The annual FIRST Global Challenge is an international robotics competition run by FIRST Global. For 2026, national teams build and program robots before traveling to Incheon, Republic of Korea, for the Igniting Innovation challenge. The robotics game and its New Technology Experience focus on wildfire prevention, mitigation, recovery, and environmental resilience.
Students from more than 190 countries compete and collaborate through hands-on engineering and strategic gameplay. Student selection is not centralized: each in-country partner chooses its national team.
Benefits & funding
- Confirmed teams use a standardized educational robotics kit containing the mechanical, electrical, and software components needed for the challenge.
- Participants gain hands-on experience in robot design, programming, teamwork, and international collaboration.
- The reviewed official pages do not state a universal stipend, travel grant, accommodation package, or participant fee. This record therefore uses Self Funded as the default classification; candidates must confirm any local support with their national partner.
Eligibility
- Participants must be students aged 14–18.
- An official team consists of three to five students, one adult technical mentor or coach, and one team organizer.
- Each country has one national team, selected by the relevant in-country partner; interested students must contact that partner through the national-team map.
- No prior robotics experience is stated as a requirement; the official kit is designed for both beginner and experienced teams.
- FIRST Global publishes no universal gender or residency restriction, but national partners may apply their own selection criteria.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Education required
High School
Age requirement
14–18 yrs
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Application process
- 1Open the 2026 national-team map on the program page and locate the relevant country profile.
- 2Use the profile’s contact details to ask the in-country partner about its student-selection process and local deadline.
- 3Complete the partner’s selection steps; FIRST Global does not publish one central student application form.
- 4After the national team is confirmed, the official team mentor receives registration instructions by email.
- 5Build and program the robot after the kit is shipped, and prepare the wildfire-focused challenge work before the event.
Program timeline
National team selection
Set by each in-country partner; no global student deadline is published.
After team confirmation
The official mentor receives registration instructions, and robot building begins after the kit is shipped.
FIRST Global Challenge begins in Incheon.
Oct 7, 2026
FIRST Global Challenge ends.
Oct 10, 2026