FIFA is taking a page out of the NFL’s book by adding a half-time show to the upcoming World Cup final.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 2026 men’s World Cup Final will feature a half-time music show for the first time.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that the men’s tournament will conclude with a show in a similar vein to the NFL’s Super Bowl half-time show.
Next year’s tournament is set to be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. As North America prepares to celebrate the biggest event in football, the half-time show will take place during the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July 2026.
It’s the first time that the World Cup has ever had a half-time show. Only a few details are already known about the show, but the chief one is there will be a musical performance produced by Coldplay.
The British band haven’t been officially announced as the performers for the half-time show, merely as the curators to choose the eventual performer. Coldplay themselves performed at the 2016 Super Bowl half-time show, bringing out Bruno Mars and Beyoncé as guests. It’s possible that Chris Martin and his band of pop-rockers will join the headliner on stage.
Super Bowl half-time shows last roughly 30 minutes with a musical act for around half of that time and the rest spent on movie trailers and adverts. FIFA rules stipulate that half-time breaks must be under 15 minutes. Whether the show is allowed to exceed this allowance hasn’t been confirmed.
“This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world,” Infantino said in a post on social media.
He continued to give details as to how the football association will take over New York’s Times Square for the weekend of the final and runner up bronze final. “These will be two incredible matches, featuring some of the best players in the world, and what better way to celebrate them than in the historic Times Square in New York City.”
Although FIFA hasn’t hosted a half-time show during the World Cup final before, it’s no stranger to bringing in musical performances to the event. Tournaments in recent years have all had official songs commissioned from contemporary stars and games have had pre-match musical performances.
The 2026 tournament is set to be the biggest in FIFA’s history as the group stages have been expanded to include 48 national teams from 32. The 104 match schedule across the three North American nations will kick off in Mexico City at the Estadio Azteca on 11 June 2026.
Every year, the Super Bowl’s half-time show brings in a huge audience. This year’s performance by rapper Kendrick Lamar had a record 133.5 million viewers. It’s a slight increase on the overall viewership of the game as around 127 million people caught the 2025 match.
By comparison, the World Cup’s global appeal means it attracts significantly more people. FIFA estimated that around 1.5 billion people watched the 2022 men’s final.
