What’s ‘Next’ for Hyundai:
Driving Innovation through Robotics
4 minute read
July 13, 2026
Hyundai is bringing the 'Next Starts Now' vision into a new chapter of innovation through robotics. As part of its FIFA World Cup 2026™ campaign, Hyundai is using football’s global stage to demonstrate how robotics technology can connect with people through culture and live experiences. Read on to discover how Hyundai is advancing its robotics story from digital engagement to physical performance, and how these milestones reflect its long-term vision for robotics innovation.
Kicking Off a Digital Movement Through Robotics
The journey began where modern fan engagement thrives—on social media. Through the School of Football initiative, Hyundai brought the dynamic agility of its humanoid robot, Atlas, together with the creativity of football fans around the world. Centered on the iconic 'Ghost Rabona Kick' the campaign transformed advanced robotics into a playful, interactive challenge, and conversation inspired by football.
Rather than simply presenting Atlas as an advanced robotics innovation, Hyundai joined the social conversation around football and embedded the brand within the culture. Fans and creators responded with strong interest, sparking widespread conversation around the activation.
The Ghost Rabona Kick—requiring the kicking foot to cross behind the standing leg, demanding extreme flexibility and balance—became the centerpiece of that story. Hyundai captured Atlas' full journey of learning football, turning a robot's mastery of a skill that even humans struggle to perfect into a narrative fans wanted to watch, imitate, and share.
Fans and creators responded with strong interest, sparking widespread conversation around the activation. Some reinterpreted Atlas’ signature movements through their own football tricks, while others engaged with the narrative of Atlas learning a new sport. The campaign gained significant organic traction, particularly on TikTok, generating more than 14,000 pieces of user-generated content and driving 61 million views.
By bringing together robotics, football culture, and digital creativity, Atlas became a natural part of the global conversation, generating a powerful momentum that paved the way for its real-world debut.
Bringing Atlas to the FIFA World Cup™ Stage
This momentum carried into the July 5 robotics-powered halftime activation, where Hyundai showcased its robotics capabilities during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Round of 16 match at New York New Jersey Stadium, demonstrating how robotics innovation can create engaging and meaningful experiences for people around the world.
At halftime, Atlas emerged from the player tunnel and quickly captured the crowd’s attention. After greeting fans, the humanoid robot recreated a series of iconic goal celebrations inspired by football stars including Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Matheus Cunha, and Son Heung-min, drawing cheers across the stadium.
Atlas then concluded the performance by handing the ceremonial ball to referee Ismail Elfath ahead of the second half. The referee’s smile and thumbs-up added a memorable human touch to the moment, which was shown live on the stadium’s giant screens and broadcast to football fans around the world.
This milestone marked the first public showcase of the production version of Atlas’ real-world mobility, as well as the first time Hyundai and FIFA integrated robotics into a live halftime operation. By performing in a live stadium environment, Atlas demonstrated its ability to execute highly coordinated movements reliably in one of the most dynamic settings in sport.
More than a technical demonstration, the performance brought Hyundai’s robotics vision to life, showing how advanced technology can enhance entertainment, sport, and the live fan experience while bringing tomorrow’s innovation into today’s world.
Going Behind the Scenes of Hyundai’s Robotics Journey
To offer a deeper look at the technology and dedication behind this historic moment, Hyundai and the BBC tells the story behind the innovation. The collaboration positions the live activation not as a one-off event, but as an important step in Hyundai’s long-term robotics journey.
On July 7, Hyundai and BBC StoryWorks shared The Training Ground, a documentary-style advertisement feature film following Atlas’ journey from training to the FIFA World Cup™ stage. The film offers a closer look at the technological breakthroughs that help advance robotics in real-world environments.
The story continues on July 11 with BBC News travel and tech program TechXplore, which explores how innovations including Boston Dynamics' mobility technology are transforming the world's biggest sporting event.
By combining a landmark stadium performance with documentary storytelling, we are giving audiences both the excitement of the live moment and a deeper understanding of the
innovation behind it.
Turning Vision into Real-World Innovation
From the viral School of Football challenge to the historic halftime performance and insightful BBC partnership, Hyundai’s robotics campaign has traced a clear path from digital awareness and engagement to real-world demonstration and deeper technological understanding.
Together, these interconnected activations show how human-centered robotics can become
part of experiences that people see, share, and remember. As Hyundai’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ journey continues to bring together sport, technology, and global
audiences, one message stands out: the future of innovation isn’t just imagined—it’s something we are actively building and demonstrating in the real world today.
Because at Hyundai, Next Starts Now.
Follow @hyundai on Instagram for more updates on our robotics journey.