The 2026 World Cup final, held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, featured both a pre-kickoff closing ceremony and a half-time show with numerous musical performances. The match, scheduled for Sunday, July 19, was set to feature a contest between Spain and Argentina. The stadium, which can accommodate up to 82,500 spectators for football matches, was temporarily renamed New York-New Jersey Stadium for the tournament.
The half-time show represented a new addition to the World Cup final, marking the first time such an event has been held in the tournament’s 96-year history. This innovation has drawn comparisons to the NFL Super Bowl‘s half-time entertainment, which has evolved into a major pop culture event. The decision to include a half-time show also meant extending the usual 15-minute half-time mandate set by the International Football Association.
Pre-Match and Half-Time Performances
The closing ceremony, which began at 1:30 PM local time, included performances by artists such as Post Malone, Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robbie Williams. Jennifer Hudson was also scheduled to perform the United States national anthem before kickoff. Additionally, online influencer and professional wrestler IShowSpeed performed his track “Champions,” which gained enough online traction for FIFA to include it on the official FIFA World Cup album.
The half-time show itself was curated by Coldplay‘s Chris Martin and produced in collaboration with Global Citizen. It was expected to last approximately 11 minutes, though reports suggested the break could be extended beyond the standard 15 minutes to allow for stage setup and removal. This extended interval was tested at the previous year’s Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, where the interval lasted just over 24 minutes.
The stage for the World Cup final half-time show was designed to be built directly on the pitch and dismantled quickly. This differs from the Club World Cup final, where the performance stage was located above the stands. Longer half-time breaks have been observed in other major sporting events, such as Shakira‘s performance at the 2024 Copa America final, which reportedly delayed the restart by about 26 minutes.
The half-time lineup featured a diverse array of artists. Madonna performed a version of her 2000 hit “Music,” reworked with a backing track reminiscent of The Trammps‘ “Disco Inferno.” She was accompanied on a vehicle by former Brazil football players Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
BTS, fresh from the European leg of their World Tour ARIRANG concerts, performed their hit song “Dynamite.” The group’s members, including RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, wore custom ARIRANG-red World Cup outfits displaying their names and the number 7. “Dynamite” was their first No. 1 on the Hot 100 and earned them their first Grammy nomination in 2020. Jung Kook had previously performed the official track “Dreamers” at the 2022 World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar.
Other performers included Shakira and Burna Boy, who played a version of “Dai Dai,” a song that had an impact on the British charts. Coldplay performed “Believe in Love” with a children’s choir. Three members of The Muppets‘ house band, The Electric Mayhem, also performed The White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army.” Justin Bieber performed an acoustic ballad titled “Everything Hallelujah.” The show also featured Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the New York Philharmonic, Venezuela‘s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, and PS22. The half-time show supports the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which aims to expand access to education for children.
The final match was scheduled for a 3 PM local time kickoff in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, July 19.
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Source: theguardian.com
