Lenovo delivers at biggest-ever FIFA World Cup

Source: Lenovo. Sunset at a sports stadium.

Lenovo, FIFA’s Official Technology Partner, has celebrated the successful delivery of its AI-powered technology solutions and an unprecedented technology deployment across a tournament watched by billions of fans around the world. The project also validated Lenovo’s hybrid AI strategy and full-stack portfolio, showing how AI becomes most valuable when combined with infrastructure, devices, services and deep operational expertise to solve real-world challenges at scale.

Spanning three host countries, 16 cities, 48 teams and 104 matches, FIFA World Cup 2026 represented an unprecedented operational and technological challenge, Lenovo said. The company provided the devices, infrastructure, services, and solutions that helped support FIFA operations, global broadcasts, team analysis, officiating technology and fan experiences at scale. These solutions were delivered with 99.99% uptime.

Across the FIFA World Cup ecosystem, Lenovo deployed and managed more than 25,000 Lenovo and Motorola devices, supported by more than 350 Lenovo engineers and operational specialists. The team worked across over 600 FIFA sites, including stadiums, broadcast centres, team base camps, venues, command centres and FIFA operational sites.

“FIFA World Cup 2026 has shown the world what smarter technology can make possible when it is deployed at scale, under pressure, and in service of a truly global event,” said Yuanqing Yang, Chairman and CEO, Lenovo.

“When Lenovo became FIFA’s Official Technology Partner, we did so because we knew we were uniquely placed to power the largest sporting event in human history. Over the past several weeks, our teams have delivered on that promise; supporting FIFA with AI, infrastructure, devices, solutions and services that helped enhance the tournament for teams, officials, broadcasters, organisers and fans. This is Smarter Technology for All in action.” FIFA AI Pro

One of Lenovo’s most significant technology achievements at FIFA World Cup 2026 was FIFA AI Pro, the AI-driven analytics platform developed by Lenovo and FIFA to give every participating team access to FIFA’s tournament data and analysis. All 48 teams competing at the tournament used FIFA AI Pro, which draws on millions of data points, analyses more than 2,000 performance metrics, and delivers rapid insights through reports, graphs, video clips and immersive 3D match recreations

Built with Lenovo’s AI factory and enterprise AI capabilities, FIFA AI Pro enabled coaches, analysts and technical teams to query official football data and match footage in natural language, helping democratise access to advanced football intelligence that has historically been available only to the best-resourced federations. During the tournament, the platform was used in 16 languages, with thousands of queries by over 300 individual users.

“FIFA AI Pro represents exactly the kind of AI Lenovo believes in: AI that solves real problems, expands access to expertise, and helps people make better decisions faster,” said Art Hu, CIO, Lenovo, and Chief Technology & Delivery Officer, Solutions and Services Group.

“At this tournament, every team, from established football powers to nations making history on the world stage, had access to advanced match intelligence through a platform designed around the language and logic of football. That is a powerful example of how AI can democratise expertise, not simply automate work.”

Referee View

Lenovo also helped deliver one of the standout broadcast innovations of the tournament: Referee View, powered by Lenovo AI. The technology gave fans a first-person view of match action from the perspective of the referee, using AI-powered stabilisation to transform fast-moving body-camera footage into smooth, broadcast-quality video in real time. Thousands of minutes of additional broadcast-quality footage were provided to broadcasters for their use.

Lenovo’s AI video analytics platform helped reduce camera jitter by up to 60%, delivering a stable, high-quality live feed while preserving the speed and intensity of the match. According to Lenovo-commissioned international research, 87% of fans said technology improved their FIFA World Cup 2026 viewing experience, while 84% said close-to-action camera perspectives helped them feel like they were right there on the pitch.

Referee View featured throughout the tournament, including the opening goal of FIFA World Cup 2026, where it generated over 20 billion impressions and demonstrated how AI can enhance storytelling, transparency and fan engagement in live sport.

AI-powered 3D player avatars

Ahead of the tournament, Lenovo created precise 3D digital avatars for all 1,248 players competing at FIFA World Cup 2026. Built from individual scans and advanced AI processing, the avatars were used to support Semi-Automated Offside Technology replays, providing match officials with a fuller picture and helping make offside decisions easier for fans around the world to understand.

Lenovo’s role included scanning, quality verification, generation and lifecycle management of the 3D player models, creating individualised avatars that reflected each player’s precise dimensions. These avatars added a new layer of realism and transparency to broadcast replays and marked a step forward in how AI can support officiating technology and fan comprehension.

The Intelligent Command Center

Behind the scenes, Lenovo’s Intelligent Command Center provided FIFA with a centralised, real-time operational picture of the tournament. Operating as part of FIFA’s Tournament Operations Center, the platform aggregated data from more than 40 FIFA functional areas, helping officials coordinate across venues, security, ticketing, infrastructure, logistics, communications and other critical operational areas.

By bringing fragmented operational data into a single shared environment, the Intelligent Command Center helped stakeholders identify risks, respond to issues earlier, and coordinate across a tournament footprint spanning multiple countries and locations. .

Broadcast technology

At the International Broadcast Center in Dallas, Lenovo infrastructure helped provide the computing power needed to support live video data, IP TV distribution and AI-driven solutions. Lenovo’s technology also supported near real-time IP TV delivery – with an average of six seconds latency – to more than 1,000 screens across FIFA venues. 

“We have long recognised that this is the biggest opportunity in the world for our brand but we also know that the value of this sort of partnership goes far beyond that, said Jeff Shafer, Senior VP Corporate Marketing and Chief Communications Officer, Lenovo. 

“This relationship is based on a deep and authentic technology integration. That had to be front and centre and that’s what makes it so powerful for our company and for our brand. Ultimately we need to prove to the world that if we can do it for the biggest sporting event in the history of humanity, we can do it for anyone.”