Humanoid Robots Compete in AI-Powered Football Tournament in China

Beijing, June 29, 2025 — The future of football might be closer than we think — but not quite ready for the World Cup stage. On Saturday, Beijing witnessed a unique sporting spectacle as four teams of humanoid robots faced off in a football tournament powered entirely by artificial intelligence.

Held on an artificial pitch, the three-a-side matches featured robots that were developed and programmed by university teams across China. While human footballers are often criticized for robotic precision, these machines proved that the beautiful game still belongs firmly to their flesh-and-blood counterparts.

Video footage from the matches showed the AI-driven robots struggling to maintain balance, fumbling their way through tackles, and often collapsing in comic fashion. Several even had to be stretchered off after failing to get back on their feet — scenes that drew laughter and amazement in equal measure from spectators.

The robots were provided by Booster Robotics, whose founder and CEO Cheng Hao believes sports offer an ideal test environment for humanoid AI systems. “In the future, we may arrange for robots to play football with humans. That means we must ensure the robots are completely safe,” he said.

Despite the awkward falls and slow pace, experts say the progress is remarkable. “It is certainly impressive to see the year-on-year advancement in such robots,” said Prof. Subramanian Ramamoorthy, chair of robot learning and autonomy at the University of Edinburgh.

The tournament featured AI algorithms uniquely developed by each participating university. In a hard-fought final, Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics team triumphed over China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea squad with a score of 5–3, clinching the championship title.

One jubilant Tsinghua supporter remarked, “They [THU] did really well. But the Mountain Sea team was also impressive. They brought a lot of surprises.”

As the dust settles on Beijing’s robotic football pitch, one thing is clear: while AI athletes are still far from replacing stars like Kylian Mbappé, the game is steadily evolving — and the future might just involve cheering for your favorite robot team.