FIFA threw a Super Bowl party in the middle of a World Cup final, and the internet still hasn’t decided whether to dance or file a restraining order.
The first halftime show in World Cup final history unfolded Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where Argentina and Spain stood around for 27 minutes while the pitch turned into a variety hour. Madonna opened. The Muppets played Seven Nation Army. BTS did Dynamite. Jason Sudeikis, in character as Ted Lasso, introduced Justin Bieber like a late-game substitution — “Go out there, don’t be nervous, nobody’s watching” — and Bieber sang an acoustic ballad with the final lyric changed to “World Cup Hallelujah.” Shakira and Burna Boy performed the tournament anthem “Dai Dai.” Coldplay closed it with a children’s choir while the word “LOVE” stretched across the field, the Earth substituting for the O.
The musical performances themselves ran about 11 minutes. The rest of the 27-minute gap was stage construction and teardown — nearly double the 15-minute halftime interval the IFAB Laws of the Game prescribe. Spain ultimately won the final 1-0 on a Ferrán Torres goal in the 106th minute of extra time, a result that meant the extended break preceded another 30 minutes of football nobody had planned for.
Chris Martin of Coldplay curated the show, officially branded the “Topps Final Halftime Show.” Madonna emerged from the stadium tunnel in a pink corset aboard a dune buggy driven by Brazilian World Cup winners Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel led an orchestra of New York and Venezuelan musicians alongside the Muppets’ Electric Mayhem — Animal on drums, naturally — through the White Stripes anthem that has become a global football chant. BTS performed in black-and-red. Bieber’s “Everything Hallelujah,” a 2025 release, got the acoustic treatment.
The reactions split along predictable fault lines. Wayne Rooney called it “crap” on the BBC. Gary Neville said he enjoyed it. Roy Keane, never one for half-measures, offered: “It was a bit of an anti-climax, but listen, it’s so nice to see Shakira.” Liam Gallagher posted that it was “a good job I’ve got my spiritual socks on or that halftime entertainment could have tipped me over the edge.” One widely shared post borrowed the Godfather funeral scene: “Look how they massacred my beautiful game.” Another countered that it was better than any Super Bowl halftime show they’d seen. Someone observed that Madonna now had more World Cup final appearances than Cristiano Ronaldo.
The criticism carries a structural edge. FIFA has already drawn fire this tournament for introducing hydration breaks that split halves into quarters — an American-sports convention that purists read as dilution. The halftime show extended that logic. Players who spent 27 minutes idle then had to restart, play a full second half, and eventually go to extra time. The Laws of the Game state halftime intervals should not exceed 15 minutes, though tournament regulations reference 15 minutes without explicitly capping it — a loophole FIFA apparently drove a dune buggy through.
The show tried to thread a needle: American spectacle for a tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, staged in a stadium 10 miles from Manhattan. Whether the experiment becomes tradition or a one-time novelty likely depends on which voices FIFA chooses to hear loudest — the ones who called it the best halftime show they’d ever seen, or the ones quoting Don Corleone.
Sources:
Reuters via Yahoo Sports — Madonna, BTS and Bieber bring star power to World Cup halftime show
Yahoo Sports — FIFA breaks tradition for 30-minute halftime break
Yahoo Sports — Fans rip Madonna, Bieber, BTS and Shakira World Cup halftime
Yahoo Sports — Best images from World Cup halftime show
The Sporting News via Yahoo Sports — Why Ted Lasso introducing Justin Bieber summed up absurdity of World Cup halftime show
Telemundo — Justin Bieber, Shakira, Madonna y BTS brillan en el show de medio tiempo