The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup has been held every four years since 1930. Under the Olympics framework, FIFA is an international soccer competition where senior national teams compete for the world champion title.
This year, the event consisted of 48 teams and was co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, making this year’s competition more globally inclusive and the largest tournament in World Cup history. Consequently, it drew in millions of viewers around the world from July 11 to 19. After the culmination of 72 group stage games under the World Cup’s strenuous knockout tournament structure, Spain and Argentina became the top-ranked rivals battling against each other in the final.
For the first time ever, the 2026 FIFA World Cup featured a halftime show for the finale. Located at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — temporarily renamed New York New Jersey Stadium for the tournament — the historic event featured American singer-songwriter and the Queen of Pop Madonna, South Korean boy band BTS, Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Bieber and Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira as headliners.
Madonna began the halftime show with her high-energy and club-driven track “Music,” her eighth lead single released in 2000. The introduction of the halftime show had several dancers roller skating while Madonna was transported through a tunnel in a worn-down car.
Madonna sang, “Music makes the people come together.” That simple yet powerful line connected the whole event together, as individuals from around the world gathered around to watch the World Cup Finale. The license plate of the featured car read MAESTRO, referring to her distinguished music career and legacy as the best-selling female recording artist of all time to date. Dressed up in all pink, Madonna debuted a soccer-inspired selection. She wore a Saint Laurent bomber jacket with the back lettering reading MADONNA 10 along with matching mini shorts. Her high-heeled boots and fashioned accessories topped it off, accentuating Madonna’s entire persona. She was joined by Brazilian soccer players Ronaldo Nazário and Ronaldo de Assis Moreira.
Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel followed Madonna’s entrance, leading a special orchestra featuring a collaboration of musical artists from the American New York Philharmonic and the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. They performed The White Stripes’ sports anthem “Seven Nation Army.” They were joined by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, also known as The Muppets band, as well as Kermit and Miss Piggy, whose surprise appearance shook up the audience. They included a tribute to the Viking Row, which is a viral celebration that gained immense attraction by Norwegian soccer fans throughout this year’s World Cup Tournament.
K-Pop stars RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, known as BTS, performed afterwards, singing “Dynamite” from their ninth studio album “BE.” They wore individualized clothing sets for each member, including Jung Kook’s biker jacket, Jin’s belt and RM’s boots. They wore layered street-style clothing, such as trousers, vests and handkerchiefs, as well as bold, matching colors of black, red and white. The choreography included dozens of red-clothed dancers and incorporated a fusion of various styles like hip-hop, street dance and contemporary movements, adding variety and increasing audience attention.
Actors and writers Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt also made an appearance, acting as their roles for the American sports comedy-drama television series “Ted Lasso.” They pumped up Bieber, who changed the tone completely with a moderately slow-tempo rendition of “EVERYTHING HALLELUJAH,” which was released in 2025 for his album “SWAG II.” The background of the performance featured a homemade sign that said BELIEBER, the name given to Bieber’s fans. He sang acoustically with his guitar while the crowd listened, ending his performance by altering the lyrics to “It’s the World Cup, hallelujah / It’s the World Cup, hallelujah.”
Coming up next was Shakira, who collaborated with Nigerian Afrobeats star Burna Boy to perform “Dai Dai.” Released through Ace Entertainment and Sony Music Latin back in May, it became widely known as the official song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Initially, Shakira was surrounded by the Ghetto Kids, a trending dance group from Uganda. Shakira was impressed with the young dancers’ talent and personally invited them to perform with her at the World Cup. She wore a striking customized dress designed by the Italian luxury fashion brand Roberto Cavalli’s creative director, Fausto Puglisi. Shakira’s orange and pink sunset look was extremely intricate with the attire “glamorized with over 200,000 Swarovski crystals, which were applied by hand over the course of 120 hours.” The Ghetto Kids’ outfits consisted of variations of vibrant oranges that were designed by the Romanian fashion designer Rafaela Pestrițu.
Similar to the earlier performances by BTS, Shakira and Burna Boy, the Ghetto Kids incorporated elements of modern technical dance while adding excellent synchronization. Shakira performed her signature, iconic belly dancing as well.
The halftime show finished with a performance from the PS22 Chorus, a choir made up of Staten Island elementary school students, supported by Dudamel and the lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin, who curated the entire halftime performance. The other musicians who sang earlier came out again in the end, joining hands and making finger hearts.
“We believe in love” is repeated throughout the ending of the 2026 FIFA Halftime Show, indicating the heart of the performance itself, representing love, connection and togetherness as a universal society.
Julia Magdei is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the summer 2026 quarter. She can be reached at jmagdei@uci.edu.
Edited by Corinna Chin and Elizabeth Gregg.
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