FIFA Adds Trionda World Cup Ball Sensor for 2026
FIFA’s world cup ball for 2026, Trionda, will carry a small sensor chip that sends movement data to VAR in real time. The system is built to sharpen offside decisions across the tournament’s 104 matches in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Trionda and VAR
Nicolas Evans, FIFA’s Head of Research & Standards, said the sensor tells officials “what the ball is doing in a 3D space.” The chip is an inertial measurement unit integrated into the Adidas ball, and it captures data 500 times per second.
FIFA said the technology sends precise data to the video assistant referee system in real time, enhancing match officials’ decision-making, including in relation to offside incidents. That gives VAR a direct feed from the ball itself instead of relying only on the visual read of a play.
3D Player Scans
The ball is part of a wider officiating package for the 2026 tournament. Players will be digitally scanned to create precise 3D models, with each scan taking approximately one second and capturing highly accurate body-part dimensions.
FIFA said those models can track players reliably during fast or obstructed movements. In January, it said “AI-enabled 3D player avatars represent a significant development in semi-automated offside technology,” and added, “In addition, the 3D models will be incorporated into the host broadcast, enabling offside decisions determined by the VAR system to be displayed more realistically and in a more engaging way to fans at stadiums and to viewers around the world.”
104 Matches on Display
Referee body cameras will also be used at all 104 matches, giving fans a view of the field of play as if they were present on the pitch themselves. Earlier this year, FIFA and Lenovo unveiled a series of AI-driven technological innovations, and Trionda is now the clearest on-field piece of that push.
Trionda, Spanish for “three waves,” will travel with the 2026 World Cup across the United States, Mexico and Canada. For players and officials, the change is immediate: the ball itself will now feed data into the review system as the tournament prepares for its biggest participation pool in history.
