FIFA Tries a Halftime Show, Gets a Spectacle in 11 Chaotic Minutes

The 2026 World Cup final didn’t just break with 96 years of tradition by adding a halftime show — it crammed roughly two dozen acts into 11 minutes and called the result a spectacle. It was, for stretches, more pile-up than performance.

At New York/New Jersey Stadium (as FIFA rebranded MetLife), Madonna opened with a club-themed medley alongside Brazilian icons Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. Then the show pivoted violently: Gustavo Dudamel conducted Bijan Mortazavi, the New York Philharmonic, Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, and Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem through “Seven Nation Army.” BTS delivered “Dynamite” with sharp choreography, before Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt introduced Justin Bieber for a subdued acoustic “Everything Hallelujah” — a tonal whiplash that drained the stadium’s energy. Shakira and Burna Boy pulled it back with “Dai Dai,” the tournament’s official song, and the PS22 Chorus closed with “We Dance,” joined by Coldplay members, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and a procession of musicians.

The show supported the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, aiming to raise $100 million for education and football access. Over $50 million had been raised by the final, with $1 per ticket feeding the fund.

It was messy, structurally incoherent, and at times forced. But BTS and Shakira made the minutes count. FIFA’s first attempt didn’t match the polish of a Super Bowl halftime, though you could argue it tried to represent the entire world, and ended up reflecting its chaos instead.