Hyundai Motor Co showcased its Atlas humanoid robot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, highlighting its technical progress on football’s biggest stage as the South Korean automaker gears up for mass production and factory deployment.
During a Round of 16 match between Brazil and Norway at the New York/New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, Atlas – developed by Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics unit – walked through the player tunnel and performed several goal ceremonies, including Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha’s iconic surfing celebration and South Korean star Son Heung-min’s camera gesture, before handing the match ball to the referee.
The appearance marks the robot’s first live public demonstration since its production-ready version was unveiled at the CES technology show in January. Hyundai plans to manufacture as many as 30,000 humanoids annually in the US starting in 2028, primarily for use at its plants in Georgia.
The performance is also the culmination of the company’s School of Football campaign, a video series detailing how Atlas learned complex athletic manoeuvres, including the "Ghost Rabona” – a deceptive kick mastered by legends like Brazil’s Pelé and Argentina’s Diego Maradona. Hyundai has sponsored the tournament since 1999 and is serving as FIFA’s official robotics partner for this year’s edition.
The campaign aims to demonstrate how advanced robotics technology can move beyond controlled laboratory settings, allowing humanoids to perform sophisticated tasks while adapting to unpredictable environments, according to Hyundai.
Testing Atlas in an outdoor stadium provided critical engineering data relevant to future factory deployments. Operating on grass, for instance, forces the robot to navigate such variables as surface compliance and slipping hazards that do not exist on concrete laboratory floors.
"Atlas has now learned to execute and imitate that motion in a reliable manner so that it can adapt to whatever happens in a real instance,” Alberto Rodriguez, director of robotics behaviour at Boston Dynamics, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "The way that this system works in simulation is scalable enough.”
Another goal, he said, is to improve public understanding of robotics and show that the technology is "supposed to transform manufacturing first, and then our daily lives in the next decade.”
The rapid rise of robots has stoked job security concerns around the world, prompting labour unions to push back against automated replacements. Hyundai’s own union is demanding that management consult workers before adopting humanoids as part of ongoing wage negotiations.
"We always like challenges that maybe have a fun connection to something people can connect with, in this case soccer,” Rodriguez said. "But we know that it’s going to translate into benefits overall.” – Bloomberg
