At CES earlier this year, Hyundai and Boston Dynamics was introduced world in their Atlas humanoid robot. The Atlas took the stage at Hyundai’s key event and wowed the crowd so much that Mashable, along with the entire CNET team, declared that the Atlas is “The best robot“in the show.
Now, just a few months removed from the big tech event, Atlas is making its big debut on perhaps the biggest stage of all: the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
As the Round of 16 match between Norway and Brazil is about to enter the second half, Atlas came out of the players’ tunnel and showed his moves on the field. Although Atlas has performed dances before, the humanoid robot put on a more appropriate display at the World Cup, mimicking the players’ celebrations, including that of Norway’s star player, Erling Haaland.
Atlas’s Haaland celebration
Credit: Hyundai
Atlas wasn’t just for fun either. Hyundai’s robot played an important role at the end of the half, bringing the ball to the referee to continue the game.
Mashable Light Speed
Mashable was at the World Cup game in New York-New Jersey Stadium to see Atlas for himself. The robot did its job without interruption. And, most importantly, the crowd seemed to like the robot. Spectators held up their smartphones, snapping photos and taking videos of Atlas doing what wasn’t the best players.
“As part of Hyundai’s ‘Next Starts Now’ campaign, we wanted the Atlas to perform on the world’s biggest stage to show that the future is not something we imagine—it starts now,” said Hyundai Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer Sungwon Jee. “At Hyundai, we are committed to developing human-centered intelligence that integrates seamlessly into everyday life, and to present a new vision of future mobility augmented by robots – demonstrating that robots can be a reliable partner in human progress through diverse and creative product knowledge.”
Atlas kicks the ball out to the center fielder.
Credit: Hyundai
According to Hyundai, the Atlas is powered by “several robotic capabilities that enable advanced mobility and real-world interaction.” Retrofit technology allowed Atlas to analyze and adapt to people’s movements. Reinforcement Learning was used to train Atlas through thousands of simulations of how it moves, and Whole-Body Control was used to coordinate movements throughout the robot’s body.
“The way we trained Atlas to make these fun movements in a game is similar to how we train a robot to use real-world industrial applications,” said Boston Dynamics Director of Robotics Behavior Alberto Rodriguez. “It’s a great way to introduce people everywhere to the incredible power of today’s AI-powered robots.”
It turns out that Atlas has picked the perfect celebration to emulate during the break. At the end of the game, Norway won, defeating Brazil 2-1. Both goals for Norway were scored by Haaland. So, between the performances of Haaland and Atlas, the fans got a lot of Viking-esque celebrations on the field last Sunday.
