenic if they were contiguous connected the transportation themselves.

3. Robot dogs

To assistance tackle transgression astatine the World Cup, the Mexican constabulary volition beryllium relying connected dogs. Not the canine kind, but the robotic ones.

The four-legged robots are designed to participate unsafe areas and broadcast unrecorded video backmost to information forces, who tin ticker earlier taking enactment during the tournament.

The animaloid robots – acquired for 2.5 cardinal pesos ($145,000) by the metropolis assembly of Guadalupe, portion of the Monterrey metro country – volition beryllium deployed “in lawsuit of immoderate altercation”, said Guadalupe Mayor Hector Garcia.

The intent of the robot dogs is “to enactment constabulary officers with archetypal involution … to support the carnal information of officers”, helium added.

A caller K9-X robotic canine portion during a objection of operations to the media astatine BBVA Stadium, a 2026 FIFA World Cup venue, up of deployment for surveillance, monitoring and archetypal introduction into hazard areas arsenic portion of Guadalupe’s caller information programme, successful Guadalupe, Mexico, February 11, 2026 [Daniel Becerril/Reuters]

4. Advanced semi-automated offside technology

Frustrated with the linesman raising the offside emblem excessively late? That mightiness end.

FIFA has introduced an precocious semi-automated offside technology, which volition alteration officials to marque quicker decisions than waiting for a determination to play out.

Semi-automated offside exertion was designed to spot offsides astir successful existent time, but it antecedently lone alerted officials if a subordinate was much than 50cm offside. However, successful its revamped version, it tin present assistance present much close decisions by signalling erstwhile a subordinate is much than 10cm offside.

Officials volition person a real-time audio alert straight to their earpiece, alternatively than having to hold for VAR to pass it to them.

There are, however, immoderate limitations. It tin lone beryllium utilized for positional offside, not for subjective calls, and volition beryllium incapable to prime retired the closest calls. Also, it cannot construe whether a subordinate was interfering with play and whitethorn not beryllium capable to determine an offside telephone if players are connected the crushed oregon bodies are excessively adjacent together.

Nonetheless, FIFA believes this caller tech volition chopped down connected viewers’ and players’ frustrations, arsenic good arsenic trim the likelihood of an wounded owed to needless passages of play erstwhile an offside emblem is owed to beryllium raised.

Delayed offside calls mightiness beryllium fewer and acold betwixt astatine the 2026 World Cup [File: Reuters]

5. Fixed hydration breaks

Three-minute hydration breaks successful each fractional volition beryllium observed astatine the World Cup, with FIFA introducing this to prioritise subordinate welfare.

There is nary upwind oregon somesthesia information successful place, and the interruption volition beryllium taken astir the halfway people of each fractional (22nd minute).

“For each game, nary substance wherever the games are played, nary substance if there’s a roof, [or] temperature-wise, determination volition beryllium a three-minute hydration break. It volition beryllium 3 minutes from whistle to whistle successful some halves,” said Manolo Zubiria, Chief Tournament Officer, USA, for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“Obviously, if there’s an wounded [stoppage] astatine the infinitesimal of the 20th oregon 21st infinitesimal and it’s ongoing, this volition beryllium addressed connected the spot with the referee,” helium added.

To header with precocious temperatures, hydration breaks were besides utilized astatine the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which was besides held successful the US, during June and July past twelvemonth [File: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters]

You tin travel the enactment connected Al Jazeera’s dedicated FIFA World Cup 2026 page with each the latest news, lucifer build-up and unrecorded substance commentary, and support up to day with radical standings, real-time lucifer results and schedules.