World Cup 2026 Technology

Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT)

FIFA's most significant officiating upgrade for 2026 is Semi-Automated Offside Technology, which was first deployed at Qatar 2022 and is now fully refined for North America. The system uses dedicated offside cameras — typically 12 installed high under each stadium roof — to track 29 individual body points on every player at 50 frames per second. Limbs, joints, hips, shoulders: every anatomical point that can legally play a player onside or offside is captured in real time.

When a goal is scored, the system automatically reconstructs a 3D skeleton of the attacking player at the exact moment the ball was played. The VAR officials receive an animated visualisation — accurate to within millimetres — showing whether any body part was beyond the last defender. Average decision time has dropped from 70 seconds in Russia 2018 to approximately 1.2 seconds. For marginal calls that used to see goals disallowed after a three-minute VAR review, SAOT eliminates the wait and the controversy that came with it.

The improvement over Qatar is primarily in how the 3D model is communicated to broadcasters. In 2022, the animated skeleton was shown as a static image. For 2026, FIFA has developed a dynamic replay that shows the skeleton moving in full motion up to the moment of the pass, making it far clearer to viewers why a decision was correct.

Connected Ball — Al Rihla's Successor

The official match ball for World Cup 2026 carries an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor embedded at its core, operating at 500 times per second. This sensor transmits data on ball position, spin, velocity and trajectory to a central processing unit at the stadium. The precision is extraordinary: the system can detect a kick within 3 milliseconds of boot meeting ball, allowing the SAOT system to identify the exact frame of a pass for offside calculations.

Beyond offside, the Connected Ball feeds real-time data to goal-line technology systems, confirming whether the ball has entirely crossed the line before a goalkeeper claws it back. In Qatar 2022, the goal-line system triggered seven times — each decision communicated to the referee's watch within one second. For 2026, the combination of Connected Ball data and SAOT tracking means goal-line decisions and offside calls are cross-validated by two independent data streams.

The data captured by the Connected Ball also has broadcast applications. Speed of shot, spin rate and expected trajectory can be shown as live graphics during slow-motion replays, giving television audiences a richer understanding of what they are watching.

VAR in 2026 — How the Review Room Works

Each World Cup 2026 host city will have a dedicated Video Operations Centre (VOC), centralising the VAR review process. At Qatar 2022 this was a single facility in Doha; for 2026, with matches split across three countries and 16 venues, FIFA is running distributed VOCs in Miami, New York and Los Angeles to manage the USA games, with separate setups in Toronto and Mexico City.

Inside each VOC, a team of four sits at workstations monitoring up to 33 camera angles per match. The Video Assistant Referee watches the match feed and flags potential errors in four reviewable categories: goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards and mistaken identity. The On-Field Referee retains the authority to make or overturn decisions — VAR can only recommend a review via an earpiece conversation.

For 2026, FIFA has introduced a "semi-automated foul detection" pilot that highlights potential handball incidents automatically, reducing the chance a VAR reviewer misses a key moment during a busy phase of play. This builds on the handball AI that was controversially tested in domestic leagues during 2024-25.

360-Degree Replays & What Changed from Qatar 2022

360-degree replays — produced using a ring of 28 to 35 high-speed cameras positioned around each stadium — were a consumer product first popularised by the NFL's "Be The Player" feature. FIFA licensed equivalent technology for Qatar 2022 as a broadcast feature, allowing host broadcasters to generate freeze-frame moments from any angle. For 2026, the resolution is significantly improved and the system is now integrated with the SAOT offside skeleton, meaning broadcasters can overlay body-tracking data on the 360-degree freeze frames.

The comparison with Qatar is stark. In 2022, SAOT was new and occasionally generated controversy when the 3D skeleton appeared to show an arm marginally offside (arms cannot legally make a player offside under FIFA rules). By 2026, the skeletal tracking software has been retrained on millions of frames and the arm-exclusion logic is far more reliable. Additionally, the 1.2-second average decision time versus 70 seconds in 2018 means the game flows far better — less dead time, more football.

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