First 11-vs-11 humanoid robot soccer match held at RoboCup 2026

Tsinghua University's Hephaestus team successfully defended its humanoid robot soccer championship at RoboCup 2026, defeating fellow Chinese squad CAU Mountain & Sea from China Agricultural University in the Large Division final on Saturday in Incheon, South Korea. The victory came almost exactly a year after Hephaestus made history by becoming the first Chinese team to win the adult-size humanoid soccer competition in RoboCup's 28-year history at the 2025 edition in Salvador, Brazil.globaltimes+2

A Historic Week for Humanoid Robotics

The championship match was part of a week that organizers called a watershed moment for robotics. On Sunday, RoboCup 2026 hosted the first-ever 11-versus-11 full-sized humanoid robot soccer match, pitting German teams B-Human and HTWK Robots against each other on a regulation field, with B-Human winning 4-0. Both teams competed on robots manufactured by Booster Robotics, the Chinese firm whose T1 and K1 platforms have become the dominant hardware across multiple divisions of the competition.robocup+1

"For nearly three decades, RoboCup competitions have inspired innovation, accelerated scientific progress and brought together researchers, students and industries across the globe," RoboCup Federation President Ubbo Visser said at the opening ceremony.koreajoongangdaily

Booster Robotics Platforms Dominate the Field

The Hephaestus team competed on Booster Robotics' T1 humanoid platform, the same robot that powered their historic win in Brazil last year. In the Large Division bracket, Tsinghua Hephaestus dominated throughout the seeding rounds, defeating opponents by wide margins before advancing through the knockout stage with an 8-0 quarterfinal victory over Bahia Robotics Team.hsl.robocup+1

The competition drew teams from 45 countries to Songdo Convensia, with the newly unified Humanoid Soccer League featuring Small, Middle, and Large divisions. In the Middle Division, Germany's B-Human completed a dominant run through the bracket, while the Small Division semifinals were still being contested as the event entered its final day.robocup+3

China's Growing Robotics Footprint

China's back-to-back titles in the Large Division underscore the country's rapid ascent in humanoid robotics. At last year's competition, both the gold and silver medals in the adult-size category went to Chinese teams using domestically developed robots, and international teams including those from Germany and the United States also adopted Chinese-made platforms. RoboCup's stated goal remains fielding a team of autonomous humanoid robots capable of defeating FIFA World Cup champions by 2050 — a target that organizers said feels closer after this week's milestones in Incheon.ysln.ycwb.com+2