A team of Luxembourg students has achieved a historic milestone by securing silver at the 2026 FIRST Global Challenge in Incheon, South Korea—the largest and most prestigious robotics competition for high school students. The MS20 makerspace team from Lycée français Vauban earned second place, marking the first time Luxembourg has reached the podium at the event, often dubbed the ‘Olympics of robotics.’
The competition, held from 26 September to 2 October, brought together 185 teams from around the world. For the Vauban students—Cléa, Esteban, Alix, Côme, and Léonore—the victory represents years of dedication and innovation. Their makerspace at the school fosters creativity, teamwork, and technical skills, providing the foundation for their success.
This was Luxembourg’s third appearance at the FIRST Global Challenge, following participations in Geneva (2022) and Singapore (2023). The 2026 finals were particularly intense, with teams forming international alliances to tackle real-time challenges. The Vauban team’s ability to collaborate with peers from the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg was crucial in advancing to the finals.
In the closely contested final, their alliance scored 1,016 points, finishing just 44 points behind the winning team led by Uzbekistan, Moldova, Venezuela, and El Salvador. The slim margin highlighted the high level of competition, with the third-place alliance—led by China—scoring 1,009 points.
The team’s journey was not without challenges. Technical issues during the qualification phase forced them to adapt quickly, but their strategic partnerships and resilience paid off. In the final rounds, they secured a narrow victory in one match by leveraging Japan’s high-performance robot, which could launch up to seven balls per second. Their perseverance earned them a proud second-place finish, cementing Luxembourg’s place in the global robotics community.
Jérôme Metzler, the physics and computer science teacher who led the team, called the achievement ‘unprecedented’ for the Grand Duchy. The victory not only showcases Luxembourg’s growing talent in STEM fields but also underscores the importance of international collaboration in innovation.
