The traditional football scouting model, long dependent on extensive travel, personal networks and subjective assessments, is being challenged by a new generation of artificial intelligence-powered platforms that promise to connect clubs with previously overlooked talent.
Across South America and Europe, startups are increasingly using smartphone technology and AI-driven performance analysis to help young players showcase their abilities directly to professional clubs, potentially transforming how football identifies future stars.
For Brazilian teenager Leo Veiga, the technology provided an opportunity that conventional scouting pathways had failed to deliver.
Playing for a modest club in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, Veiga had little visibility among major recruiters. Seeking another route, he uploaded videos of his training sessions to Footbao, a Switzerland-based football scouting application that evaluates players through AI-powered analysis.
The platform identified him as a promising prospect. Within months, Veiga secured a trial with Italian club Lecce before signing a youth contract with Serie B side Spezia.
“AI opened a new door,” Veiga told AFP. “I thought, ‘I’m going to download the app and give it a try… because nothing else is working out for me.'”
His story reflects a broader shift taking place in football recruitment, where technology companies are attempting to make talent identification more accessible while helping clubs process growing volumes of player data.
Filling football’s data gap
According to industry executives cited by AFP, one of the biggest limitations of traditional scouting is the lack of information on players at the earliest stages of development.
“Professional clubs have huge databases, but they mostly contain players who have already been scouted,” Sven Muller, marketing director at German sports technology company CUJU, told AFP. “There is no reliable data on talent at the earliest stages.”
Platforms such as Footbao and CUJU seek to address that problem by allowing players to create digital profiles through standardised football exercises.
Users record themselves performing drills designed to assess skills such as speed, ball control, passing accuracy and technical execution. Artificial intelligence then analyses the footage and converts those performances into measurable data that can be reviewed by clubs and player agencies.
The approach enables clubs to assess a much larger pool of players than would be possible through traditional scouting operations alone.
Growing adoption of these tech startups
The platforms have already attracted significant interest among aspiring footballers.
Founded in 2023, Footbao says it has registered more than 120,000 users across Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. The company estimates that between 14,000 and 15,000 players within that network have demonstrated high-potential profiles based on its assessment criteria.
CUJU has recorded approximately 160,000 downloads within a year of launching. Football institutions are also beginning to incorporate the technology into their recruitment processes.
Brazilian club Santos FC, renowned for developing both Pelé and Neymar, has partnered with Footbao as part of efforts to expand its talent identification network.
For clubs managing large youth systems, the platforms can also help reduce the burden of reviewing thousands of unsolicited applications. Joao Paulo Sampaio, head of youth development at Palmeiras, said his department receives between 30 and 40 player videos every day from hopeful footballers seeking opportunities.
Technology that can conduct an initial screening process allows academies to focus their resources on the most promising candidates.
New opportunities in women’s football
Supporters of AI-based scouting argue that the technology could prove particularly valuable in areas where traditional recruitment networks remain limited, including women’s grassroots football.
In Sao Paulo, 15-year-old Marcela Geremias de Lima used CUJU’s platform to assess her technical abilities and create a performance profile. The data helped earn her an invitation to an elite youth showcase and eventually a place in the Under-15 squad at Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.
The development comes as Brazil prepares to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a tournament expected to boost investment and participation across the women’s game. Industry observers believe digital scouting tools could help identify talented players who may otherwise remain outside the reach of established academy systems.
Human scouts still central
Despite rapid advances in technology, clubs and recruiters do not view AI as a replacement for traditional scouting. Instead, the platforms are increasingly being used as an early-stage filtering tool, helping clubs identify prospects before sending coaches and scouts to conduct more detailed evaluations.
By expanding access to talent and generating data on players who might never have entered conventional scouting databases, AI-driven platforms are creating new pathways into professional football.
For thousands of young players around the world, the next opportunity may arrive not through a scout on the sidelines but through a smartphone in their hands.