World Cup final halftime show features Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and the Muppets

musicJul 19, 20261081,776

Coldplay headlined an 11-minute halftime show at the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium featuring guest sets from Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS plus a chorus from Staten Island’s PS22 school. The idea began when Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen, and connected with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who had independently wanted Coldplay for the slot. FIFA is donating one dollar from each tournament ticket to a Global Citizen fund that aims to raise $100 million for youth education, and Shakira is donating royalties from her World Cup single “Dai Dai” with Burna Boy to that effort. The show was framed as borrowing the Super Bowl production model while showcasing a global roster; Tiffany Naiman of UCLA warned that an 11-minute spectacle with Madonna and Justin Bieber reads to some as importing an American made-for-TV sensibility. Organizers noted the halftime set was intended for a global audience and attracted enthusiasm from international fan bases such as BTS’s Army. Some soccer fans have expressed skepticism that a halftime show is necessary for the World Cup, arguing the tournament has traditionally relied on a single anthem and host-nation opening ceremony instead of American-style halftime spectacles.

Alejandra Caraballo

@esqueer.net

Is Justin Bieber trying to put the entire crowd to sleep?

25321h ago

Mike, Lost in the Supermarket17

He's the halftime show hydration break.

El Doctor Extraño10

halftime shows are so boring and dumb, americans should never have hosted this world cup, ugh

Chrys she/her 🏳️‍⚧️3

Ik lol. The second I saw Shakira I was like FINALLY

Sunny 2.02

I kinda think he might be a really sad boy

hot hot hot2

i really cant fall sleep while experiencing this much second hand embarassment

Cero - Coping with life 🏫 ☀️🏖️1

It’s a sports halftime show! It’s not a tiny desk concert. Bring in the energy!

Patrick Monahan

@pattymo.com

Security struggling to contain the capacity crowd as Justin Bieber plays an acoustic song (not one of his big hits)

16821h ago

Contrail7

and a barrage of pretzels now knocking Bieber unconscious

Todd in the Shadows

@shadowtodd.bsky.social

God, Justin Bieber is in such a weird phase of his career

14721h ago

Todd in the Shadows223

Madonna and BTS just played two of their biggest hits ever and Bieber is playing a deep cut off of Swag II

Brian H7

"Please take me seriously" energy, which is weird for a halftime show that just featured the Muppets

jeffreyb43.bsky.social5

It's a WGWAG song. Your favorite genre.

suultana04.bsky.social2

That’s the best sub Ted Lasso had? No wonder Richmond didn’t win the Prem.

The New York Times

@nytimes.com

The first World Cup halftime show had a simple message of love and unity. Read our pop music critic’s review. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/a...

Shakira surrounded by elementary schoolers performing in the World Cup halftime show. Photo by Hiroko Masuike / The New York Times

10218h ago

Mash27

Please let this also be the last World Cup halftime show.

meekman.bsky.social17

Love and unity by a host country that hates people who look like the kids in that picture.

pflegel.bsky.social9

Rather ironic that it took place in the USA with this current regime ruling

Soldier4Peace☮️4

Meh. Whatever. Waste of time. I turned off the sound and waited for the phony maudlin songs to end so the game could start.

Jumbocords4

Laughable, performative nonsense from a fascist regime. An embarrassment for the USA. Have you no self awareness??

Kara Fagan 🇨🇦 Liberal3

No. Doesn’t belong. It was grotesque Americanization of something better left alone.

Quoting this

David Clark2

It was a cultural atrocity. How dare you invoke love and unity to justify this crime against football.

Bob Gurnett2

The most lazy take possible when Trump is on stage with the winners. Love in what way? Unity with who? Be more specific.

Kevmarmol2

It was shite that shouldn’t have happened

Luis Paez-Pumar

@lpp.bsky.social

Hell yeah brother, Justin Bieber playing an acoustic guitar is exactly what will get me hyped up for a second half of soccer.

7421h ago

Dr. Lucky Tran

@luckytran.com

Ted Lasso and Justin Bieber is the collab we never dreamed of but somehow needed

8021h ago

Camp Side Eye2

Beiber sucked. Talk about killing the mood

𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂⁠. 𓆩♡𓆪

@dailyrunway.bsky.social

shakira in custom roberto cavalli during her performance at world cup final halftime show #fashionsky

4117h ago

I.B. Fartin

@rainbows.bsky.social

justin bieber moonlighting as an anesthesiologist the way he just put this whole stadium to sleep.

3921h ago

Ross Sayers

@rosssayers.bsky.social

Gotta say that's brave from Justin Bieber. If I was him I would've sang an upbeat song that's everyone liked, rather than a moodkiller that no one knows. Why he gets paid the big bucks

3021h ago

Richy Craven

@richycraven.bsky.social

"Ted Lasso introducing Justin Bieber for a low energy acoustic song" seems like a parody of the next DNC

3521h ago

Emmy Cumslutress

@coyotegirl.online

i could think of approximately 1,000,0000 better ideas for a world cup halftime show than "justin bieber acoustic set" ngl they could have literally just said "let shakira perform for 20 minutes" and everyone in the world woulda been like "hell yeah"

3121h ago

Laura Lexx

@lauralexx.bsky.social

Justin Bieber singing “it’s my World Cup hallelujah” was the moment I turned inside out from embarrassment at being this species just in case anyone needs this information for a medical text book on why my butt hole is an outie

2521h ago

The Other Happy Place

@theotherhappyplace.bsky.social

Wait the Electric Mayhem from the muppets is playing the halftime show at the FIFA world cup???

3117h ago

labubu cor de carne

@camilanebula.bsky.social

nossa mas q anticlímax esse justin bieber voz & violão

1921h ago

Joshua Dysart

@joshuadysart.bsky.social

I bet Animal, Janice, and Floyd Pepper never imagined back when they were traveling in a crummy little tour van with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem that they'd ever be playing alongside BTS, Madonna and Justin Bieber. It's a wild ride, this life.

2521h ago

2 sources

nzherald.co.nzMadonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber and BTS to co-headline World Cup Halftime Show wired.comFIFA’s World Cup Halftime Show Puts American-Style Spectacle on the World Stage

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World Cup final halftime show features Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and the Muppets

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