A cut open World Cup ball showing the technology used for tracking is pictured during a tour of a FIFA Museum exhibit at Science World in Vancouver last month.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
The beautiful game is going even more high-tech at the FIFA World Cup.
The expanded 48-team, 104-game tournament will use artificial intelligence and enhanced data tracking to provide participating teams, officials and viewers more information than ever.
And, hopefully, ensure the correct on-field decisions are made.
The soccer showcase offers a series of upgrades, adding to advances previously in place like goal-line technology, which was introduced at the 2014 World Cup. Once again, competition balls will be equipped with a sensor, allowing exact tracking.
Upgrades include enhanced match analysis/data using artificial intelligence for competing teams, advances in deciding offside calls, improved referee body cameras and more accurate, realistic graphics.
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Stadiums at each of the 16 host cities are equipped with 16 cameras, up from 12 at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. The cameras track 29 data points 50 times per second, creating more than 150 million tracking data points per match.
That information can be combined with data from the ball sensor, helping the video assistant referee (VAR) on close offside decisions or possible handball calls.
The inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor in the ball tracks its movement 500 times per second.
All 1,248 players in the tournament are being scanned in advance of their team’s first match as part of their media day. FIFA says information from the 3-D body scans, which take just one second, will be ingested into its data system to help make offside calls faster and more reliable.
A video assistant referee (VAR) announces a possible penalty during 2022 World Cup match between Portugal and Uruguay.Martin Meissner/AP
Viewers will also benefit, according to FIFA, since the player digital avatars will make for more realistic offside visuals.
FIFA is using an improved version of the semi-automatic offside technology which debuted at the last World Cup. The goal is to speed up offside calls and reduce injury.
Assistant referees have been asked to keep their flag down in cases of possible offside, so that a potential erroneous call does not negate a goal-scoring opportunity. In so doing, the video assistant referee can review the play in question.
But that practice can take time and result in injuries on a play that eventually is called back.
Now, real-time audio alerts will be sent to the on-field officials in the event of clear offsides, allowing the assistant referee to immediately flag the offside. While such information was available to the VAR at the 2022 tournament, the new version benefits from the improved technology.
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The system, tested at youth and other tournaments, determines offside decisions down to 10 centimetres.
There are some limitations. The new tech will only help with flagging positional offside – and not potential cases of offside interference. Players on the ground and players close together may also affect the data from the optical tracking.
The expanded optical tracking, however, provides a match feed in 3-D to the video assistant referee which can be used to determine possible offside interference – whether an attacking player is blocking the view of the goalkeeper.
The tracking, combined with pitch calibration data points, can also show the VAR whether the ball went out of bounds in the buildup to a scoring play.
Johannes Holzmüeller, who today is FIFA's director of innovation, speaks at a 2018 media conference regarding the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).Virginia Mayo/The Associated Press
Thanks to the improved technology, the VAR can also determine who touched the ball last before it goes out of bounds. But, for example, the awarding of a corner kick can only be changed if there is no delay in relaying the information.
The average offside call in Qatar took 35 seconds, according to FIFA. The hope is the advanced technology will shorten this time around.
Data from the optical tracking also allows broadcasters to recreate highlights or entire matches in 3-D.
Competing teams will benefit from so-called Football AI Pro, a new artificial intelligence system that is beefing up the data/analysis available from tournament matches.
In the past, FIFA shared match data with teams in the form of 50- to 60-page reports as well as feeds from different cameras. Teams then used their analysts to review the material to learn from past games and prepare for future opponents.
Football AI Pro simplifies the process, allowing teams to ask what they want to see and get the information immediately in the form desired.
FIFA says the AI not only speeds up the process but can also help teams who cannot afford the number of match analysts wealthier countries can employ.
“We believe that by providing all teams with the same access to such latest technology, we hope we can also democratize the use and the access and the benefits of the latest technology,” Johannes Holzmüeller, FIFA’s director of innovation, told a media briefing Tuesday.
The AI system, built in conjunction with Lenovo using FIFA data, can deliver everything from key actions and attempts at goal to a team’s approach and possible responses.
Andrej Kramaric of Croatia scores a goal against Canada that was ruled offside during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.Stuart Franklin/Getty Images Europe
It can show a scoring opportunity in 3-D from a tactical view, as well as from the goal-scorer’s and goalkeeper’s perspective. The AI suggests follow-up actions and questions for the analyst using it.
Of course, wealthier nations with bigger staff and technology of their own might be able to get more out of the information than teams with fewer resources.
“We see this gap that some teams, of course, [are] using technology more than others, using data more than others,” said Holzmüeller. “But at the end of the day that’s the beauty of our sport. It depends always on how you use this information and if it’s at the end really an advantage or not.”
The tournament will also feature a more stabilized version of the referee body camera, first used at last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.
The first-person feed offers a new view for broadcasters while demonstrating to viewers “the difficult job a referee has making decision in milliseconds on the field of the play,” said Holzmüeller. “That was a huge success but we wanted to go further.”
The footage was choppy when the referee was in motion, however. So Lenovo improved the system, reducing such jitters.
Art Hu, Lenovo’s chief of information officer, calls it a “generational improvement compared with what was available previously.”
All the World Cup data will be stored at the tournament international broadcast centre in Dallas.
Holzmüeller stressed that the technological help should be seen as a “supportive tool” to the on-field officials, saying the final call is always theirs.
Ask us your questions about the World Cup
FIFA frenzy is taking hold, and on Tuesday, June 9 at 1 p.m. ET, our soccer experts are answering your questions about the 2026 men’s tournament. From Canada’s chances at a deep run to new rules and the politics of co-hosting with the U.S. and Mexico, submit your questions in the form below or send an e-mail to audience@globeandmail.com with “World Cup question” in the subject line.