While the world watched the World Cup, robots played their own version in Incheon. RoboCup 2026 ran from 30 June to 6 July in Songdo, drawing teams from dozens of countries. When the whistle blew, one name was behind every winner.
Teams using robots from Beijing’s Booster Robotics swept all three humanoid football divisions.
The numbers tell the story. Of the 59 teams in the humanoid leagues, 38 competed on Booster machines. They took gold, silver, and most of the podium across the Small, Middle, and Large divisions.
Tsinghua University’s Hephaestus team won the Large division on the Booster T1. Germany’s B-Human took the Middle division on the K1. A team called Invic won the Small division on the K1 Air.
From building robots to coding them
