Regarded by some as “the world’s largest robotics and artificial intelligence competition”, RoboCup returns to Brazil this month, with more than 250 teams from 37 countries preparing to compete in a high-stakes showdown of autonomous machines.
Set to take place in Salvador, Brazil from July 17 to 21, RoboCup 2025 will feature cutting-edge robots battling it out in fully autonomous soccer matches, alongside competitions in rescue, home service, and industrial robotics.
Founded in 1997, RoboCup has long served as a proving ground for AI and robotics researchers, with its most ambitious goal still decades in the making: to develop humanoid robots capable of defeating the human FIFA World Cup champions by 2050 in a fair match.
According to organizers, RoboCup’s soccer leagues – featuring humanoid, wheeled, and simulated robots — are designed to drive the advances in real-time perception, planning, motion, and team coordination necessary to make that dream a reality.
Dr Maike Paetzel-Prüsmann, a RoboCup trustee and media representative, says: “Many of the same teams and international robotics labs behind these breakthroughs — including those that just competed in China — will be at RoboCup 2025 in Salvador, Brazil this July.
“They’ll face off against each other and new platforms from around the world, pushing the boundaries of machine learning, mechatronics, and multi-agent coordination.
“Beyond soccer, RoboCup also fosters innovation in home service robots, industrial automation, and autonomous search and rescue, tackling real-world problems and accelerating the transition from research to deployment.
“Many RoboCuppers now hold significant roles in the robotics and tech startup world.”
More than just soccer
While robot football often grabs headlines, RoboCup encompasses four major areas of applied robotics:
- Rescue League: Robots are tested in simulated disaster environments, tasked with navigation, victim detection, and object handling – mimicking real-world search-and-rescue operations.
- Home League: Service robots face off in realistic home environments, demonstrating their ability to perform household tasks and interact naturally with humans.
- Industrial League: Focused on smart factories, teams program mobile robots to solve logistics and manipulation tasks relevant to flexible automation.
- RoboCupJunior: Aimed at students under 19, this educational component nurtures the next generation of engineers through competitions in soccer, rescue, and stage performance.
RoboCup has been instrumental in advancing technologies like machine vision, locomotion, reinforcement learning, and multi-agent systems, and many former participants now lead robotics labs or startups around the world.
Global event, local passion
With 112 major league research teams and 123 student teams set to compete, RoboCup 2025 is expected to draw over 1,500 competitors and up to 150,000 spectators, according to organizers.
Brazil, known for its passion for both football and technology, hosted RoboCup once before in 2014 – an event that attracted over 100,000 visitors.
This year’s livestream coverage will be available throughout the event on Twitch and YouTube, giving fans worldwide front-row access to the action.
Main image: WK RoboCup 2024. Courtesy of RoboCup/Bart van Overbeeke
