Slowly but surely, artificial intelligence is finding its way into sports. The latest venue? This year’s World Cup, where Google will be partnering with the defending champions Argentina to showcase Gemini on and off the pitch.

The agreement with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) makes Gemini the main global sponsor of the national team. As part of the collaboration, Google Gemini’s logo will appear on the Albiceleste's training kit and the AI tool itself will be used to analyze the team’s plays, form, performance, and statistics.

“It’s not just about opening the door [to] AI,” says Google spokesperson Flor Sabatini, “but about understanding its real limits while improving experience.” During the tournament, players and coaching staff will have access to AI models to break down plays, analyze opponent statistics and, in theory, shorten the time it takes for that analysis to be put into action on the pitch. Google has not detailed exactly what internal tools Argentina will use, but the intention is clear: The World Cup will be a stress test for Google’s AI in the high-pressure environment of professional soccer.

For the fan, the proposition is more tangible and, in some ways, more ambitious. Google’s search engine will be reconfigured to act like a fellow fan, with AI-generated answers for real-time queries, analysis of key plays and in-depth statistics. It will also allow fans to create songs, memes, cartoons, and other visual content to encourage social media interaction during and after each match.

The move has its risks. Bringing AI into World Cup arenas means exposing it to millions of simultaneous queries, diverse cultural contexts, and the inevitable volatility of the outcome of individual matches. If Gemini mixes up a statistic, invents a lineup, or generates an image with a misplaced shield, the error will have a global level of exposure.