Silver at the World Humanoid Robot Games for the Sapienza team, a long-standing fixture at the RomeCup. A new international challenge awaits at Maker Faire Rome in October
From the RomeCup to the podium in Beijing. The SPQR team from Sapienza University of Rome, a long-standing fixture in the Fondazione Mondo Digitale’s robotics community, won the silver medal at the World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 (22–26 August), one of the largest international competitions dedicated to humanoid robotics.
This is a result we are particularly pleased to report, because behind that medal are researchers and young talents whom we have seen grow, experiment and compete over the years, including on the pitches of the RomeCup, transforming robot football into an extraordinary training ground for research.
In Beijing, the SPQR team, affiliated with the “Antonio Ruberti” Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome, reached the grand final of the football competition featuring large humanoid robots. It was the only non-Chinese team to remain in the competition right up to the final stages. The final, held at the Ice Ribbon, the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, saw victory go to the Tsinghua Hephaestus team from Tsinghua University, already champions of the Large Division at RoboCup 2026.
Representing SPQR in China were Vincenzo Suriani, who leads the team, Valerio Spagnoli, Michele Brienza, Eugenio Bugli and John Marcelo.
A story we know well
For the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, the result in Beijing has the special flavour of the successes of our long-standing friends. The SPQR team has been taking part in RoboCup competitions since 1998, and its journey has been intertwined with that of the RomeCup for many years. In previous editions, we have already followed the researchers from Sapienza University of Rome in their demonstrations with the small Nao humanoids, in their football challenges and on their path towards international competitions. At the RomeCup 2026, hosted by Sapienza itself, the public were able to get a close-up look at the team’s new generation of robot footballers. In the Humanoid Lab Corner, Vincenzo Suriani and his colleagues explained the transition from the Nao to the more advanced Booster T1, demonstrating how a robot learns to recognise the ball, orientate itself, move around the pitch and make decisions independently. Just a few weeks ago, whilst the world was watching football played by humans, we reported on this very research through the words of Vincenzo Suriani, Luca Iocchi and the robot Virgilio: a different kind of football, in which every action stems from the integration of artificial intelligence, computer vision, motor control and cooperation.
And this is precisely the scientific value of robotic competitions. The football pitch is a complex and unpredictable environment in which perception, movement, balance, localisation and decision-making must work together in real time. Solutions and methodologies tested during a match can then contribute to the development of very different applications.
As Vincenzo Suriani explains: “We are truly very pleased with what we achieved in China with SPQR. Second place in this Olympiad is a truly significant result, particularly given that ours was the only non-Chinese team to remain in the competition until the very end in the large-robot football division.”
The researcher emphasises that the work carried out at the RoboCup enables the joint advancement of artificial intelligence and robotics, developing methodologies destined to extend far beyond the realm of football. In recent years, with increasingly sophisticated platforms and greater computational power, the group has continued to improve, particularly in the areas of perception and autonomous decision-making systems.
The next match is in Rome
After Beijing, it is already time for SPQR to return to the pitch. From 23 to 25 October, at the Maker Faire Rome at the Gazometro Ostiense, the Sapienza team will in fact be among the protagonists of the RoboCup Italian Open – Humanoid Soccer Workshop and Games, the first international tournament in Italy dedicated to humanoid robot football, recognised on the RoboCup circuit. The teams will compete using five fully autonomous robots, once again putting their hardware, software, perception, locomotion and decision-making capabilities to the test. For us, it will also be an opportunity to meet up again on the pitch with friends and researchers who, for years, have shared the same conviction as RomeCup: competitions are important not just for winning, but because they accelerate research, foster discussion and allow young people to see science in action. Our congratulations therefore go to SPQR for this wonderful medal. And, as always, we look forward to the next challenge.
