Madonna, Shakira & BTS to headline World Cup showImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Madonna, Shakira and BTS will headline the half-time show at the final in New JerseyByLorraine McKennaBBC Sport JournalistPublished14 May 2026, 08:31 BSTUpdated 1 hour agoMadonna, Shakira and K-pop boy band BTS will co-headline the Super Bowl-style half-time show at this summer’s World Cup final. The tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, concludes with the final in New Jersey on 19 July.The BBC understands the show will be 11 minutes long. There have been reports the show could last longer than 15 minutes, which the laws of the game say the interval should not exceed.The half-time show during last summer’s Club World Cup final in the US between Chelsea and Paris St-Germain lasted more than 24 minutes.Pre-match performances at showpiece occasions such as the Champions League final have become commonplace, but this will be the first half-time show at a World Cup final.Colombian pop star Shakira is releasing her official World Cup song Dai Dai – an Italian phrase meaning “let’s go” or “come on” and also featuring Nigerian singer Burna Boy – on Thursday. The 49-year-old Hips Don’t Lie singer also released Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.’Queen of Pop’ Madonna is the best-selling female music artist of all time and is preparing to release her 15th album, Confessions II, on 3 July. In April, the 67-year-old made a surprise guest appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s headline set at the Coachella music festival for a duet of Vogue and Like A Prayer. Meanwhile, the seven members of BTS are the best-selling music act in South Korean history, with more than 45 million albums sold. They and Coldplay had a UK number three hit with My Universe in 2021. The band have been making their comeback after a three-year music hiatus to complete their mandatory military service, and will be in the middle of an 85-date world tour when they perform at the final. In March, Fifa president Gianni Infantino mentioned the show “will be a historic moment for the Fifa World Cup, befitting the biggest sporting event in the world”.The half-time show has been curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and will raise money for the Fifa Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative working to raise $100m (£73m) for children worldwide. This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
Madonna, Shakira & BTS for Chris Martin-curated World Cup final half-time show
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