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Colombia and Portugal were deadlocked in one of the most exciting matches of the 2026 World Cup when Colombia’s cross found its way into Portugal’s box.
Colombia’s Davinson Sanchez perfectly read the pass to the far post and headed the ball into the Portugal net. The goal came in stoppage time, Colombia and its fans were delighted and the game seemed to be won.
This continued until the main referee of the match changed everything.
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Lenovo during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on June 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Joe Scarnici – FIFA/Getty Images)
Sanchez was caught offside and football fans around the world couldn’t believe it. It turned out that Sanchez was next to his Portuguese opponent when his teammate kicked the ball and the goal could not be disallowed.
But during the FOX broadcast, the decision made more sense to viewers, whether they were upset or not, because Sanchez’s 3D avatar was shown offside – literally in front of his boot.
Moments like these and more show how Lenovo, an Official Technology Partner of FIFA, is impacting the fan experience both at home and in 16 different stadiums across three countries throughout the tournament using its AI-powered solutions.
LENOVO AI-CONTROLLED 3D AVATARS, REFEREE’S VIEW AND MORE TURN UP THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP
“This is a sponsorship that goes way beyond just a logo,” Katie Meister, executive director of computer and smart device sales for North America at Lenovo, told FOX Business during a roundtable discussion about the World Cup’s impact so far. “As the official technology sponsor, we truly are the end-to-end backbone of all operations. Our technology, everything from our mobile phones to our storage and infrastructure, our AI-powered services, are truly end-to-end, Lenovo is showing its strength in these games.”
AI-powered 3D digital avatars are a great example of how Lenovo is helping to improve not only the fan experience, but the game itself. Before the tournament began, each team reconstructed their players in 3D to accurately replicate them on the field to assist FIFA officials in off-field decisions.
A 3D avatar of Colombian player Davinson Sanchez shows that he was caught offside thanks to Lenovo’s artificial intelligence technology. (Lenovo/FIFA/Fox News)
We saw this repeatedly during World Cup matches, giving players, coaches and fans in the stands and at home a visual representation of how the tool that helped make the ultimate call ended up on the pitch.
From dressing rooms, meeting rooms and training fields, each team will then have access to FIFA AI Pro, an innovative artificial intelligence-powered enterprise knowledge assistant that provides data analysis and performance information for countries participating throughout the tournament.
This dedicated soccer communications tool “levels the playing field,” as Meister puts it, by giving teams that may not have the most robust analytics teams access to millions of data points, metrics and quick analytics after every match. We have seen smaller clubs in terms of manpower such as Cape Verde, DR Congo and others shock the football world with strong clubs.
Could FIFA AI Pro help with this? In any case, these are the prospects for this World Cup and future prospects.
Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing and FIFA President Gianni Infantino will speak at the event. (Lenovo/FIFA/Fox News)
Lenovo knew it could take these 104 FIFA World Cup matches and deliver an enhanced experience in every aspect of the great game, using the Intelligent Command Center, a tournament control center that creates “digital twins” of each venue to predict planning and optimize event execution, Intelligent Pathfinding that allows match spectators to optimize their experience at venues, and a referee camera.
The partnership itself, according to Brianna Reeder, senior manager of US communications for Lenovo North America, coincided with a dinner between top marketing officials at the technology hub that was their big dream.
“I was throwing out ideas and it was one of those stories where it was like, ‘What could we do?’ FIFA came along and the idea was born,” Rieder said. “FIFA has such high standards of quality and accuracy. These were long conversations and we had to prove the reliability of our technology and our experience in this area. So it can best be described as a true partnership. There were a lot of conversations about how we could improve the experience and what they needed from a technology partner. We just tested it and talked about it as we went along.
“FIFA, we all know the high degree of perfection and precision, and we needed to confirm this. This shows that we did it.”
And Lenovo isn’t done yet.
A snapshot of Lenovo’s FIFA Technology Operations Center in Miami. (Lenovo/FIFA/Fox News)
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There are still important matches ahead, including the World Cup final on July 19 at New York/New Jersey Stadium. But the company has already proven it can help players, coaches, fans and everyone around the World Cup get closer to the game than ever before through groundbreaking innovation.
Looking to the future, the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil will be another opportunity for Lenovo to make its mark in the game. And just as they have done with other sports partners, including Formula 1, the Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Hurricanes, they will take the lessons from this World Cup and apply them to their next challenge.
“We will use the technology that we have developed and I anticipate that we will learn as we go, continue to innovate and continue to improve the fan experience. The Women’s World Cup will be in Brazil, so – I don’t want to say it lightly – but after three countries and 16 different stadiums, I think we will be ready,” Meister said.
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