BTS, Madonna, Shakira and Bieber light up World Cup half-time show
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(Clockwise from top left) Former Brazil football players Ronaldinho and Ronaldo on stage with Madonna; and Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber also performed during the World Cup final’s half-time show on July 19.
PHOTOS: REUTERS
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey – Musical headliners Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, BTS and Coldplay were joined by Brazilian soccer icons and Ted Lasso actors in a spectacular World Cup final half-time show on July 19.
The star-packed, Super Bowl-style extravaganza – a first for football’s showpiece event – also featured a tribute to Brazil’s late football icon Pele and a rendition of The White Stripes’ 2003 anthem Seven Nation Army led by conductor Gustavo Dudamel and featuring musicians from the US, Venezuela and Iran.
Sesame Street and The Muppets characters joined Coldplay and a New York elementary school choir to close out a performance designed to raise money for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which promotes access to sport for underprivileged children.
The 12-minute performance meant the total half-time break in the match between Spain and Argentina lasted 27 minutes.
Largest since Live Aid?
Organisers had billed the show as “the single largest gathering of artists united for a cause since Live Aid” and “the most-watched 11 minutes of broadcast music performance in history”.
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino predicted “a couple of billion” people would tune in.
The extended interruption to soccer’s most important game had drawn some criticism over the potential impact on players’ performance.
While highly unusual for soccer, the show was slightly shorter than most recent Super Bowl half-time performances, which have typically been around 13 minutes long.
The crowd erupted with a roar as the show began with Madonna being transported through tunnels beneath the MetLife Stadium on a dune buggy driven by Brazil football legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
Her performance of her 2000 song Music led to an orchestra featuring the New York Philharmonic, Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and Iranian violinist Bijan Mortazavi performing Seven Nation Army – a rock hit that has become a global US stadium staple.
Footage of the Norway fans’ Viking-row celebration from the 2026 tournament led into K-pop sensation BTS performing their 2020 smash hit Dynamite, rewritten with football-specific lyrics, before actors Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt from sports comedy-drama series Ted Lasso made a surprise appearance.
K-pop sensation BTS performing during the half-time show.
PHOTO: REUTERS
They introduced Canadian pop megastar Bieber, who performed an emotional, World Cup-tailored version of his 2025 track Everything Hallelujah, before Shakira and Nigerian singer Burna Boy ramped the energy back up with the 2026 World Cup anthem Dai Dai, accompanied by Ugandan dancers.
‘Driving force’
Giant screens showed footage of Pele from 1977, addressing the crowd at the old Giants Stadium on the same New Jersey site following his final professional game. Pele died in 2022, months after the last World Cup.
PS22 Chorus, a New York school choir that has gone viral globally with YouTube covers of popular hits, closed out the show, with Coldplay – whose singer Chris Martin curated the entire performance – and characters from The Muppets and Sesame Street.
The FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund was described by organisers as the “driving force” behind the half-time show.
It disburses cash to community groups that provide education and sport to underprivileged children in countries including Ghana, South Africa, France and Britain.
The fund aims to raise US$100 million (S$129 million). It had passed US$60 million before the show, including a US$1 donation from every World Cup ticket sold, plus contributions from corporations, nation states and private donors.
FIFA has already announced 58 groups that will receive grants, reaching 400,000 children worldwide.
Even before the game, a parade of stars took the microphone to whip up the crowd.
Singer Post Malone headlined the closing ceremony and actor Tom Cruise delivered a monologue about football unifying the world – but was largely drowned out in the stadium by singing fans.
Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger and Jennifer Hudson were among the other A-list performers. AFP
