Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robot delivered the match ball to the referee during halftime of the Brazil-Norway round-of-16 match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 5, marking the first deployment of a humanoid robot on a FIFA World Cup pitch4,5.
Atlas emerged from the players' tunnel, performed goal celebrations modeled after footballers Son Heung-min, Harry Kane, and Erling Haaland, and then presented the match ball to signal the start of the second half. U.S. business magazine Fortune described the performance as "something that has never happened in World Cup history," while marketing publication Adweek called it "a new global marketing case that combined robot technology and brand vision on a stage watched by fans around the world".
Boston Dynamics, owned by Hyundai Motor Group, prepared Atlas for the appearance by collecting footballers' movements through motion capture and training the robot on those scenes repeatedly. Pre-tournament videos showed Atlas performing footwork, passing, shooting, and a rabona kick. A behind-the-scenes campaign video titled "The Training Ground," chronicling the development of the World Cup robotics performance, has surpassed 16.5 million views on YouTube.
Hyundai Motor Group also featured Atlas in a separate "School of Football" campaign video6. Atlas and Boston Dynamics' quadruped robot Spot are on display at "Legacies of Champions," a FIFA museum exhibition at Rockefeller Center's Radio Park in New York. Spot was deployed at major tournament venues, including FIFA's International Broadcast Center in Dallas and New York New Jersey Stadium, where it conducted autonomous patrol and monitoring duties.
The robotics showcase was part of Hyundai Motor Group's broader World Cup presence as a long-standing FIFA corporate partner. The group has partnered with FIFA since 1999 and has sponsored 13 FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. Hyundai Motor Group is FIFA's third-longest corporate partner after Adidas and Coca-Cola. The partnership will continue through the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
For the 2026 tournament, Hyundai Motor supplied 2,160 official vehicles — the largest fleet ever provided for a single FIFA World Cup1,3. Since 2002, the company has supplied approximately 8,900 vehicles across seven tournaments.
Hyundai said it planned to use the FIFA partnership to strengthen its global brand, promote sustainability initiatives, and showcase advanced mobility technologies to football fans worldwide.
ANALYSIS The World Cup deployment represents a high-visibility real-world demonstration for Boston Dynamics' electric Atlas platform, moving the humanoid robot from controlled lab environments and promotional videos to a live, globally televised sporting event. The combination of Atlas's halftime performance and Spot's autonomous venue patrols gave Hyundai Motor Group a dual showcase — entertainment-grade dexterity alongside practical security applications — in front of a massive international audience.