FIFA unveils this Sunday a halftime show at the World Cup final between Pedro Sánchez and Milei Spain and Argentina. The lineup is a veritable delirium of grandeur: Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber, and Burna Boy will share the stage in an event that aims to transplant the Super Bowl model to football. For some, like Robert Smith of The Cure, the idea hasn’t sat well at all, though it’s hard to imagine the singer not tuning into the game.
The final starts at 21:00 (local time on the Iberian Peninsula), although the broadcast will begin quite a bit earlier. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 19:30, and the halftime show will begin, if there are no delays, around 21:48. The intermission will stretch to about 30 minutes, but the music will occupy only 11. Before the match there will be another show, headlined by Post Malone with appearances by Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger, Tom Cruise for some reason, and Laura Pausini. Jennifer Hudson will perform the national anthem.
Behind the lineup is Chris Martin, Coldplay’s frontman, together with Global Citizen. None of the artists will be paid to perform: the show is part of FIFA’s Global Citizen Education Fund campaign, aimed at raising funds for educational projects. The tricky part will be fitting five superstars into a mere 11 minutes. That’s a little over two minutes per artist, so the sensible expectation is for very condensed performances and perhaps a medley or two.
FIFA continues to keep the order of acts under wraps. The bet many are placing is that Madonna will close the show purely by virtue of her historical weight. Meanwhile, she has been playing coy, posting an Instagram video in which she asks “What song am I going to sing?”—yes, in the singular—while weaving references to ‘Read My Lips’ and ‘Hung Up’. ‘Read My Lips’ is, of course, part of FIFA’s official soundtrack, so she seems a fairly obvious candidate. Let’s see how much flamboyance Madonna can squeeze into the most FIFA imaginable event.
With Shakira and Burna Boy there’s less mystery. The question is whether ‘Dai Dai’ will open, close, or appear in the middle of the show, given its Afrobeat sound is fairly restrained. As for BTS and Justin Bieber, with so little time it’s hard to imagine anything other than a run of big hits. Aside from Madonna, no one seems to be there to promote a new album. Here the aim is to enter, leave a strong impression, and move on. In 11 minutes it’s not a concert but an advertising showcase. Will they manage to make it cool, at least? It can’t be worse than the opening show, right?
