Iran’s robot football team has demonstrated impressive displays at the 19th edition of the RoboCup World Championships in China, and managed to finish runner-up in the tournament.

Soroush Sadeqnejad, director for the humanoid teen-size robot team from Tehran-based Amirkabir University of Technology, said on Tuesday that the Iranian designed and developed football robots emerged victorious in the technical competitions of the tournament, which included representatives from Germany, India, Taiwan and the United States, to finally land in the second spot.

The 19th RoboCup World Championships opened in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei on July 19. More than 2,000 robotics professionals and fans from 47 countries are competing in the five-day annual contest.

Robots will autonomously operate without external control and will be assessed on their skills like walking, running, kicking, maintaining balance, visual perception and self-localization.

The RoboCup was launched by Japanese researchers in 1993 in an attempt to use soccer to promote the advancement of robotic science and technology. The ultimate goal was to build a robot soccer team that could compete with human World Cup champion teams by 2050.

The project received unexpected attention from researchers outside Japan, who accordingly requested the contest to be staged internationally.

The RoboCup World Championships have been held annually since 1997, and the games seek to advance the development of artificial intelligence.