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.
19APR
FIFA scans 1,248 players for 3D offside
1 min read
11:22UTC
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
FIFA
The 48-team tournament opened on schedule with 104 matches and a $13.1 billion projected revenue cycle, but three of the first weekend's most consequential stories, Iran's fan lockout, SoFi's embedded strike clause, and Malagò's eligibility suspension, were each decided by domestic legal systems operating outside FIFA's authority.
Morocco
Mohamed Ouahbi takes charge of his first senior match in football management against the five-time world champions, with the full-strength defensive structure that reached the 2022 semi-finals intact and facing a Brazilian lineup missing its three most celebrated attackers.
Brazil
Brazil open Group C on Saturday at MetLife without Neymar, Estêvão or Militão against a Morocco side managed by a first-time senior coach, making their opener the most consequential group-stage fixture of the opening weekend in terms of pre-tournament expectation versus squad availability.
FIGC / Italy
CONI's referral of the Malagò eligibility question entirely to ANAC means Italy's federation enters the group stage without a confirmed president-elect, with the anti-corruption regulator holding the power to remove the Serie A-backed frontrunner from the ballot ten days before the 22 June election.
United States
The co-host avoided its worst opening image when SoFi workers ratified a deal averting a strike before Friday's Paraguay opener, though the contractual walkout clause means the threat is deferred not dissolved. Pochettino named his XI with Tillman over Reyna, signalling he will manage risk rather than chase headlines against Paraguay.
FFIRI / Iran
Iran's squad trains in Tijuana with 14 staff still barred from the US, and learned on 9 June that their entire 8% supporter ticket allocation for all three Group G matches was revoked under OFAC sanctions. FFIRI is preparing an Article 4 FIFA complaint over the conditions of participation.