World Cup 2026 could be the most technologically advanced in history | OneFootball

Football’s future is arriving at the World Cup, with deeper analysis, greater precision and a new phase in decision-making. World Cup 2026 could be the most technologically advanced tournament yet.

Nature reports that the event, now in the United States, Mexico and Canada, appears the most tech-enabled to date. Each team will have AI to analyse movements in real time, while body-scan avatars help referees model incidents and spot infringements.

This signals a shift from intuition to intensive use of data, AI and academic expertise within squads. The football science ecosystem has matured, with specialist journals such as Science and Medicine in Football.

Studies now place performance, injury prevention and match analysis at the centre. Yet the technological promise sits alongside methodological concerns.

A 2022 Sports Medicine systematic review assessed musculoskeletal injury prediction, covering 30 studies and 204 models, and found none had been validated externally.

It judged 98% of models high or unclear risk of bias, only 2% low risk, and just 10% of studies calculated sample size in advance.

That contrast frames the challenge for 2026. Teams could process movement, tactical patterns and behaviours at unprecedented speed, but predictive models still need rigorous validation, transparency and complete reporting to avoid statistical mirages.

The tournament could usher in an era where referees, coaches and analysts work with more information than ever, yet the real test will be adopting advanced tools without compromising the scientific standards behind high-impact decisions.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo