World Cup Becomes a Battleground for Automakers: Robotaxis Roaming the Streets, Robots on Duty

The 2026 North American World Cup is less than two weeks away.

As usual, the core of the discussion is whether Mbappé can defend the title, whether Messi is still playing, and who is the new king of football. But if you glance away from the pitch, you might find the supporting cast of this World Cup is the most outrageous in history.

Image source: World Cup Organizing Committee

660 official designated vehicles, a Robotaxi network covering multiple stadiums, 42 electric buses from Shandong, China, humanoid robot Atlas, quadruped robot dog Spot.....

These "supporting characters" are all car companies.

Hyundai Kia's 27-Year Marathon: Money Spent, But Not Worth It

When discussing the relationship between car companies and the World Cup, Hyundai Kia cannot be avoided.

In 1999, Hyundai partnered with FIFA for the first time. At the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, they invested about 1.5 billion euros to secure official sponsorship, resulting in a 40% surge in sales in the US market that year, and brand awareness jumping from 32% to 67%. The calculation was too attractive, so Hyundai never considered withdrawing for over 20 years since then, renewing the partnership all the way to 2030.

This World Cup, Kia provides 660 official designated vehicles to handle athlete and official transport. The Korean automotive industry estimates that just from in-stadium advertising exposure, the Hyundai Motor Group's cumulative commercial value exceeds 10 trillion won.

 Image source: Hyundai Kia

But can World Cup sponsorship really convert to sales?

Hyundai's own experience gives an uncertain answer. The 2002 bonus was real, but the story since then hasn't looked so good. Beijing Hyundai's sales peaked at 1.14 million units in 2016, declining ever since. By 2021, it dropped to only 382,000 units, a decline of over 66%. Nowadays, it's even worse; Hyundai Kia's sales for January to April were only over 30,000 units, less than what new EV players achieve in a month.

Throwing money at the World Cup cannot save Hyundai Kia's decline in China. Interestingly, Hyundai also seems to have realized this issue.

For the 2026 World Cup, Hyundai made a key adjustment: Expanding the sponsorship scope from traditional fuel vehicles to autonomous driving, robotics, and future mobility technology. Hyundai partnered with its subsidiary Boston Dynamics to deploy humanoid robot Atlas and quadruped robot Spot in designated venues, responsible for event operations and security.

  Image source: Hyundai Kia

A somewhat awkward question is, are the cool-looking Atlas and Spot in the arena event operation infrastructure, or is it just an extremely expensive brand show?

Electric Vehicle Channel (ID: dianchetong233) judges it's both, but leans towards the former.

Hyundai needs to use the World Cup, the largest traffic pool globally, to send a signal to investors and consumers: We have transformed into a "Future Mobility Tech Company". Boston Dynamics' robots are the best prop to convey this signal. As for whether they can really make money, that's for the next step.

However, this World Cup is indeed a good time for Hyundai. The North American market accounts for over 20% of its global sales. The joint hosting by the US, Canada, and Mexico equals holding a press conference facing 3.5 billion viewers in one's own backyard.

The 27-year marathon has found a new narrative direction at this moment.

  Image source: Boston Dynamics

Chinese Car Makers Don't Pursue Sponsorships, This World Cup Plays "Borrowing the Road"

The relationship between the Chinese men's national football team and the 2026 World Cup can be summarized in one word — None. Last year, they lost away to Indonesia in the World Cup qualifiers' 18-team round and were eliminated a round early. Chinese fans don't have to worry about the time difference again.

But the relationship between Chinese car makers and this World Cup is very close. And the path they take is completely different from Hyundai Kia.

Changan is the most typical example.

 Image source: Changan Automobile

On May 22, Changan signed an agreement in Lisbon with the Portuguese Football Federation, becoming the Portuguese National Team's Global Official Partner. The cooperation covers the 2026 and 2030 World Cups and the Women's World Cup cycle, with an investment of over 500 million yuan.

The logic behind choosing Portugal is very smart. This is not generalized World Cup sponsorship; Changan did not compete for the FIFA official sponsor position, but rather precisely bound with one team.

This team has Cristiano Ronaldo. Over 1 billion fans globally, 660 million Instagram followers, and the fan distribution highly overlaps with Changan's core overseas markets: Europe, Southeast Asia, South and Central America, Middle East Africa. Concentrate resources to do big things.

 Image source: Changan Automobile

Using the scarcity of Cristiano Ronaldo's last World Cup as a lever to leverage brand awareness breakthrough in overseas markets. The supporting actions include the co-branded film "Sounds like Changan", the first European delivery of Deepal S05 in Italy, the European 1,000-kilometer long-distance test, and joint activities by global dealers. Every step is correct, but every step has uncertainty.

European consumers' stereotypical impression of Chinese car brands was not formed in one day, and it won't dissipate due to one sports marketing campaign. Korean and Japanese car makers opened the European market back then by relying on decades of quality accumulation and in-depth localization. Changan wants to shorten this process with a 500 million yuan cooperation with a team; results need time to verify.

Another case is Zhongtong Bus.

42 N12 dual-source trolleyless electric buses were shipped from Liaocheng, Shandong to Mexico City, undertaking public transport during the World Cup. Completely different from Changan's brand marketing route, Zhongtong follows product as marketing. The buses running in Mexico City are themselves a moving billboard.

 Image source: Zhongtong Bus

In 2025, China exported 625,200 vehicles to Mexico, with Mexico surpassing Russia for the first time as China's largest automotive export destination. In the first quarter of 2026, China exported 2.226 million vehicles, up 56.7% year-on-year; new energy vehicles exported 954,000 units, up over 120% year-on-year.

Zhongtong's electric buses appearing in Mexico City is also a microcosm of the systematic penetration of China's automotive industry in the Latin American market.

What about BYD? Although they did not directly sponsor this World Cup, their sports marketing map is already the most complete Chinese car maker — 2024 Euro Cup, 2024 Copa America, 2025 European U21, plus a five-year 75 million yuan sponsorship contract with the Chinese Football Association, covering almost all mainstream football IPs. Now, BYD's single-month export in April exceeded 130,000 units, with cumulative overseas sales exceeding 450,000 units.

Image source: BYD 

Nowadays, BYD no longer needs to spend a huge sum to grab a logo spot on the World Cup.

Three paths, one consensus — Chinese car makers going global have passed the stage of whether to participate in global marketing, entering the stage of how to participate more smartly. Hyundai Kia used 27 years to figure out sports marketing experience; Chinese car makers are rapidly catching up with shorter cycles and more diversified strategies.

Robotaxi and Robots: The Most Expensive Practical Exam

This World Cup saw a large number of autonomous driving and robot elements.

Let's talk about a timeline first.

In January this year, a Waymo autonomous taxi hit and injured a child near a primary school in Santa Monica. In the same month, another Waymo drove past a stopped school bus with warning lights on in Texas and was investigated by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

On May 12, Waymo announced the recall of 3,791 Robotaxis — the autonomous driving software had perception defects on waterlogged roads, potentially causing vehicles to drive into roads submerged by water.

But it was also this month that Waymo expanded its Houston service area to nearly 50 square miles, directly covering NRG Stadium — one of the 2026 World Cup venues.

Image source:  Waymo

Recalling on one side, expanding on the other. Looks contradictory, but this contradiction explains a real state — Robotaxi commercialization is experiencing a stage of fixing while running. Not perfect, but participants cannot wait for it to be perfect anymore.

It's not just Waymo. Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, multiple World Cup host cities have already started Robotaxi commercial operations or pilots. In April, Tesla invested 573 vehicles at once in Dallas and Houston to launch fully unmonitored services, directly skipping the safety officer stage — but safety data for these 573 vehicles has not been disclosed so far.

Why are these companies rushing to expand densely before the World Cup?

The reason is simple: The World Cup is a global high-exposure stress test. Millions of fans flood into the city, traffic demand surges, perfectly verifying the autonomous driving system's performance under extreme load. Success is the best advertising; if problems occur, they are at least exposed in real scenarios — much more valuable than closed-door testing.

 Image source: Hyundai Kia

And there is a common feature — These Robotaxi networks will not be withdrawn as the World Cup ends.

Waymo's Houston service area was not designated temporarily; it is permanent urban traffic infrastructure. Tesla's 573 vehicles in Dallas will also not stop operation after the event. The World Cup is just a node, not the end.

Back to Boston Dynamics' robots, why did Hyundai want to put them into the arena?

Because robots are the most scarce visual asset in the current automotive industry narrative. Autonomous driving is hard to perceive with the naked eye — sitting in a Waymo feels about the same as riding in an Uber. But a two-meter tall humanoid robot patrolling the arena corridor has a completely different visual impact.

What Hyundai needs is an image that can be remembered at a glance.

 Image source: Boston Dynamics

The number Hyundai gave itself is: Planning to deploy 25,000 Atlas units inside factories by 2028. If this plan can land, the few on the World Cup are small-scale verification. If it can't land, then they are purely marketing props.

For now, both possibilities exist.

After the Final Whistle

Putting together the automotive map of this World Cup, several lines are very clear.

Hyundai Kia used the 27 years of FIFA relationships accumulated to upgrade sponsorship scope from sticking logos to showing technology. But how much actual revenue World Cup sponsorship can bring, even Hyundai might not be able to say clearly — its defeat in the Chinese market is a warning for the future.

Looking the other way, Chinese car makers chose a smarter curved path — Changan binds the Portuguese team for branding, Zhongtong does products in Mexico City, BYD uses multi-IP coverage for the system. Three different paths, but all answer: How to make overseas consumers believe in Chinese cars.

And Robotaxi and robots are the freshest elements of this edition, and also the riskiest. Waymo recalls while expanding, Boston Dynamics' robot costs remain high — they still have a distance from truly reliable infrastructure, but car companies cannot wait anymore.