Johannes Holzmüller Details 16 Cameras for World Cup Ball 2026
At world cup ball 2026, officials will lean on sensors, cameras, computer vision software, and player body scans to help decide penalties and offside calls. The setup adds more tracking data than the 2022 tournament, with 16 high-resolution cameras instead of 12.
Referees on the field and officials on the sidelines will have access to that information during matches. The system is built to spot infractions, determine penalties, and smooth out the edges of the game.
Johannes Holzmüller on tracking
Johannes Holzmüller said the 2026 tracking system will use 16 high-resolution cameras, compared with 12 in 2022. Hawk-Eye remains the event's optical tracking provider, and its computer vision system captures over two dozen skeletal points on each player at all times.
Every player in the World Cup has had their body scanned by a computer. A player's digital twin can then be dropped into a virtual simulation of the game to determine exact position relative to the ball, boundary lines, and other players.
Kinexon and the match ball
Kinexon will again provide the match ball's digital brain. The ball will include an ultrawide-band and IMU sensor setup, with an accelerometer and a gyroscope inside.
The sensors track the ball's precise location and distinct touches 500 times per second. In 2022, the ball sensor sat suspended in the center of the ball's interior on a string-based sling made by Adidas; for 2026, Adidas has created a small bladder to hold the sensor along the inside wall of the ball.
Adidas changes the sensor mount
Maximillian Schmidt described the new design as more stable than the old one. “It’s vulcanized inside the bladder with a little plastic pouch,” he said. “That vulcanization is just way more stable than those strings, which had hooks that could break easier.”
The upgrade gives officials a tighter view of the ball and player positions than the 2022 setup. For match decisions that hinge on inches, the 2026 system is built to put more exact data in front of the people making the call.
