According to FIFA, Coldplay’s Chris Martin will be the show curator for the final, which will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
Published May 14, 2026
Madonna, Shakira and K-pop megastars BTS will headline a Super Bowl-style halftime show at the World Cup finals at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on July 19, FIFA has announced.
It will be Coldplay’s Chris Martin overseeing the show for the first time at a World Cup final, but details released on Thursday have raised concerns about how long the half-time period will be.
“This is a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show worthy of the world’s biggest sporting event,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Instagram.
The move mirrors Colombian star Shakira’s halftime performance at Hard Rock Stadium during the 2024 Copa America final in Miami.
At last year’s FIFA Club World Cup final, the halftime show was held at MetLife Stadium, and the intermission was extended beyond the required 15 minutes.
Infantino added that FIFA also plans to “take over” New York’s Times Square during the final weekend of the World Cup.
The 48-team World Cup, the largest in history, will begin on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Infantino announced in March last year that he would hold the “first-ever halftime show at a FIFA World Cup final.”
At the time, he did not say who would perform or how long the show would last.
The halftime extravaganza will support FIFA’s Global Citizenship Education Fund, an initiative to raise $100 million for children around the world during the World Cup.
Last week, Shakira teased the new official World Cup song and released a short video for the song, shot at Brazil’s iconic Maracanã stadium.
The singer, who also wrote the 2010 World Cup anthem ‘Waka Waka’, announced the song titled ‘Die Die’ in a post on her Instagram account.
In the 67-second video, Shakira appears on the pitch at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã, performing in front of 2 million people at a free concert on the city’s Copacabana Beach.
Shakira held the official game ball of the 2026 World Cup, Trionda, and performed an excerpt of the song in English with dancers wearing team colors such as the United States and Colombia.
The song was produced with Nigerian artist Burna Boy and is set to be officially released on Thursday. The clip was also shared on the FIFA World Cup account, ending with the message: “We’re ready!”
Shakira has a long association with the World Cup, producing “Waka Waka” at the 2010 tournament and performing at the 2006 and 2014 World Cup finals.
