FIFA Uses AI to Transform World Football Operations Starting with World Cup

When Romy Gai, FIFA’s Chief Business Officer, described the operational challenge of running a 48-team World Cup across Canada, Mexico, and the United States, he emphasized not technology, but complexity.

Historically, World Cups relied heavily on local organizing committees to manage much of the logistical workload. However, for 2026, FIFA is directly handling operations. An unprecedented 6 billion viewers are expected to tune in. The tournament will feature 104 matches — up from 64 in Qatar — and 48 participating teams instead of 32. Over 180 broadcasters will be involved, with no single national infrastructure to rely on. The scale and scope of 2026 are genuinely transformative.

“The AI strategy FIFA unveiled at Lenovo Tech World in Hong Kong this week reflects this reality. Football AI Pro, AI-enabled 3D player avatars, and a next-generation Referee View are the headline announcements — but more importantly, AI is not just an enhancement, it is how the event is run.”

What Football AI Pro Actually Does

Football AI Pro is a generative AI knowledge assistant that will be available to all 48 teams competing in the 2026 World Cup. It is built on FIFA’s proprietary Football Language Model, trained on hundreds of millions of FIFA-owned data points. The technology generates pre- and post-match analysis in multiple formats including:

• Text reports
• Video summaries
• Statistical graphs
• 3D visualizations

It supports multilingual prompts and will not be used during live gameplay. This ensures the technology serves as an analytical tool rather than a real-time influence.

“The rationale behind Football AI Pro is democratization of data. Traditionally, only financially well-resourced footballing nations have access to advanced analytics teams. Emerging or first-time World Cup teams often lack these resources. Football AI Pro aims to provide every team an equal analytical baseline.”