Star-Studded World Cup Final Halftime Show Delights Music Fans & Upsets Soccer Purists

FIFA made quite the impression in its second World Cup final on U.S. soil, with Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS and Shakira headlining a vibrant, dense 11-minute halftime show at New York-New Jersey Stadium (otherwise known as MetLife Stadium) on Sunday.

The soccer governing body’s first-ever halftime show, curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, raised the intensity following a scoreless first half with a star-studded lineup that celebrated cultures from across the globe.

Madonna opened the historic show, produced by Global Citizen, with her 2000 hit “Music,” accompanied by Brazilian soccer icons Ronaldo and Ronaldinho in a prerecorded video, and concluded the dance track by walking out of the tunnel and onto the field.

It quickly transitioned to the center circle, where Gustavo Dudamel conducted a large orchestra that featured three Muppets from The Electric Mayhem band, including Animal on the drums, performing an instrumental rendition of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” which has become a popular soccer anthem for teams across the globe and certainly got fans at the stadium chanting.

The orchestra then lowered its instruments to replicate Norway’s Viking row, a trend that went viral on social media, and the camera weaved between musicians before finding South Korean megastars BTS, who lit it up with their hit “Dynamite.”

That high was slightly lowered with a quick cut to actors Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, dressed as the characters they portray in the Emmy-winning soccer comedy “Ted Lasso,” who called for a substitution with “heart” and “soul” who could “bring the love,” and in came an eager Justin Bieber, who walked on to the field for an acoustic rendition of “Everything Hallelujah.”

Shakira brought the energy back up with help from Burna Boy for her official World Cup song, “Dai Dai,” and the show closed with the PS22 Chorus of local elementary-school students singing alongside Chris Martin, Muppets and Sesame Street characters, Dudamel and BTS.

It truly was the spectacle Martin and FIFA had promised: a celebration of the global event that has united fans from every country, as evidenced by viral social media videos of tourists passionately celebrating the victories and even the losses throughout the tournament.

Even the closing ceremony moments before kickoff was stacked with performances from Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger, Laura Pausini and Post Malone. Jennifer Hudson also delivered a rousing rendition of the national anthem.

It all culminated with Hollywood star Tom Cruise, who closed the ceremony with a stirring message reiterating what makes the World Cup the most beloved and celebrated competition in all of sports.

“Thirty days ago, 48 nations began a journey. They crossed oceans. They crossed borders. They crossed cultures. And together they showed us why this game belongs to the world. … We have witnessed greatness, and we have shared moments of joy, moments of hope, moments that we will never all forget. Football is a language spoken without words, a force that unites people. That turns strangers into friends and reminds us of what we all have in common,” Cruise said.

FANS, COMMENTATORS CONFLICTED ABOUT HISTORIC HALFTIME SHOW

It’s a tournament that won’t soon be forgotten, mainly because of the amount of star power that was associated with it, especially in the final match. The Topps Halftime Show was a congested, fast-moving 11 minutes that aimed to draw younger audiences and casual fans by featuring some of the most-streamed global artists. Nearly 1.5 billion people viewed the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France in Qatar, and FIFA expects this year’s final in New Jersey to eclipse that.

While musical performances are common in American sports, most notably during the Super Bowl, soccer isn’t known to feature such halftime events.

The Global Citizen-produced show, though, is unlike any other halftime event because the field must be preserved and protected as much as possible for the second half of the match, and the performers had an 11-minute window. That mission was accomplished, but it also extended the World Cup final halftime break to just over 27 minutes, violating FIFA’s own rule that halftime breaks must not exceed 15 minutes.

That was enough to validate the soccer purists who were vehemently opposed to the changes FIFA made to this year’s competition, the largest in its history, with 48 teams and 104 matches.

The addition of hydration breaks at the midpoint of each allowed FOX, the English-language network that televised matches in the U.S., to incorporate additional ads for more advertising revenue. That only drew more fans to NBCUniversal Telemundo’s Spanish-language U.S. broadcast, which opted to keep the camera on the players free from commercials.

With additional advertising revenue and record-high ticket prices, FIFA President Gianni Infantino anticipates that revenues for the 2023-2026 cycle will reach $15 billion. The organization generated a record $7.56 billion in revenue during its previous cycle.

The commercialization of the tournament has left some fans with a sour taste. Even The Cure frontman Robert Smith slammed the halftime show, posting on Instagram days before the performances and sharing details of the event with some of his own commentary, referring to the FIFA president at Gianni Infantosser and quotes around the event described as one that will “celebrate football and our shared values, ensuring a legacy that transcends the final whistle.” And he followed that with “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH… #Breadandcircuses #MUGWANK #pleasejustfuckoff.”

He further explained the post and wrote, “For those of us not quite getting it: the point is not really about who is curating or performing, it is about the #mugwank idea of a football world cup final half time show. If you know understand my ‘AAAAAAAGH!’ a bit better, but still don’t agree, please adjust your read cap, your ‘I 🖤 Janny + Donny + $$$’ tshirt and…knock yourself out?”

Fellow British rocker Liam Gallagher was more succinct with his thoughts.

“This is like a bad trip,” he first posted on X, and followed that with, “It’s a good job I’ve got my spiritual socks on or that halftime entertainment could have tipped me over the edge.”

English soccer star-turned-analyst Wayne Rooney was candid during the BBC broadcast following the halftime show when asked about his thoughts. He replied, “I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap. I did, honestly.”

Regardless of how fans and broadcasters felt about the first World Cup final halftime show, the viewership numbers and revenue will likely justify FIFA’s moves, and music will be a mainstay at the world’s biggest sporting event moving forward.