China Hosts World's First Fully Autonomous AI Robot Football Match in 2025

China hosts first AI robot football match, showcasing humanoids playing three-a-side games with stumbles, slips, and surprising goals.

Humanoid robots playing a three-a-side football match during China's first fully autonomous AI robot football tournament. — Humanoid robots playing a three-a-side football match during China’s first fully autonomous AI robot football tournament.

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Highlights:

Four AI-powered humanoid robot teams played a three-a-side football match in Beijing.
Robots struggled with balance and coordination, causing frequent falls and funny moments.
Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics won the final 5-3 against Mountain Sea team.

In a groundbreaking move blending robotics with sports, China recently hosted the world’s first fully autonomous AI robot football match in Beijing. The event featured four teams of humanoid robots competing in a three-a-side football tournament, all powered by artificial intelligence.
Though the robots dazzled with technology, the game was far from flawless. Spectators witnessed frequent falls, awkward kicks, and pratfalls that drew laughter and awe in equal measure. At least two robots had to be stretchered off after collapsing and failing to stand back up. The match served as a humorous but promising glimpse into the future of sports automation.
The event was organized with the help of Booster Robotics, whose founder Cheng Hao stated that sports competitions are ideal testing grounds for humanoids. He added that future matches could include humans playing alongside or against robots — provided safety measures are guaranteed.

University teams customized the robots with unique algorithms, and in the final showdown, Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics triumphed over China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea team with a score of 5-3. While THU celebrated the win, fans also applauded Mountain Sea for their surprising performance.
Experts like Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy from the University of Edinburgh hailed the event as a milestone, emphasizing the impressive year-on-year progress in AI and robot autonomy. Although the robots are still far from taking over Kylian Mbappé’s position, one thing is clear: robot football is no longer science fiction.