FIFA will digitally scan all 1,248 players at the tournament to create personalised 3D avatars for semi-automated offside technology. 1 Scans take one second per player. The system was tested at the Intercontinental Cup in December 2025, with Lenovo providing the hardware and Hawk-Eye Innovations delivering the VAR system. No federation has publicly raised questions about player data consent.
24MAR
FIFA scans 1,248 players for 3D offside
1 min read
19:01UTC
Every player at the tournament will be digitally modelled in one second. No federation has asked about data consent.
SportDeveloping
Key takeaway
FIFA will 3D-scan every player for automated offside calls, with no federation publicly raising data consent questions.
Deep Analysis
In plain English
To make offside decisions faster and more accurate, FIFA will create a digital 3D model of every player at the tournament. Each player stands in a scanner for one second before the tournament; the system then uses that model to automatically judge offside calls during matches. The technology itself sounds impressive and solves a genuine problem (slow, disputed VAR offside calls). The question nobody seems to be asking publicly: who owns these 3D body scans of over 1,200 players, and what can be done with them after the tournament?
What could happen next?
- Risk
No public consent framework means players' 3D biometric data could be retained, licenced or used commercially by FIFA or Lenovo after the tournament.
Post-2026 · Medium - Precedent
Mass biometric scanning of athletes as a condition of tournament participation sets a template that other sports bodies will consider adopting.
2027 onwards · High - Opportunity
Accurate semi-automated offside could reduce match stoppages and disputes, improving the viewing experience for the 48-team expanded format's larger fixture volume.
June-July 2026 · High
Sources:AI News / Lenovo
Mentions:FIFA →
First Reported In
Update #3 · USA beaten 5-2 at World Cup host venue
AI News / Lenovo· 29 Mar 2026
Read original →Causes and effects
This Event
FIFA scans 1,248 players for 3D offside
The most radical officiating technology deployment in World Cup history will model every player's body in 3D for real-time offside calls, with no public discussion of player data consent.
Different Perspectives
Spain
Spain face France on Tuesday for the second semi-final place, the last unresolved tie in the bracket.
France
France already through to the other semi-final, await Tuesday's result against Spain to know who plays the England-Argentina winner in the final.
Switzerland
Switzerland reached their first World Cup quarter-final since 1954 and led Argentina before Breel Embolo's second yellow card left them a man down for the last half-hour. They expect the run to raise expectations for the next cycle rather than close a chapter.
Norway
Norway leaned on Erling Haaland to reach a first modern-era quarter-final, and he nearly took them further before a disallowed goal and England's late double ended the run. Their tournament closes as the best World Cup performance in the country's history.
Argentina national team
Argentina broke down a 10-man Switzerland late, extending Scaloni's run of reaching every semi-final he has managed since 2019. Messi will make his first World Cup appearance against England, a fixture Argentine coverage framed around that unbroken run rather than the personal narrative.
England
England needed a 93rd-minute Bellingham winner to see off Norway, the third straight knockout tie settled in its closing stages rather than controlled. They travel to Atlanta as favourites but with Declan Rice a fitness doubt and Jarell Quansah suspended.