FIFA's tie-breaker reproduces potential offside plays Divulgação/FIFA The 2026 World Cup matches have gained a "tie-breaker" system that allows for a more faithful reproduction of potential offside situations. Until now, animated replays showed players with the same size, which did not exactly correspond to the actual play and could generate doubts in more complex situations. 🗒️ Have a story suggestion? Send it to g1 In this World Cup, each athlete is now represented with their real dimensions, which facilitates analysis in the VAR booth and provides more clarity for those watching the match. Before the start of the tournament, players from the 48 national teams were photographed in a booth with 36 4K resolution cameras. The images helped create a unique 3D avatar for each of them. Now on g1 Each player stays in the booth for about 30 seconds, from the preparation time to the photo capture itself, which takes less than a second, according to Lenovo, FIFA's partner in creating the system. Afterward, artificial intelligence algorithms create animated versions that consider details such as the athlete's height and foot size, which was ignored in older models. "It is possible to interpret texture, posture, movement, and replicate it in the avatar.
It is more than a 3D photo; it is effectively the replication of the player in a digital environment", said Valério Mateus, General Manager of Services and Solutions at Lenovo for Latin America. Players from the 48 national teams were photographed in a booth before the start of the World Cup Divulgação/Lenovo The 3D avatar system does not determine whether a player is or is not in an offside position — that function remains with the VAR referee —, but it helps those in the booth make decisions more quickly. "The VAR has the possibility to look to understand if there was a foot or a shoulder ahead and rotate the image to see from another angle if there was a touch in a foul situation, for example", said Valério. The new "tie-breaker" is also useful because it makes it clearer to fans why the VAR made a certain decision, said FIFA's Director of Innovation, Johannes Holzmüller, at an event held by the entity in early June. "We will improve 3D replays, where the players actually look alike and it becomes obvious which ones are in an offside position", he stated. Tira-teima was used in the match between England and Croatia Reprodução/TV Globo This system had already been tested in December 2025, in the match between Flamengo and Pyramids from Egypt, valid for the third stage of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. In addition to the avatars, the 2026 World Cup brings an evolution in the cameras used by referees. Recordings are now stabilized in real-time through artificial intelligence. Since the referee moves abruptly, previous versions suffered from blur and shaking, which was uncomfortable for those watching.
With less wobble, broadcasts can better take advantage of the angle of those inside the field. Tira-teima was used in the match between France and Senegal Reprodução/TV Globo Booth photos allow scanning of various angles of players to create animated versions Reprodução.
Sign in to comment on this article.
No approved comments yet.