Madonna, Shakira and BTS have been confirmed as the co-headliners for the first ever World Cup Final Halftime Show.
The final will take place on Sunday July 19 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. For the first time in World Cup history, there will be a star-studded live show during halftime – similar to that seen at the Super Bowl.
In charge of curating the inaugural performance is Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and in a new video shared on social media he confirmed that headliners will be Madonna, Shakira and BTS.
He announced the news with Sesame Street’s Elmo and Cookie Monster – who shared their suggestions that Madonna and BTS should play, and quickly got the K-pop act on speed-dial – and also with help from The Muppet’s Kermit, Animal, Miss Piggy, and Statler & Waldorf, who pitched Shakira.
More details about the performance are expected to be released at a later date, and it is understood the show will be 11-minutes long.
The Halftime Show will also support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a landmark initiative aiming to raise $100million to expand access to education and football for children worldwide.
Already, the initiative has raised over $30million, and $1 from every ticket sold to FIFA World Cup 2026 matches will be donated throughout the tournament.
Last week, FIFA and Global Citizen announced the first group of organisations to receive grants from the fund. Find out more about the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund and inaugural grantees here, and visit here for application information for the second cycle of grants.
In other Chris Martin news, earlier this year Coldplay donated a series of concert photos for a Tiny Changes fundraiser – raising money for the charity set up in memory of late Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison, who died by suicide in 2018.
Shortly before then, the band shared a short film, In-Between, which explores the refugee crisis and is set to songs from ‘Moon Music’. It was made in conjunction with the UK-based non-governmental organisation Choose Love, which provides humanitarian aid to and advocates for refugees around the world.
Last July, Chris Martin also joined Tems, Doja Cat, Emmanuel Kelly, and J Balvin for a show at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain.
Coldplay kicked off their mammoth ‘Music Of The Spheres’ tour in March 2022 – which later became the highest-grossing rock tour of all time, grossing over $1billion – and have now confirmed new shows in 2027.