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For the first time in the tournament’s history, FIFA is staging a live halftime show at the World Cup final. Much like at the Super Bowl, the list of performers is a star-studded lineup featuring Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS, who will co-headline the show. Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, Nigerian artist Burna Boy, and the PS22 Chorus from a public school on Staten Island will also appear, along with characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets. Coldplay’s Chris Martin was said to have “curated” the performance.
FIFA has described the event as the moment when “football, music and social impact will come together as the greatest show on Earth reaches its pinnacle.” (The World Cup is the most-watched sporting event in the world.) The performance will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative aiming to raise $100 million to expand access to education and football opportunities for children worldwide.
While the addition of a new halftime show in itself has stirred debate, the length is also something of a mystery. Reports vary from FIFA estimating it will last roughly 20, 25, or even 30 minutes. However, even just 20 minutes would conflict with the rules of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which stipulate that halftime is not supposed to exceed 15 minutes, and any change to that timeframe would require the referee’s permission. Extending the break is highly unusual and creates a logistical challenge for players and coaches who are not used to a longer rest period.
There is also the question of the stage itself. Unlike the Club World Cup halftime show last summer—which featured Doja Cat, J Balvin, and Tems performing on a stage high up in the stands at the same stadium—the World Cup final halftime show is expected to take place down on the pitch itself. MetLife Stadium, or rather “New York/New Jersey Stadium” as it will be known through Sunday afternoon, has already taken heat for the quality of the grass on the field compared to other host stadiums during this tournament. Now organizers will need to set up and remove a stage on the field before the second half whistle, adding more minutes to that halftime window and also putting the pitch at further risk of damage than it already could be.
For comparison, according to The Athletic, the Copa America final in 2024 featured Shakira performing at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, and the two teams ended up waiting roughly 26 minutes before the second half began. The NFL Super Bowl, perhaps the gold standard for a halftime show, typically keeps players off the field for 20 to 30 minutes, compared to a standard 13-minute interval during the regular season.
How to watch the World Cup halftime show
The halftime show has been especially controversial in some markets. The BBC announced in May that it would not broadcast the performance, choosing instead to use the break for football analysis. Fellow British broadcaster ITV initially appeared to be taking the same approach but reversed course on July 15 (ahead of the England-Argentina semifinal) and confirmed it will air the show in full. So if you are watching from outside the United States, while the World Cup will likely be watchable from almost anywhere, it is worth checking whether the local broadcaster plans to carry the halftime show at all. (It might be available on YouTube or social media after, but FIFA is notoriously aggressive with video rights.)
For U.S. viewers, Fox Sports holds the English-language broadcast rights to the final. The Spanish-language broadcast is available on Peacock. The match will be aired on Fox and Telemundo. It will also be streaming through the Fox One app, the Peacock app, or live TV streaming services including YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live TV, FuboTV, and DirecTV Stream, all accessible with a participating TV provider login.
Kickoff is at 3 p.m. eastern. The first half runs for 45 minutes, but with inevitable stoppage time and the new hydration breaks introduced this year, halftime could begin closer to 4 p.m. If the halftime show is your primary reason for tuning in, you should still plan to be in front of a screen by 3:45 p.m. at the latest.
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Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.