First 11 vs 11 humanoid soccer game played at RoboCup 2026

Action from the 11 vs 11 humanoid match at RoboCup 2026. Photo credit: RoboCup Federation.

RoboCup 2026 saw history made, as two teams of 11 humanoids took to the soccer field, the first time a full complement of robots has competed. The game saw B-Human (Bremen, Germany) take on HTWK Robots (Leipzig, Germany), with both sides using machines designed by Booster Robotics.

You can watch highlights of the match below:

Back in 1997, RoboCup’s founders set the lofty goal of developing a team of autonomous robots that could beat the human World Cup champions by 2050. There has been significant progress since those early days, and this match saw another step towards that ambition.

“This match shows how far humanoid robotics has come,” said Ubbo Visser, President of the RoboCup Federation. “We have seen increased teamwork and advanced skills over the years already, but the new humanoid hardware paired with the new level of intelligence provided by AI puts humanoid robot soccer on another level.”

Find out more:

• Team B-Human YouTube channel
• Team HTWK Robots YouTube channel
• While the World Watches Soccer, Robots Made History in Incheon – RoboCup Federation article about the match
• RoboCup Federation website

Lucy Smith is Senior Managing Editor for Robohub and AIhub.

Lucy Smith is Senior Managing Editor for Robohub and AIhub.