Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber turned the interval of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final into a global music spectacle on Sunday, 19 July, as FIFA staged a dedicated final half-time show for the first time in the tournament’s history. The 11-minute production took place at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford during the final between Spain and Argentina, bringing together pop, K-pop, Latin music, orchestral performance and a children’s choir on football’s biggest stage, The WP Times reports.
Curated by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, the show was conceived as both an entertainment event and a fundraising platform. Madonna opened the production before BTS, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Burna Boy, Coldplay and the PS22 Chorus appeared during a fast-moving sequence supporting the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. The initiative finances community organisations working to expand children’s access to education and sport, with FIFA and Global Citizen reporting that approximately $60 million had been raised by the time of the final.
Madonna opens the historic World Cup half-time show
Madonna began the performance with Music, her 2000 dance hit, appearing on the pitch alongside former Brazil internationals Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
The 67-year-old singer’s entrance established the show’s central theme: football history meeting global pop culture. Her segment incorporated references to her club-era sound before the production moved rapidly towards an orchestral interpretation of Seven Nation Army, the White Stripes song that has become an unofficial anthem inside football grounds.
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel appeared during the sequence, while characters from the Muppets’ Electric Mayhem added a deliberately theatrical element to the stadium production.
The transitions were fast and carefully timed. Unlike a conventional concert set, no performer was given enough time for a full standalone show; each appearance formed part of a single continuous broadcast designed to fit within FIFA’s extended half-time interval.
BTS bring K-pop to football’s biggest match
BTS followed Madonna with Dynamite, performing across the temporary stage and pitch as the atmosphere shifted from disco-influenced pop to K-pop choreography. Their inclusion demonstrated FIFA’s effort to attract audiences well beyond traditional football markets. BTS command one of the largest international fan communities in contemporary music, giving the half-time programme immediate reach across Asia, Europe and the Americas. Actors Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt then appeared as their characters Ted Lasso and Coach Beard, providing a brief comic transition before introducing Justin Bieber.
Bieber delivered one of the quieter moments of the programme, accompanying himself on guitar for an acoustic performance of Everything Hallelujah, a track from his 2025 album Swag II. The stripped-back arrangement offered a deliberate contrast to the choreography and stadium-scale production surrounding it.
Shakira and Burna Boy perform the World Cup anthem
Shakira closed the main pop section alongside Nigerian artist Burna Boy with Dai Dai, the official song associated with the 2026 tournament. The Colombian singer returned to the World Cup stage after appearing during the competition’s opening celebrations. Her involvement also continued a long association with the tournament, following previous World Cup performances and the enduring success of Waka Waka, the official song of the 2010 finals in South Africa.
The finale brought Coldplay together with the PS22 Chorus, a children’s ensemble from Staten Island, for We Dance, an original song created for the occasion. More than 50 schoolchildren participated, joined by the Muppets and Australian performer Emmanuel Kelly. The children’s presence connected the entertainment programme directly to the education fund it was promoting, rather than leaving the charitable campaign separate from the performance itself.
Who performed at the 2026 World Cup final half-time show
| Performer | Main contribution |
|---|---|
| Madonna | Opened with Music |
| Gustavo Dudamel | Conducted the orchestral football sequence |
| The Muppets | Appeared during Seven Nation Army and the finale |
| BTS | Performed Dynamite |
| Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt | Appeared as Ted Lasso and Coach Beard |
| Justin Bieber | Played an acoustic version of Everything Hallelujah |
| Shakira and Burna Boy | Performed the tournament song Dai Dai |
| Coldplay and the PS22 Chorus | Closed the show with We Dance |
| Emmanuel Kelly | Joined the final ensemble performance |
Why the World Cup half-time show was a major change for FIFA
Musical performances have long accompanied World Cup opening and closing ceremonies, but the final itself had traditionally retained football’s standard 15-minute interval. That changed in New Jersey, where FIFA introduced a separate half-time production modelled more closely on the entertainment format associated with the Super Bowl. British broadcasters BBC and ITV had confirmed in advance that they would carry the complete show, despite concerns that the stage construction and removal could extend the interval to between 25 and 30 minutes.
The decision represented a significant commercial and cultural shift. FIFA is increasingly presenting the World Cup not only as a football tournament but as a month-long global entertainment property capable of combining sport, music, celebrity appearances and charitable campaigns. The approach is likely to divide supporters. Some will regard the production as a natural response to the scale of the modern World Cup, particularly at a final staged near New York. Others may see the extended interval as an unnecessary interruption to the most important match in international football.
Post Malone leads the closing ceremony before kick-off
The half-time show was not the only musical production surrounding the final. A separate closing ceremony took place before Spain and Argentina entered the pitch, with Post Malone among the headline performers. Jennifer Hudson, Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger, Laura Pausini, Swae Lee and internet personality IShowSpeed also appeared, while actor Tom Cruise delivered a filmed or staged address as part of the programme. Hudson performed the United States national anthem, while María Becerra sang Argentina’s anthem before the match. The collection of performers underlined the host nation’s ambition to present the final as a major American-style entertainment event as well as a sporting contest.
FIFA education fund reaches $60 million
The performances supported the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which finances community organisations working to expand access to education and football. FIFA had previously pledged to contribute one dollar from every ticket sold across the tournament’s 104 matches. Global Citizen and FIFA announced 31 grant recipients operating in 18 countries shortly before the final, with the first funding round directed towards locally managed education and sports projects.
By the time Madonna, BTS, Bieber and Shakira took the field, the initiative had raised approximately $60 million towards its wider fundraising target. The result was a half-time show built around two distinct ambitions: to give the expanded World Cup a globally recognisable entertainment centrepiece and to use its enormous television audience to direct attention towards children who remain excluded from education and organised sport. Whether the experiment becomes a permanent feature of future finals remains uncertain. What is already clear is that the 2026 final altered the established rhythm of the World Cup’s biggest match — and placed a full-scale international pop production at the centre of it.
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