Madonna, BTS and Shakira headlined the first halftime show ever at a FIFA World Cup final on Sunday, sharing an 11-minute medley at New York New Jersey Stadium with Justin Bieber, Burna Boy and, somewhat improbably, the Muppets.
The show was hosted by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and broadcast live during the championship match between Argentina and Spain, marking the first time in the tournament’s history that the final has been interrupted for a musical performance.
Putting that many stars in eleven minutes meant no one had much room.
Most artists spent around two minutes on the field, and in Madonna’s case, a little less than that.
The 67-year-old opened proceedings in a pre-recorded segment, riding a buggy through the tunnels beneath the stadium with Brazilian legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho at the wheel, singing a reworked version of her 2000 hit. Music mixed with pieces of Disco Inferno And Danceteria.
By the time she appeared in front of the crowd, the song was almost finished. She struck a pose and passed the baton.
What followed happened quickly and quickly.
Gustavo Dudamel, the outgoing conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has led musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra through Seven Nations Armyjoined by Iranian violinist Bijan Mortazavi and the Muppets’ house band, Electric Mayhem.
BTS then took the field for a soccer-themed party Dynamitewith rewritten lyrics, before Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt appeared as Ted Lasso and Coach Beard to introduce the next act.
Their replacement was Bieber, 32, who brought it all back to a solo acoustic reading of Alleluia from last year Loot II.
Shakira closed out the all-star tour alongside Burna Boy, with the duo reuniting after their appearance at the tournament’s opening ceremony in Mexico City last month to perform Dai-Daithe official song of the 2026 World Cup, supported by Uganda’s Ghetto Kids in bright yellow.
The finale belonged to more than fifty fifth graders from PS22 in Staten Island, who sang We dancean original Coldplay song written for the occasion, joined by the group, Australian singer Emmanuel Kelly and more Muppets.
How long this all lasted had been a topic of discussion for weeks, and the numbers explain why.
The performance itself took place in a matter of seconds in its eleven-minute slot, but the half as a whole lasted 27 minutes and 22 seconds, the longest in World Cup history, and well beyond the maximum 15-minute stoppage that International Football Association rules allow players to play.
Not everyone was won over.
Wayne Rooney, on commentary duty for the BBCdelivered a straightforward verdict: “I like a lot of these artists, but I thought they were shit.”
Shakira, for her part, previously spoke candidly about how unclear it all still was.
“It will be a shared halftime show,” she said. The Capital Evening Show with Jimmy Hill on July 8.
“It’s going to be pretty historic, five incredible artists. Well, four incredible artists plus me.”
She admitted that she was still figuring out how to make the show different from her opening ceremony, and that the running order was determined almost until the last minute. She was, she said, as curious as anyone about how it would happen.
The day had started at a much gentler pace.
Post Malone headlined a pre-show that began 90 minutes before kickoff and ran until Wow, Sunflower with Swae Lee, and a new song, Chrome Heartbreakerteasing that he’s long overdue Eternal buzz album.
Streamer-turned-singer iShowSpeed performed on a projected New York City landscape.
Robbie Williams brought in Nicole Scherzinger and Laura Pausini to Desirethe official FIFA anthem that he wrote, before accompanying them hand in hand.
Jennifer Hudson sang the US national anthem with a live band and Tom Cruise addressed the crowd before kick-off.
“Football is a spoken language without words, a force that unites people,” he said.
The commercial and charitable side is substantial.
The halftime show supports the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which expands access to educational and sports programs for children in underserved communities.
With FIFA donating a dollar for every ticket sold for the tournament’s 104 matches, the fund has already raised $60 million against a target of $100 million.
On July 16, Global Citizen and FIFA named 31 beneficiaries across 18 countries.
The 80,000-seat stadium was almost full, with spectators including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet, Pharrell, Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Will Ferrell.
Despite all the power of the field, the loudest noise of the afternoon came from the football.
