A multi-football-player tracking model based on improved Deep-EIoU

doi:10.11996/JG.j.2095-302X.2026051001

Abstract

Abstract:

To address the challenges of identity confusion and trajectory fragmentation caused by similar appearances and rapid motion in multi-football-player tracking scenarios, a Multi-Object Tracking (MOT) model based on an improved Deep-EIoU framework was proposed. Building on the original detection-matching pipeline of Deep-EIoU, the proposed method introduced a trajectory-level global optimization mechanism combining appearance consistency and motion coherence, and the initial association results at the tracklet level were further refined. First, a tracklet splitter module was used to identify and separates mixed-identity segments, eliminating the propagation of erroneous identities. Second, a tracklet connector module performed global fusion of fragmented trajectories under spatio-temporal constraints to recover long-term continuous tracking of targets, thereby improving identity preservation and trajectory continuity in complex dynamic scenarios. Experimental results showed that the improved Deep-EIoU achieved superior performance on multiple metrics, with HOTA, IDF1, AssA, MOTA, and DetA reaching 89.1%, 82.1%, 79.4%, 96.7%, and 99.1% on the SoccerNet-Tracking dataset, and 78.1%, 80.1%, 68.4%, 97.1%, and 88.6% on the SportsMOT dataset, respectively, outperforming mainstream multi-object tracking methods in both identity stability and continuity. The proposed model demonstrated high tracking accuracy in football and other complex sports scenarios, providing a technical foundation for intelligent sports analysis and tactical research.

Key words: football, players, multi-object tracking, deep learning, appearance association

CLC Number:

WU Xue, LIU Ziping. A multi-football-player tracking model based on improved Deep-EIoU[J]. Journal of Graphics, 2026, 47(5): 1001-1014.

Figures/Tables 13

References 25

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运动类型	平均轨迹数	平均帧数	平均轨迹长度	平均轨迹密度
篮球	10	845.4	767.9	9.1
足球	22	673.9	422.1	12.8
排球	12	360.4	335.9	11.2

运动类型	平均轨迹数	平均帧数	平均轨迹长度	平均轨迹密度
篮球	10	845.4	767.9	9.1
足球	22	673.9	422.1	12.8
排球	12	360.4	335.9	11.2

方法	HOTA	AssA	MOTA	DetA
FairMOT	57.9	50.5	83.6	66.6
ByteTrack	71.5	60.7	94.6	84.3
BoT-SORT	77.0	63.4	95.6	93.5
OC-SORT	78.1	64.7	96.4	94.3
Deep-EIoU	85.4	73.6	96.5	99.2
DeepSORT	69.5	58.7	94.8	82.6
McByte	85.0	72.3	96.8	96.7
改进Deep-EIoU	89.1	79.4	96.7	99.1

方法	HOTA	AssA	MOTA	DetA
FairMOT	57.9	50.5	83.6	66.6
ByteTrack	71.5	60.7	94.6	84.3
BoT-SORT	77.0	63.4	95.6	93.5
OC-SORT	78.1	64.7	96.4	94.3
Deep-EIoU	85.4	73.6	96.5	99.2
DeepSORT	69.5	58.7	94.8	82.6
McByte	85.0	72.3	96.8	96.7
改进Deep-EIoU	89.1	79.4	96.7	99.1

方法	训练配置	HOTA/%	AssA/%	MOTA/%	DetA/%	IDF1/%	IDs
FairMOT	Train	49.3	34.7	86.4	70.2	53.5	9 928
CenterTrack	Train	62.7	48.0	90.8	82.1	60.0	10 481
ByteTrack	Train	62.8	51.2	94.1	77.1	69.8	3 267
ByteTrack	Train+Val	64.1	52.3	95.9	78.5	71.4	3 089
BoT-SORT	Train	68.7	55.9	94.5	84.4	70.0	6 729
OC-SORT	Train	71.9	59.8	94.5	86.4	72.2	3 093
OC-SORT	Train+Val	73.7	61.5	96.5	88.5	74.0	2 728
Deep-EIoU	Train	74.1	63.1	95.1	87.2	75.0	3 066
Deep-EIoU	Train+Val	77.2	67.7	96.3	88.2	76.8	2 659
QDTrack	Train	60.4	47.2	90.1	77.5	62.3	6 377
GTR	Train	54.5	45.9	67.9	64.8	55.8	9 567
TransTrack	Train	68.9	57.5	92.6	82.7	71.5	4 992
MixSort-Byte	Train+Val	65.7	54.8	96.2	78.8	74.1	2 472
MixSort-OC	Train+Val	74.1	62.0	96.5	88.5	74.4	2 781
MotionTrack	Train	74.0	61.7	96.6	88.8	74.0	—
DiffMOT	Train	72.1	60.5	94.5	86.0	72.8	—
DiffMOT	Train+Val	76.2	65.1	97.1	89.3	76.1	—
MambaTrack+	Train	71.3	58.6	94.9	86.7	71.1	—
MambaTrack	Train	72.6	60.3	95.3	87.6	72.8	—
ByteSSM	Train+Val	74.4	62.4	96.8	88.8	74.5	—
McByte	Train+Val	76.9	64.7	97.2	—	77.5	—
改进Deep-EIoU	Train	75.8	64.5	96.8	87.4	76.3	2 731
改进Deep-EIoU	Train+Val	78.1	68.4	97.1	88.6	80.1	2 538