FIFA World Cup Final Debuts First Halftime Show

On July 19, the championship match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in East Rutherford, New Jersey featured an 11-minute halftime concert. The program included Madonna, BTS, Justin Bieber (solo acoustic), a Gustavo Dudamel-led orchestra, Shakira with Burna Boy, the PS22 Choir, the Muppets, and a cameo by Chris Martin of Coldplay. The performance was staged on a grass field under daylight, a departure from the artificial-turf venues typical of NFL halftime shows.

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The show marked the first halftime concert in World Cup history. Director Hamish Hamilton—co-founder of production company Done + Dusted and veteran of Super Bowl, Olympic, Emmy, Oscar and Grammy ceremonies—described the undertaking as “challenging beyond challenging,” noting the need to accommodate a large roster of artists within a single 15-minute break while preserving the integrity of the match.

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Preliminary Luminate data show that songs performed during the halftime show received notable streaming spikes in the United States on July 19:

Billboard

• “Dai Dai,” Shakira and Burna Boy’s official tournament song, logged 979,000 on-demand streams, a 25 % increase from July 18.

Billboard

• Justin Bieber’s “Everything Hallelujah” rose 34 % to 130,000 streams.

Billboard

• BTS’s “Dynamite” climbed 13 % to 160,000 streams.

Billboard

• Madonna’s “Music” increased 6 % to 33,000 streams.

Billboard

• iShowSpeed’s “Champions” surged 61 % to 125,000 streams.

Billboard

These figures will appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated July 25 and on the charts published July 28.

Billboard

Hamilton explained that daylight and the grass surface dictated many production choices, from stage design to camera placement. He said the lack of technical glitches was a testament to months of preparation and the coordination of a “gargantuan logistical undertaking.” He also noted that some European fans questioned extending halftime beyond the traditional 15-minute interval, but expressed optimism that the execution could pave the way for future World Cup halftime shows.

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• “It’s a mixture of exhaustion, relief and happiness,” — Billboard.com. Hamish Hamilton

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• “Stars underwhelm in a glib and unsubtle spectacle.” — The Times

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• “BTS doing a pop number, Bieber bringing the mood to a halt and then Coldplay, with the help of a load of kids from the PS22 Chorus, ramping up the schmaltz singing about love… you just kept asking yourself why? Why is the greatest footballer to have ever kicked a ball being made to endure the longest half-time of his entire career so that Chris Martin could tell us all to believe in love?” — Tim Spiers

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• “It’s football, but not as we know it. It is American sport, exactly as we know it,” — Tim Spiers

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