FIFA announces the first major halftime show at the World Cup final: BTS, Madonna and Shakira to perform
Ahead of the final stage of the 2026 World Cup, FIFA has announced the first major musical program at halftime of the final match, with BTS, Madonna and Shakira among the main performers. The final match is scheduled for July 19, 2026, at New York New Jersey Stadium, that is, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford in the state of New Jersey. According to an Associated Press report, it is a performance conceived along the lines of major sports-and-music broadcasts, but in the context of football and the most-watched match of the World Cup. FIFA and Global Citizen had previously announced that the final stage of the tournament would receive a special halftime program, introducing a format that until now has not been customary for football World Cup finals. The performance will also be connected with the humanitarian initiative FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, whose goal is to raise funds to expand access to education and sport for children around the world.
The July 19 final in New Jersey gets a new television format
The 2026 World Cup is being held in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, and according to FIFA's official schedule, the tournament begins on June 11, 2026, with a match in Mexico City. The final stage is planned for July 19 in the New York and New Jersey area, at the stadium that in official FIFA communication is listed as New York New Jersey Stadium. For the first time, the tournament will bring together 48 national teams, and the official schedule includes 104 matches in 16 host cities. This makes the 2026 World Cup the largest edition of the competition in history, not only by the number of participants but also by the scale of logistics, television production and the commercial program accompanying the tournament.
The introduction of a show at halftime of the final is especially significant because football matches as a rule have a shorter and more strictly structured halftime than American football. The standard break between the two halves in football lasts 15 minutes, so it is not yet completely clear how the production will be incorporated into the usual rhythm of the final match. Associated Press states that the duration of the performance has not yet been confirmed in detail, although FIFA has announced a globally broadcast event that combines sport, culture and a social purpose. This means that the organizers would have to coordinate the requirements of television production, security, pitch preparation and sporting rules, so that the performance would not compromise the regularity of the match. That technical execution will be one of the most interesting organizational challenges of the tournament's final stage.
FIFA has already signaled earlier that it wants to connect football more strongly with the global entertainment industry. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, in previous announcements, according to FIFA's official release, described the halftime program of the final as part of a broader collaboration with the organization Global Citizen. That collaboration was presented as a multi-year partnership that does not relate only to one concert moment, but also to fundraising for educational and sports programs. Within that framework, the 2026 World Cup final is no longer conceived only as the culmination of the competition, but also as a media event in which the football match is expanded with additional cultural content.
BTS, Madonna and Shakira bring three different global audiences
The choice of BTS, Madonna and Shakira shows that FIFA and Global Citizen are targeting an extremely broad international audience. BTS is one of the best-known South Korean pop groups and a globally recognizable representative of K-pop, a genre that in recent years has had an exceptional influence on the music industry, digital platforms and the concert economy. Madonna is one of the most influential pop performers of recent decades, with an audience that spans multiple generations and markets. Shakira, on the other hand, has a particularly strong connection with football championships, primarily because of the song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”, which marked the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
According to the Associated Press report, the program will be curated by Chris Martin from Coldplay, who is connected with the project through Global Citizen. Such a choice is not unexpected because Global Citizen has for years been focused on major musical events with a humanitarian and social message, and Coldplay and Chris Martin have often participated in similar campaigns. In this case, the musical program is not presented only as an entertainment addition to the match, but also as a means of directing attention toward education and access to sport. In this way, the aim is to use the enormous reach of the World Cup final, which traditionally attracts one of the largest television and digital audiences in sport.
Shakira's name in this context has additional symbolism because she had already been connected with FIFA competitions earlier. Her performance and song from 2010 became one of the most recognizable cultural elements of that championship, and the connection with the new final opens space for a continuation of that global football-and-music story. Madonna brings the recognizability of a pop icon who has built large stage productions and visually powerful performances for decades. BTS, meanwhile, represents an enormous digital and younger global audience, further expanding the potential reach of the event beyond traditional football circles.
The humanitarian fund as the central part of the announcement
An important part of the announced program relates to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. According to Global Citizen's official description, the fund was launched to expand access to quality education and sport for children around the world, with the goal of raising more than 100 million US dollars by the 2026 World Cup final. FIFA states on its website that this is a joint initiative focused on grants for local organizations working on education, literacy, quality of learning and the inclusion of children in sports programs. The announcement also highlights the connection with the Football for Schools program, through which FIFA seeks to connect football with educational content.
Associated Press states that the project will be focused on fundraising for access to education and football, and reports on the announcement highlight the goal of 100 million dollars. Such an approach fits into the increasingly common practice of major sports organizations connecting global events with social campaigns. However, the success of such initiatives will depend on how transparently the raised funds are directed toward concrete programs and beneficiaries. For now, it has been confirmed that the fund is being presented as an international initiative, but its impact will be possible to assess only after the publication of more detailed data on amounts raised, grants awarded and results in the field.
The introduction of this kind of fund also shows how FIFA is trying to further shape the public image of the expanded World Cup. A tournament with 48 national teams brings a larger number of matches, more ticket revenue, a broader television program and stronger commercial space for sponsors. At the same time, such expansion opens questions about player workload, travel, hosting costs and the impact on local communities. Linking the final with an education fund does not remove those questions, but it gives the organizers an additional framework in which the biggest football event is also presented as a platform for broader social impact.
The biggest World Cup so far
According to FIFA's official data, the 2026 World Cup will be the first edition with 48 national teams and the first jointly organized by three countries. Matches will be played in host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, and the competition will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026. FIFA's schedule confirms that 104 matches will be played, significantly more than in previous editions with 32 national teams. The expansion of the competition changes both the sporting format and the way the tournament is produced for television, digital platforms, stadium audiences and sponsors.
The final in New Jersey will therefore have additional symbolic weight. It will not close only the largest edition of the World Cup, but also the first championship in which FIFA introduces a closing musical program at halftime of the final match. Comparisons with the Super Bowl arise because of the concept itself, but the football context is nevertheless significantly different. The Super Bowl has for decades been an event in which halftime is a separate television product, while the World Cup final has traditionally been more strictly focused on the match, the ceremony before the start and the awarding of the trophy after the end. That is why the reactions of the football public will probably depend on whether the performance remains precisely enough integrated into the sporting part of the event.
In recent years, FIFA has been competing ever more openly for the attention of the global audience not only with sporting content but also with accompanying spectacle. Major musical performances, digital campaigns and partnerships with organizations outside sport have become part of the strategy of major competitions. In that sense, the announcement of performances by BTS, Madonna and Shakira is not only information from the world of entertainment, but also a signal of a change in the way the most important match in world football is presented. For the organizers, it is an opportunity to increase the global reach of the final, while for the more traditional football audience the question remains how much the additional show can change the rhythm and atmosphere of the match.
What has been confirmed, and what is still awaited
According to the available information, the main performers, the place and date of the final, and the connection of the program with the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund have been confirmed. It has also been confirmed that this is the first show of this kind at halftime of a World Cup final. However, not all production details have been published, including the exact duration of the performance, the order of performers, the setlist, possible guests and the way in which the stage will be set up and removed during halftime. These details are important because in football every intervention on the pitch immediately before the continuation of the match can be sensitive, especially in the final of the most important national-team competition.
It has not been officially confirmed either whether the program will affect the usual length of the break between halves or whether it will be adapted to the standard time frame. The organizers will have to coordinate the interests of television partners, performers, national teams, referees and services responsible for the pitch. If the show is performed within the usual 15 minutes, the production will have to be extremely precise and rehearsed in advance. If a different solution is requested, FIFA will have to communicate it clearly because any change to the routine of the final match could provoke discussions in the football public.
The announcement nevertheless already shows the direction in which the largest football competition is developing. The 2026 World Cup will be larger by the number of participants, broader by geographical distribution, longer by the number of matches and more ambitious in its entertainment program. The performance by BTS, Madonna and Shakira at halftime of the final should be the most visible example of that new approach. Whether such a format will be retained in the long term will depend on the execution in New Jersey, audience reactions, the sporting impression of the final and FIFA's assessment that the combination of football, music and a humanitarian campaign delivered the desired effect.
Sources:
- FIFA – official schedule of the 2026 World Cup, dates, stadiums and tournament format (link)
- FIFA – official announcement about the first halftime show at the World Cup final and the collaboration with Global Citizen (link)
- FIFA – description of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund initiative (link)
- Global Citizen – description of the goals of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and the announced fundraising (link)
- Associated Press – report on the announcement of performances by BTS, Madonna and Shakira at halftime of the 2026 World Cup final (link)