The tech powering the Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup has put some genuinely impressive technology to work behind the scenes — a look at four standout examples.

A smarter match ball

The tournament's official Adidas match ball, OCEAUNZ, carries an internal, wirelessly-charged sensor sending positional data to the video operations room 500 times a second, feeding directly into the semi-automated offside system.

AI-powered offside calls

Twelve cameras per stadium track up to 29 data points on every player, 50 times a second — more than 1,100 data points a second across all 22 players — letting an AI system flag offside positions in half a second and alert the VAR operator, a system that overturned a New Zealand equaliser in one of the tournament's earliest big calls.

Reaching fans differently

VAR decisions were explained over stadium PA systems for the first time at a major international tournament, while FIFA's Roblox experience, FIFA World, added new match content, national jerseys and a curated history exhibition to engage younger fans throughout.