For 96 years, the FIFA World Cup final has observed the same tradition at half-time: fifteen minutes of punditry, tactical analysis, and players regrouping in the tunnel. On July 19, that changes. For the first time in the tournament’s history, the World Cup final will feature a full halftime show headlined by Madonna, Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and broadcast live to the largest television audience in sports.
Why The World Cup Has Never Had A Halftime Show Before
World Cup finals have always had a short, unstructured break, with no musical performance. FIFA did test the concept at a smaller scale last year for the 2025 Club World Cup final, a separate competition featuring club rather than national teams. That game featured a halftime show headlined by Colombian artist J Balvin, Doja Cat and Tems that ran approximately 25 minutes. But the FIFA World Cup itself — the quadrennial national teams tournament that drew close to 1.5 billion viewers for the final last time — has never done this before. July 19 will be the first time in the tournament’s 96-year history that its final will feature a curated halftime performance.
The 2022 final in Qatar was the most-watched in FIFA World Cup history, and this year’s final in New Jersey is expected to break those records, which means FIFA’s decision to add a halftime show makes commercial sense now when it never did before, especially factoring in streaming.
Who Is Performing At The FIFA World Cup And Why
Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber and BTS will co-headline the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show at the New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19. Burna Boy and Venezuelan New York Philharmonic director Gustavo Dudamel (who will conduct the LA Philharmonic and Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra) will also perform during the 11-minute show. Curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and produced by Global Citizen, the broadcast will raise funds for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a landmark initiative working to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and football for children worldwide.
With the combination of pop music coming from the US, Latin America, and Korea, the World Cup final halftime show will personify the global nature of the sport. Madonna is a seven-time Grammy Award winner and BTS became the first K-pop group ever to receive a Grammy nomination in 2020. Shakira’s connection to the World Cup, of course, is deeper than any of the three headliners; her 2010 banger of an official World Cup song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” set a Guinness World Record for Spotify’s most streamed World Cup song.
Shakira will also perform “Dai Dai,” the official song for the 2026 tournament, with Burna Boy, making them the only artists performing at both the tournament’s opening and its finale.
BTS, for their part, are taking the halftime slot between tour dates on the ARIRANG World Tour. The seven-member K-pop juggernauts recently returned to the stage following a three-year hiatus to complete mandatory military service obligations. Their performance at the World Cup final will be the largest live audience (in the stadium and on television combined) of their post-enlistment era.
Justin Bieber was a later addition to the headliners, fresh off his much talked-about $10 million Coachella set.
Chris Martin himself has not been confirmed as a headline performer, but Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans told Bloomberg the audience is in “for some big surprises.” Characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets will also be part of the show, reinforcing the performance’s stated mission around children’s education.
How To Watch The World Cup Final Halftime Show
In the United States, viewers can watch the show live on Fox Sports, with the match airing on the FOX network. Spanish-language viewers can watch through NBCUniversal’s Peacock with a Premium or Premium Plus subscription, with the match also airing on Telemundo. The FIFA World Cup final kicks off at 3pm ET on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
19 July 2026: A previous version of this story incorrectly called Gustavo Dudamel the director of the NY Philharmonic. He is actually the director of the LA Philharmonic but will be conducting the NY Philharmonic and Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra for the halftime show.
