Shakira, Madonna and K-pop megastars BTS will headline a Super Bowl-style half-time show at the World Cup final on 19 July at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Fifa announced on Thursday. The show, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin, is a first for a football World Cup final but has raised concerns about how long half-time will be.
The biggest-ever World Cup, with 48 teams, kicks off on 11 June in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Fifa president Gianni Infantino announced in March last year that there would be 'the first-ever half-time show at a Fifa World Cup final'. He did not say at the time who would be performing or how long the show would last.
'This will be a historic moment for the Fifa World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world,' Infantino said on Instagram. The move mirrors the show held during the final of the 2024 Copa America in Miami, when Colombian star Shakira performed at half-time at the Hard Rock Stadium. There was also a half-time show at last year's Fifa Club World Cup final, also at MetLife Stadium, which stretched the break in excess of the regulation 15 minutes.
Infantino added that Fifa also planned to 'take over' New York's Times Square on the final weekend of the World Cup. The half-time extravaganza will support Fifa's Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative working to raise $100m for children worldwide during the World Cup.
Shakira last week teased the new official song for the World Cup, releasing a brief video of the track filmed at Brazil's iconic Maracana Stadium. The singer – who also created the 2010 World Cup anthem Waka Waka – announced the song, titled Dai Dai, in a post on her Instagram account. The song was produced with Nigerian artist Burna Boy and is set for official release on Thursday.
