The artists who played the halftime show of the FIFA World Cup Final at the temporarily re-christened New York New Jersey Stadium were an appropriately diverse representation of the world: Justin Bieber repped Canada; BTS, South Korea; Shakira, Colombia; and Madonna, the global citizens of The Club. It was a lot of musical star power to cram into 11 minutes, but the show delivered in a blaze of hit songs, blinding pastels, and a non-zero number of Muppets.
Madonna opened the show with a (mostly pre-taped) throwback to one of her best-ever live performances, a mashup of her Y2K masterpiece “Music” and The Trammps’s 1976 classic “Disco Inferno,” complete with a flock of zesty roller skaters. Stuart Price, a producer on her late career triumph Confessions II, served as her DJ; advancing toward the field in a dune buggy, she gave a ride to two Brazilian soccer legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, both of whom seemed slightly dazed—and who wouldn’t be, in point-blank range of Madonna’s legendary charisma?—but happy to be there.
A hard tonal swerve brought us to a handful of Muppets playing “Seven Nation Army” with a color-coordinated marching band. Gustavo Dudamel, mid-transfer from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to the New York Philharmonic, conducted in a crisp blue suit with his name and the number 1 emblazoned on the back. After indulging in a Norway-style Viking rowing chant, the band, a mix of NY Phil and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra members, ceded the floor to BTS, who performed their 2020 positivity jam “Dynamite,” taking turns at leaning down into the camera lens and singing tenderly, like a mother cooing to her baby in a bassinet.
Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt showed up in character as Ted Lasso and Coach Beard to introduce Justin Bieber. There are two main things you need to know about Justin Bieber’s performance. One is that he sang “Everything Hallelujah,” the song off SWAG II that got a viral boost post-Coachella—it’s a song that makes you think, “Maybe church camp doesn’t sound so bad after all.” Two is he was wearing a sort of deconstructed rugby shirt. Wrong sport, Justin! Just kidding, you are forgiven. Oh, maybe three things—his facial hair right now is fascinating, like a goatee that has gone to the woods in order to find itself. The camera stayed tight on his face throughout the song, the better to contemplate the scruff.
Finally Shakira took over. Her appearance was so youthful that my group chat dedicated to the goings-on of this World Cup determined that she might be immortal. Barefoot in a shredded pink and yellow dress, Shakira performed “Dai Dai,” her duet with Burna Boy that was specifically crafted for the 2026 World Cup. Children danced to and fro. This halftime show proved that Shakira’s natural state is doing graceful chest and hip isolations while an uplifting, intercultural song plays. In a world of global citizens, she might be the most global citizen of them all.
More children appeared—the PS22 Chorus, from Staten Island. They began to sing a pleasant song called “Believe In Love” that seems to be an as-yet-released Coldplay song. The Muppets re-appeared. The field filled with people, and Chris Martin’s head popped up amid the surging crowd. He was the curator of this halftime show, and just as he graciously let Beyoncé and Bruno Mars upstage him at his own Super Bowl halftime show back in 2016, he was happy to let the many superstars, and many children, take center stage at this respite from the tense, tied-at-zero match between Spain and Argentina. Neon pastel colors, flags with hearts on them, adults dancing and smiling, kids bursting into song: this was a halftime show designed to bring some childlike wonder to the intense proceedings, to counteract the harsh energy of sloppy slide tackles and referee squabbles with broad gestures to peace and love. World Cup, hallelujah, as Bieber put it.
