We analysed publication activity from European universities and public research institutions between June 2024 and June 2026- a period spanning UEFA Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup- to explore the academic research landscape behind football innovation.
Great Britain accounts for the largest share of publications across the full analysis period. Turkey, meanwhile, recorded the strongest year-on-year growth among the five leading publication countries, with output increasing by almost 30% in June 2025–26 compared with the previous twelve-month period.
The research itself goes far beyond VAR. Vision and AI analytics represent the largest football-tech theme, followed by** wearables and monitoring, refereeing technology, and VR/AR**. At a broader level, **performance and training **remain the most prominent research area, alongside injury prevention, sport psychology and sports analytics.
Some of the fastest-growing topics also show how closely football research is connecting with wider technological and societal developments. Publications related to AI in Healthcare and Education grew by around 133% year on year, while Ethics and Social Impacts of AI increased by around 109%.
This reflects a wider shift in football innovation. Cameras, sensors, connected equipment and algorithms are increasingly becoming parts of the same systems, supporting performance, decision-making and how the game is experienced. WIPO similarly describes modern football technology as moving away from isolated tools towards connected decision-support ecosystems.
Across Europe, universities and public research institutions are helping build that foundation through work spanning sports science, healthcare, engineering, AI and the social sciences.
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