FIFA will make a major improvement to how offside is adjudicated at the 2026 North and Central America World Cup. It will reduce the operation of the controversial ‘delayed flag(delayed flag)’ and introduce a new review system that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with semi-automated offside technology to increase the speed and accuracy of decisions.

The BBC in the United Kingdom reported on the 2nd that FIFA plans to use a new Advanced Semi-Automated Offside Technology at the 2026 World Cup.

The biggest change is that in offside situations the assistant referee will no longer need to keep watching play for a long time without raising the flag. FIFA will introduce technology that sends a real-time audio signal to the assistant referee when an attacker is more than 10㎝ ahead of the opposing defensive line. The assistant referee can raise the flag immediately based on that signal.

Under the previous system, alerts were sent to the officiating team only when a player was clearly offside by at least 50㎝. As a result, assistant referees often did not raise the flag until the attacking move ended, even in situations that appeared clearly offside.

Even after the new technology is introduced, final decision-making authority still rests with the assistant referee. FIFA said it has built multiple safety layers to guard against the possibility of system errors. However, in cases where player spacing is extremely tight, multiple players are crowded together, or players are lying on the ground, the existing VAR check may still be required.

FIFA expects these changes to reduce complaints from players and fans and to decrease unnecessary injury risks.

FIFA will also apply AI-based three-dimensional (3D) player modeling technology at the World Cup for the first time.

It plans to digitally scan the body data of all 1,248 players from the 48 finalists to create 3D avatars identical to the real players. The players will undergo an approximately one-second scan during the World Cup official photo shoot.

FIFA expects this to greatly enhance the accuracy and visual clarity of the offside animations displayed on VAR review screens.

Along with this, a new ‘out of play(out of play)’ technology that determines whether the ball has completely crossed the touchline or goal line will also be introduced. By using a sensor inside the ball and 3D graphics, it will be possible to confirm more clearly whether the ball went out of play before a goal.

In addition, by using the chip embedded in the ball to immediately identify the last player to make contact, the verification of corner-kick and goal-kick decisions is expected to become even faster.

The ‘line of sight(line of sight)’ technology for determining whether the goalkeeper view was obstructed will also be reinforced. VAR and broadcast feeds will provide a virtual video identical to the goalkeeper viewpoint, enabling a more accurate reading of whether an attacker in an offside position actually blocked the goalkeeper view.