World Cup VAR adds 3D player scans and smarter ball sensors

FIFA will use a more advanced officiating technology system at the 2026 World Cup, adding 3D body scans of players to the video and sensor tools already used to review close calls, Wired reported. The system is meant to help referees decide offside, penalty and other match-changing incidents with more precise data.

According to Wired, the tournament will still rely on human officials on the field and on the sideline. The technology will support them through VAR, the video assistant referee system, and semi-automated offside technology, which have been part of elite soccer for years.

FIFA director of innovation Johannes Holzmüller told Wired that Hawk-Eye will again provide optical tracking for the World Cup. The company’s system will use 16 high-resolution cameras, up from 12 at the 2022 tournament, and will track more than two dozen skeletal points on each player.

Ball tracking gets an upgrade

Wired reported that ball data will come from Kinexon, which is supplying the electronics inside the match ball. The setup includes ultrawide-band tracking and inertial sensors, including an accelerometer and gyroscope, to record the ball’s position and touches 500 times per second.

Kinexon cofounder and managing director Maximillian Schmidt told Wired that the sensor is no longer suspended in the center of the ball with a string-based support system. Adidas, which makes the ball, has placed the sensor in a small bladder along the inside wall, a change Schmidt said is more stable than the earlier design.

Schmidt said the sensor package weighs 13 grams, according to Wired. Because the electronics now sit near the ball’s surface, Kinexon had to calibrate the system for balance and run tougher impact tests for direct kicks.

Digital twins enter VAR

The largest change is the use of player-specific digital models. Wired reported that every World Cup player has received a 360-degree high-resolution scan from Lenovo, a FIFA technology partner.

Lenovo global chief innovation officer Art Hu told Wired that the scans can capture body shape, muscle tone and shoe size to within 1 to 2 millimeters. Those models will replace the generic avatars previously used in Hawk-Eye’s VAR and offside applications.

Hu said the hard part is applying a still scan of a player to live-game pose data, when athletes are running, jumping or sliding, Wired reported. That requires heavy computing and tuning so the digital model matches the player’s position during play.

Holzmüller told Wired that FIFA tested the system at the Club World Cup and Intercontinental Cup in 2025, as well as youth tournaments over the past 18 months. Earlier versions helped review the buildup to goals and penalty kicks; the expanded version will also assist with red-card reviews and cases in which the wrong player is penalized.

Wired reported that VAR technicians may also alert on-field referees about incorrect corner-kick decisions when the system can identify the mistake without slowing the match. For clear offside calls that can be detected quickly, VAR will notify sideline officials at once rather than allowing play to continue until a later stoppage.

The system also includes a 3D goalkeeper view, according to Wired. That tool can recreate the keeper’s line of sight to help determine whether an attacker in an offside position interfered with play.

Holzmüller acknowledged to Wired that the new tools may change only a small number of calls across the tournament. He said FIFA still sees the technology as necessary for the World Cup, where marginal decisions can decide matches.

This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.