FIFA confirmed Thursday that the halftime interval for Sunday's World Cup final will last approximately 25 minutes, consisting of the standard 15-minute break followed by an 11-minute concert headlined by Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber, with Coldplay, Burna Boy, Gustavo Dudamel, the PS22 Chorus, and the Muppets, a sentence that has never been written in the 163-year history of organised football and which, read aloud, sounds like a malfunction at an awards ceremony.
The show, produced by FIFA and Global Citizen, aims to raise $100 million for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. The performers are not being paid. Madonna, who has been described by FIFA sources as “difficult,” “spiraling,” and “doing this for free, which she keeps reminding us,” reportedly demanded full creative control, custom staging, and a production budget that one FIFA official described as “larger than the prize money for the actual winners.” FIFA agreed to some of her demands. It did not agree to all of them. Madonna has not said which.
The show will take place on the MetLife Stadium playing field, the same surface the players will use when the second half begins. The pitch, a temporary Bermuda grass surface installed in May, has already been criticised by players for being “too dry” and having “visible worn patches.” A FIFA spokesperson confirmed the stage would be removed “quickly,” a word the spokesperson used four times, and said the pitch would be “fine,” a word the spokesperson used twice.
The International Football Association Board, which writes the Laws of the Game, specifies that the halftime interval shall not exceed 15 minutes and may only be altered with the referee's permission. When asked whether the referee had granted permission for a 25-minute interval, FIFA said the referee “has been briefed.” When asked whether “briefed” meant “asked” or “told,” FIFA said the referee “understands the situation.” The referee, Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia, has not commented.
Previous halftime shows at the 2024 Copa América final and the 2025 Club World Cup final each lasted 24 minutes, which is nine minutes longer than the rule allows and, by coincidence, nine minutes longer than anyone in either stadium wanted. BBC and ITV initially refused to broadcast the World Cup show, then changed their minds, then changed them again, then agreed to show it, in a process The Guardian described as “a negotiation” and which everyone else described as “a panic.”
Chris Martin of Coldplay, who curated the lineup, said the show would be “a moment that brings the world together.” When it was noted that the World Cup itself is generally considered the moment that brings the world together, and that adding a halftime concert to it is like adding a second halftime concert to the first halftime concert, Martin said: “Yes.”
Shakira, who performed at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup opening ceremonies and whose “Waka Waka” remains the only World Cup song anyone can name, said: “I've spent my life doing two things: making songs and building schools. At the FIFA World Cup, those two paths come together.” She did not clarify which of those two things the halftime show is.
The Muppets and Sesame Street characters were part of the announcement video. It is not clear what they will do during the show. A FIFA spokesperson said they would “be present,” which is also not clear.
At time of writing, the two teams, Argentina and Spain, have not been asked for their opinion on any of this. A source within the Argentine delegation said: “We have been asked for our opinion on the trophy handover, the pitch condition, the refereeing, and now a 25-minute halftime featuring Madonna. We are a football team. We are not a focus group.”
Kick-off is at 16:00 ET on Sunday. The halftime show begins at approximately 16:55. The second half begins at approximately 17:20. The trophy presentation, if it reaches the winning captain, begins at approximately 18:11.