Lenovo taps AI and digital twins to power World Cup 2026
Technology partner for upcoming football tournament has built an artificial intelligence knowledge assistant for coaches, digital avatars to assist VAR decisions, and smart infrastructure for venue management
Lenovo has unveiled a slew of artificial intelligence (AI) and infrastructure capabilities that will support the operations of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America this summer.
Revealed on the sidelines of CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Lenovo, the tournament’s official technology partner, is looking to change how football matches are officiated, broadcast and managed, while also providing data tools directly to coaching staff.
One such tool is Football AI Pro, an AI-powered enterprise knowledge assistant that uses multiple AI agents to analyse more than 2,000 metrics and millions of data points from FIFA and glean tactical insights.
Coaches can use the tool to simulate tactical changes against opponents, while players can use it to get personalised match analyses. Lenovo said the tool is designed to democratise access to elite-level analytics, ensuring smaller nations, such as tournament debutantes Curaçao and Cabo Verde, have access to similar data resources as major footballing powers.
“FIFA is one of the world’s most data-rich sports organisations in the world, capturing thousands of matches, players and teams across the globe. Their football data spans team rosters, tracking data, player performance, team statistics, match highlights, tactical analysis and historic trends – encompassing petabytes of data in total,” said Ken Wong, executive vice-president and president of solutions and services group at Lenovo.
“Mining and making sense of it all is a huge challenge. Football AI Pro addresses that need. It is a customised enterprise knowledge assistant that orchestrates a team of intelligent agents to search FIFA’s data and surface the right information,” he added.
FIFA is one of the world’s most data-rich sports organisations in the world, capturing thousands of matches, players and teams across the globe. Mining and making sense of all [that data] is a huge challenge. Football AI Pro addresses that need
Ken Wong, Lenovo
Lenovo is also introducing AI-enabled 3D avatars to help with officiating and broadcasting. The avatars will be used specifically during offside reviews to provide greater visual context for fans, both in the stadium and those watching at home.
But unlike generic models, the avatars will replicate the exact individual physical dimensions of specific players to ensure accuracy in decision-making.
“We are working with FIFA to create the next generation of AI-enabled 3D avatars, so that the world’s greatest players are represented as realistically and accurately as possible,” said Art Hu, CIO and chief technology and delivery officer at Lenovo’s solutions and services group. “No two footballers are the same, with the same physique or dimensions. Therefore, each player’s exact dimensions will be taken into account.”
Lenovo’s 3D avatar technology will integrate with video assistant referee (VAR) systems used by match officials. FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafström said by combining precise player data with advanced visualisation, AI-enabled 3D avatars can improve confidence in key decisions and bring fan closer to the process than before.
Operations intelligence and infrastructure
Beyond the pitch, Lenovo will implement an intelligent command centre to monitor real-time operations across the tournament’s footprint. This includes the use of digital twins – virtual replicas of physical venues – to allow organisers to monitor crowds and optimise event experiences in real time.
A smart wayfinding system will also be deployed, connecting cities, fan zones and venues within an interactive space to assist with crowd flow and navigation.
“The FIFA World Cup in 2026 is going to be the greatest show ever on planet Earth,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who joined Lenovo chairman Yang Yuanqing on stage at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
“FIFA and Lenovo are fully embracing digital technologies and AI to support teams and match officials, while also providing a new mind-blowing experience to fans worldwide,” Infantino added.
Lenovo will also provide the hardware backbone for the tournament, including servers and storage, as well as a range of limited edition commercial and consumer devices featuring FIFA branding, such as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Legion gaming laptops.
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