Shakira (Photo: Image Press Agency/Depositphotos), Jung kook of BTS (Photo: thenews2.com/Depositphotos), and Madonna (Photo: s_bukley/Depositphotos)
For the first time ever, the FIFA World Cup final will have a halftime show. Given the popularity of the event, some massive acts have been listed for the occasion. The show will be co-headlined by Madonna, BTS, and Shakira. FIFA has also revealed that characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets will be part of the show.
The event is being produced by Global Citizen and curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay, who previously collaborated on the Club World Cup final in summer 2025. The lineup was announced in a video starring Martin himself alongside Elmo. The effort will spotlight FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative aiming to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and soccer opportunities for children around the world.
“I’ve spent my life doing two things—making songs and building schools,” Shakira says via a press release. “At the FIFA World Cup, those two paths come together. Standing alongside Madonna and BTS, I’ll be performing ‘Dai Dai,’ the song I created for this World Cup and for the kids around the world we will reach with the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. My hope is that on the world’s biggest stage, the importance of investing in children’s education steals the show!”
While musical performances have long taken place at the World Cup final, these are usually held before the start of the match, keeping halftime to a strict 15 minutes. The inclusion of this sort of spectacle has raised eyebrows among fans, who worry that a show of this size may break momentum and serve as a push to “Americanize” this global tournament, making it similar to the NFL Super Bowl halftime show.
The FIFA World Cup final is taking place on July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at MetLife Stadium—which has been temporarily renamed New York/New Jersey Stadium during the latter tournament due to FIFA stadium sponsorship regulations. If you’re in the U.S., you can follow it live on Fox Sports and Telemundo.
Sources: Madonna, Shakira and BTS to co-headline historic Final Halftime Show; Why some purists can’t stand the idea of a World Cup halftime show
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