Bot will win the World Cup for first time as AI dominates match, boffins predict 

The World Cup will be won by a bot for the first time, boffins predict. Artificial intelligence will dominate every aspect of the tournament from VAR to teams’ pre-penalty shootout analysis, experts say.

FIFA has even created its own bot – Football AI Pro – offering never-before-seen data on 2,000 different metrics to all 48 teams. It is designed to level the playing field so poorer nations without tech do not miss out.

According to experts from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia AI could make football boring if all teams have identical insight and follow the same game plan. It could also decide which nation wins.

Professor of human factors Paul Salmon told news discussion website The Conversation: “AI is fast becoming a key component of high performance sport. It will be leveraged throughout the tournament to support preparation, performance and recovery.

“While it could increase the gap between larger and smaller nations it might also give smaller nations a new edge. So could 2026 be the year in which AI genuinely contributes to a World Cup win?

“We won’t see an AI agent scoring a goal or a robot coach calling the shots – at least not yet. But there is no doubt the winner of the tournament will have relied on AI along the way. In terms of who that will be – well, we could always ask AI.”

Paul and his colleagues Isaiah Elstak, a research assistant, and associate professor Scott McLean analysed the impact of AI on the summer soccer showpiece.

They said the tournament ‘promises to be the most technologically advanced’ and ‘artificial intelligence in particular will touch almost all aspects of the tournament’.

Paul said: “This reflects a growing use of AI in soccer and across elite sport with tools being applied not only to optimise athlete performance but also enhance match officiating, event security and fan experience.”

He said bots will offer tools to ‘support player, team and match evaluation’, forecast ‘match outcomes and in-game events such as expected goals and assists, corners, passes, opposition tactics’, monitor ‘athlete workload’, calculate ‘injury prediction and detection’ and scout for ‘talent’.

Coaches will use AI alongside conventional data to determine how they approach each game including highlighting «opposition strengths they need to negate and weaknesses they can exploit.

High performance staff will use it to monitor players’ health and wellbeing and forecast potential injuries. AI will have a ‘direct influence’ on the ‘dreaded penalty shootout’, Paul said.

“Teams will use AI to synthesise historical data to provide insights on goalkeepers and penalty takers’ likely strategies,” he said.

“A key benefit is the speed at which these analyses can be undertaken. What used to take days of old-fashioned human legwork can now be done in hours even for entire squads. Should a game go to a shootout AI could very likely influence the winning kick or save.”

AI will also support match officials with 3D avatars of every player deployed to help determine offsides.

Referee view technology – aka RVT – will use body cameras to capture in-game footage from the ref’s perspective. AI will be used to stabilise images with the emphasis on enhancing the fans’ immersive experience.

Bots will also help with crowd management and logistics. FIFA has built an Intelligence Command Centre which will monitor and forecast crowd behaviour across matches.

Paul warned the AI explosion could be trouble and it was vital it is ‘only used to support human decision-making – not replace it’.

“Data privacy and security will be key concerns with the possibility of confidential or sensitive information being leaked or accessed by unauthorised or malicious actors,” he said.

“The use of AI in areas such as security and crowd management could also provide the opportunity for highly disruptive cyber attacks. Equality could be an issue – teams with more financial power may have an advantage through more sophisticated tools.”

He said the aim of FIFA’s bot was to ‘ensure all nations have access to at least some level of AI support’.

“It remains to be seen which nations actually use it,” he added.

He warned ‘another potential adverse outcome is tactical homogenisation’ – where matches become ‘predictable because every team follows the same AI-generated game plan’.

“Sadly AI will likely be deployed for nefarious purposes, for example as part of ticketing scams through AI-generated images, deepfakes, websites and phishing emails. Fans should take care at all times,” he said.

“While there are many benefits a broad spectrum of risks will need to be managed.”