AI-powered humanoid robots play world’s 1st soccer match in China

ISTANBUL

Artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots played the world’s first fully autonomous 5v5 soccer match during the preliminaries of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, state-run daily Global Times reported.

Previous events had been limited to 3v3 games. In the new format, each team fielded two forwards, two defenders, and a goalkeeper. The robots positioned themselves at kickoff and then began tackling, passing, and shooting without human control.

Some fell during collisions but quickly recovered and continued playing. The crowd cheered each goal. The match lasted 40 minutes, split into two 15-minute halves with a 10-minute break.

The competition’s rulebook spans nearly 70 pages. While similar to human soccer, it allows more physical contact and includes robot-specific adjustments. For example, after a free kick, opponents must wait 10 seconds before challenging to give AI time to execute plays.

The World Humanoid Robot Games began Thursday in Beijing and will run for three days, featuring more than 500 robots from 280 teams representing 16 countries. A total of 538 events are scheduled across 26 sports, including soccer, athletics, and gymnastics.

The games follow China’s first AI robot soccer match on June 27 in Beijing, which featured 3v3 teams.