TEHRAN – A total of 56 teams of Iranian students, aged 14 – 18, competed in six leagues of RoboCup Iran 2026, held from May 13 to 15, showcasing their scientific, technical, and creative capabilities.

Over the past three days, students took part in different leagues such as Junior Soccer (open), Junior Soccer (Light Weight), Junior Rescue (Line), Junior Rescue (maze), Junior Rescue Stimulation, and Onstage Leagues, Mehr news agency reported.

Teams that had excelled in the competition will be selected to represent Iran in RoboCup 2026 INCHEON, which is scheduled to take place from June 30 to July 6 in Incheon, South Korea.

Soccer leagues are among the most popular competitions. By the end of the first two days, 16 competitions in Junior Soccer (open), and 45 in Junior Soccer (Light Weight) were held. Teams use their own designed robots to hold humanoid football matches.

Six competitions were held in Junior Rescue (Line) in which robots should follow specific routes and complete missions defined for them. The accuracy in moving, recognizing the path, and completing tasks properly are among the main criteria, here.

Students competed in six Junior Rescue (maze) and Simulation League events, as well. In Junior Rescue (maze), robots should navigate through challenging terrains; recognizing signs, making quick decisions, and navigating in an unfamiliar environment are among the main features of the league.

In Junior Rescue Simulation, students design simulated environments utilizing specialized programming platforms like Python to test the performance of robots. This part plays an important role in developing programming skills, algorithm design, and robot performance analysis.

RoboCup Onstage League is one of the most creative sections of the competition. Teams design, build, and program to act on stage.

RoboCup 2026 will take place at Songdo Convensia in Incheon, and is expected to bring together more than 3,000 competitors, researchers, students, and professionals from dozens of countries, as well as 15,000 visitors interested in robotics, to South Korea. The previous edition of the event was hosted in Salvador, Brazil, in 2025.

Often referred to as the “World Cup of Robotics”, RoboCup is a global benchmark for robotics research and innovation. Since 1997, the competition has brought together leading universities, research institutions, and emerging talent, challenging teams to design and program autonomous robots capable of performing complex tasks inspired by real-world scenarios — from robot soccer to domestic service simulations — with no human intervention.

Recent achievements

Attending the Rayan 2025 international artificial intelligence and programming competition, known as World Finals, Iranian students showcased a great performance in both AI and programming sections. In the programming section, Ali Safari was placed first. China secured second and third place, followed by India, Vietnam, Armenia, Serbia, and Pakistan, respectively, ISNA reported.

In the AI section, Iranian teams, namely, no Trust issues here, Pileh, AI Guardians of Trust, AIUoK, red-serotenin, Persistence, and GGWP were placed first to seventh.

The final round of the Rayan international artificial intelligence and programming contest was held on Friday at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, with participants from 25 countries.

Supported by the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy, the event kicked off on November 25, attracting hundreds of contestants from the U.S., Russia, China, India, Italy, Chile, Australia, Armenia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Taiwan, Romania, Singapore, Poland, Slovakia, Vietnam, Serbia, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and Ethiopia, as well as the host, Iran.

The solo programming section was held with 60 Iranian and foreign participants who worked individually to solve nine complicated algorithmic problems within a duration of three to four hours.

The scientific competition aimed to promote knowledge, foster international networking, and establish scientific authority in AI and programming.

Enhancing algorithmic thinking, problem-solving skills, teamwork, developing innovative ideas, starting new businesses, and expanding AI engineering and programming were among the other objectives of the contest.

The Iranian robotics team, called Mositto, managed to win a gold medal at the 8th edition of RoboCup Asia-Pacific (RCAP) 2025.

The competition was held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, from November 10 to 15. Hosted by Khalifa University of Science and Technology, it brought together over 160 teams and more than 700 participants with nearly 2,000 researchers, industry professionals, students, and visitors from around the globe to witness the competition in AI-driven autonomous robotics challenges, with eight leagues and 15 sub-leagues, including soccer and rescue.

The event highlighted themes like smart mobility, AI for sustainability, and technologies addressing regional challenges.

The team, comprising eight students, secured first place at RoboCupJunior Rescue, Rescue Line, and Secondary League, showcasing Iranian students’ talents and creativity to the world.

A three-member team of Iranian students won two silver medals at the ninth edition of the First Global Challenge (FGC), an Olympics-style international robotics competition held in Panama from October 29 to November 1.

The First Global Challenge takes place in a different country each year. FIRST Global invites each nation to send a team to build and program a robot for competition.

Iranian students secured first and second places in the inventions and innovative technologies area in the TEKNOFEST competition, showcasing new Iranian youths’ capabilities in robotics, artificial intelligence, and technological innovations.

Hosted by Istanbul, Turkey, from September 17 to 21, the competition aimed for individuals to improve themselves in the field of robotics – electronics – coding, and to design robots suitable for specified tasks.

The Iranian team, composed of Kian Karbalei, Mehrtash Razgordani, Artin Islampanah, Seyyed Amir-Homan Tabatabei-nejad, Samyar Reza-Soltani, Ardin Khanalizadeh, Mohammad Reivandi, and Mehdi Reivandi, Mehr news agency reported.

Competitors with 980 projects from 56 countries, including Germany, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Russia, the Netherlands, India, Iran, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Paraguay, participated in the event.

The robotics and earth science teams of Iran won different awards at the Federation of International RoboSports Association (FIRA) and the International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) competitions, which were held in South Korea and China, respectively.

FIRA RoboWorld Cup and Summit 2025 was held from August 11 to 15. The Iranian delegations won five championships in the Air League and Sport League (students under the age of 19), as well as Challenge and Youth League. They secured four runner-up positions and two third-places in autonomous vehicles, youth creative task, and the Sport League.

Iranian students secured three gold medals and a special award in the International Science and Invention Fair (ISIF) 2025, ranking them among the top innovators worldwide.