Hyundai's humanoid robot stuns football star Son Heung-min with advanced skills
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South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group humanoid robot Atlas has demonstrated a series of football techniques in a new World Cup-themed campaign, drawing praise from South Korean captain Son Heung-min.
"School of Football," a five-part social film series launched by Huyndai earlier this week, follows Atlas as it learns the sport through progressive training modeled on professional players.
In the series, Atlas, developed by U.S.-based robotics firm Boston Dynamics, which Hyundai acquired in 2021, studies footage of football legends before learning fundamental skills such as footwork, passing and shooting.
Hyundai, an official FIFA World Cup partner, said the campaign aims to showcase both the current state of robotics and its future potential through one of the world's most popular sports.
"As excitement builds ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Atlas' journey reflects our belief that innovation begins with people — their passion, creativity and expression — and that robotics can help expand what is possible for the future," Sungwon Jee, executive vice president and global chief marketing officer at Hyundai Motor Company, said in a statement released on May 29.
One of Atlas' most challenging achievements in the series is the "Ghost Rabona," a cross-leg kick that requires precise timing, balance and deceptive movement.
Hyundai said the maneuver demonstrates capabilities beyond simple motion copying, requiring the robot to coordinate complex movements while maintaining balance and control.
South Korean football captain Son Heung-min watched Atlas train and expressed surprise at its performance. "This is real? It's better than your average player," Korea JoongAng Daily quoted Son as saying.
According to Hyundai, Atlas learns football skills by analyzing detailed human movement data and practicing in a physics-based virtual environment using reinforcement learning, a type of artificial intelligence training based on repeated trial and error.
The company said the robot must continuously adjust its balance, body position and movement in real time to perform football techniques accurately.
Hyundai said the campaign reflects its vision of robotics as a human-centered technology and identified humanoid robots as a key growth area in the emerging physical AI market.
"It is significant that we showed the world the future of robotics through football in an engaging, human-centered way," Jee said. "We plan to keep building a range of brand experiences that draw on mobility and robotics."
The company said it plans to release additional behind-the-scenes content showing how Atlas was trained, offering a closer look at the technology behind its movements, according to Interesting Engineering.
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