STORY: Humanoid robots took to the soccer field in Incheon on Sunday (July 5) at the finals of RoboCup 2026, the world's largest robotics and artificial intelligence competition.

Team Hephaestus of Tsinghua University beat Team Mountain and Sea of China Agricultural University in the final, with robots stumbling and colliding on the pitch before getting back up to keep playing.

"Our team's ultimate goal is to be the FIFA champion in 2050," said Changsheng Luo, leader of Team Hephaestus.

Organisers said more than 3,000 competitors from 45 countries took part in the competition. More than 70% of the teams used platforms developed by Booster Robotics, a China-based humanoid robot company, according to its global team head Chaoyi Li.

"The German teams, the Korean teams, the US teams, everyone around the world is using Booster," Li said. "It's not just about the Chinese team."

Beyond the soccer pitch, robots also competed in search-and-rescue challenges simulating disaster zones.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA (JULY 5, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. FINAL GAME PLAYED BY TEAM HEPHAESTUS OF TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY (WEARING PURPLE VESTS) AND TEAM MOUNTAIN AND SEA OF CHINA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY (CAU) (WEARING BLUE VESTS) IN PROGRESS

2. VARIOUS OF FINAL GAME IN PROGRESS

3. ROBOT OF TEAM CAU MOUNTAIN AND SEA SCORING GOAL

4. VARIOUS OF FINAL GAME IN PROGRESS

5. MEMBERS OF TEAM TSINGHUA HEPHAESTUS INCLUDING TEAM LEADER (WEARING BLACK T-SHIRTS), CHANGSHENG LUO, WATCHING THEIR ROBOTS PLAYING GAME

6. ROBOT OF TEAM TSINGHUA HEPHAESTUS MISSING SHOT, ANOTHER TEAM TSINGHUA HEPHAESTUS ROBOT SCORING ON FOLLOW UP / SOCCER BALL

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEADER OF TEAM HEPHAESTUS OF TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY, CHANGSHENG LUO, SAYING:

“So I started to play something like the robot dog, and something like robot car. And in my second year I knew about a team in my major, in my department. It is called the Tsinghua's Hephaestus and I joined it and I started learning, following my professor Mingguo Zhao and he teach me a lot.”

8. LUO TALKING WITH TEAM MEMBERS

9. MEMBER SCREWING BOLTS TO ROBOTS

10. ROBOTS PLACED ON FIELD

11. VARIOUS OF TEAM MEMBER FITTING ROBOTS WITH PURPLE VESTS

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEADER OF TEAM HEPHAESTUS AT TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY, CHANGSHENG LUO, SAYING:

“I'm very happy and very grateful to join this game, and our team's ultimate goal is that we will be the FIFA champion in 2050 so we are keeping on it.”

13. CAU’S ROBOT MISSING GOAL

14. FINAL GAME IN PROGRESS

15. SCREEN SHOWING EACH TEAM’S SCORE

16. SCREEN SHOWING TEAM TSINGHUA HEPHAESTUS’S SCORE, 6

17. MEMBERS OF TEAM TSINGHUA HEPHAESTUS POSING FOR GROUP PHOTOGRAPH AFTER THEY WIN OVER TEAM CAU WHILE CHANTING (Chinese): “HEPHAESTUS TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY IS CHAMPION!”

18. PARTICIPANTS WALKING AT VENUE OF ROBO CUP

19. PARTICIPANT TYPING ON KEYBOARD

20. SIGN ON PURPLE BALLOON READING (English and Chinese): “BOOSTER”

21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF GLOBAL TEAM AT BOOSTER ROBOTICS, CHAOYI LI, SAYING:

“So actually over seventy percent of the teams which are using Booster here in Robo Cup are oversea(s) teams. So we can see over there the German teams, the Korean teams, the US teams, everyone around the world is actually using Booster. So it's not just about Chinese team.”

22. VARIOUS OF ROBOTS PLAYING GAME

23. ROBOT SCORING GOAL WHILE GOALKEEPER ROBOT STUMBLING ON SOCCER NET

24. TEAM MEMBERS HUGGING AFTER THEY WIN

25. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF GLOBAL TEAM AT BOOSTER ROBOTICS, CHAOYI LI, SAYING:

“So the idea is we want to like bring humanoids to every household to make it really affordable reliable and actually accessible for the people to actually use. And so if we actually compare it with the product that exists already in the market, we think like personal computer would be something comparable for the next AI generation.”

26. BANNER READING (English): “INCHEON ROBOCUP 2026”

27. PARTICIPANT WATCHING ROBOT MOVING FOR RESCUE LEAGUE

28. ROBOT MOVING ON GROUND WITH GRAVEL

29. PERSON FILMING ROBOT WITH SMARTPHONE

30. (SOUNDBITE ) (Korean) ASSISTANT MANAGER OF KOREA ASSOCIATION OF AI ROBOT INDUSTRY, KIM YOUNG-JE, SAYING:

“Today’s event is meaningful because it is being held for the first time in South Korea. As an international competition, it brings engineers from 45 countries around the world to visit Korea, creating a platform where we can expect exchanges with domestic companies as producing business opportunities and bringing synergy.”

31. ROBOTS STEPPING ON SOCCER FIELD

32. WHITE ROBOT SCORING GOAL

33. ROBOT