Everyone Isn't Looking Forward to Final's Halftime Show

The World Cup final on Sunday will look more like a Super Bowl than ever: A halftime show, the first ever at a men's final, will include Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, Burna Boy, the New York Philharmonic, a Staten Island grade school chorus, and even Muppets midway through Spain vs. Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the New York Times reports. It may require extra time. All that is supposed to fit into 15 or 20 minutes; the show had been billed as an 11-minute performance produced by the charity group Global Citizen to help raise $100 million for youth education and sports. Like the NFL with its extravaganza, FIFA will not be paying the artists.

Everyone isn't thrilled by the idea. Some say the extended break will mess with players' routines. Some say the show underscores FIFA's tilt toward corporate spectacle in an already expanded, high-priced tournament. And fans and analysts will lose their time to discuss the first half. Producers pledge to tread lightly, using stages that will roll in on carts, covering the pitch with tarp, and executing a quick teardown. A UK sports sociologist maintains the point is that soccer is meant to have few interruptions so it can maintain continuous tension and pressure. "It will just change the whole character of the event," John Williams said. "It won't feel right." The show was the idea of Coldplay's Chris Martin, who pitched it during the 2022 World Cup, picked the lineup, and shaped the creative vision, aiming for what organizers call a snapshot of a global crowd.