[Image: X]
Let’s be honest: China’s men’s soccer team hasn’t exactly been setting the world alight. In fact, they’ve already been knocked out of next year’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the US.
But while the humans stumble, China’s humanoid robots are stealing the show, even though, if everyone’s honest, it’s less “thrill of the game” and more “tech demo with the pacing of a sloth in shin guards.”
On Saturday night in Beijing, four teams of fully autonomous humanoid robots went cleat-to-cleat in 3-on-3 soccer matches powered by AI. No human coaching, no joystick control, just cold, hard code.
It was pitched as China’s first event of its kind, and a teaser for the upcoming World Humanoid Robot Games. And let’s be honest: the bots might already be a safer bet for international glory.
According to the event organisers, every robot on the pitch operated entirely independently, running on AI-powered decision-making, perception, and formations—no strings attached, just pure robot hustle.
Equipped with slick visual sensors, the robots could track the ball, dodge obstacles, and zip across the pitch with surprising agility—or at least with the kind of agility you’d expect from an elderly toaster on ice. Every turn, pass, and goal attempt felt like watching someone play FIFA… in slow motion… underwater.
That said, the realism hit new heights when a few of them faceplanted mid-game and had to be wheeled off on stretchers by staff—possibly the most relatable moment of any match.
China’s strategy? Use sports as a proving ground for AI-driven humanoids—think boxing, marathons, and footy—not just to entertain, but to test real-world tech under pressure.
Cheng Hao, the founder and CEO of Booster Robotics (the crew behind the actual robot bodies), explained why this robo-thunderdome matters.
“Sports competitions offer the ideal testing ground for humanoid robots,” Cheng said, pointing to how it pushes both hardware and algorithm design to their limits. Safety, though, remains top of mind.
“In the future, we may arrange for robots to play football with humans,” Cheng added. “That means we must ensure the robots are completely safe… a match where winning doesn’t matter, but real offensive and defensive interactions take place.”
Because nothing screams ‘trust me, I won’t crush you’ like a titanium shin sliding in for a tackle.
Each of the four university teams embedded their own algorithms into Booster’s hardware, crafting custom strategies for perception, passing, and formations. In the final, Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics squad beat China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea team 5–3.
Their human fans lapped it up. “They (THU) did really well,” said Mr. Wu, a Tsinghua supporter. “But the Mountain Sea team (of Agricultural University) was also impressive. They brought a lot of surprises.”
That surprise, for most spectators, was likely how captivating it can be to watch six robots bump into each other and still somehow put on a better show than the national men’s team.
[Source: AP News]
