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Madonna, Shakira and BTS Set to Make History at the 2026 World Cup Final Halftime Show
Madonna, Shakira and BTS will perform at the first-ever World Cup final halftime show on July 19 at MetLife Stadium.
The FIFA World Cup final is getting a halftime show for the first time ever, and the inaugural slot is being handed to Madonna, Shakira and BTS.
Global Citizen announced Thursday morning, May 14, that the trio will perform during the final on Sunday, July 19, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Billboard understands the show will run for 11 minutes.
The reveal came through a social video featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Sesame Street’s Elmo and Cookie Monster, plus Kermit, Miss Piggie and other Muppets characters. The clip even calls BTS on FaceTime, turning the announcement into something a little stranger and a lot more memorable than your standard press release.
Shakira’s involvement had already been circling the tournament conversation. The Colombian star recently unveiled “Dai Dai,” her official 2026 World Cup song with Burna Boy, and this will be her second official FIFA World Cup anthem after “Waka, Waka (This Time for Africa)” for the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Her calendar is packed, too: the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour 2026 begins in June, with July 14 and July 20 dates in New Jersey and New York bookending the World Cup final week.
Madonna is also headed into a busy July. Her Confessions II album, the follow-up to her 2005 classic Confessions on a Dance Floor, arrives July 3. So far she has shared lead single “Bring Your Love,” her duet with Sabrina Carpenter, which they debuted live during weekend 2 of Coachella last month, along with “I Feel So Free.”
BTS, meanwhile, returned to music earlier this year with ARIRANG, their sixth studio album and first project since the group’s hiatus while each member completed military service. Released on March 20, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for three consecutive weeks, giving the group their first multi-week chart-topper. They launched the ARIRANG WORLD TOUR in Goyang, South Korea, last month, before bringing it to the U.S. on April 25. International dates are now booked through next March.
The halftime show is being curated by Global Citizen and Coldplay’s Martin, with the goal of raising money for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is targeting $100 million to expand access to education and football for children worldwide. The fund has already brought in more than $30 million, and $1 from every ticket sold to World Cup matches will go toward it throughout the tournament. Global Citizen and Martin also teamed up on last year’s Club World Cup final halftime show, headlined by Doja Cat, J Balvin and Tems.
FIFA announced last week that Katy Perry, Future, Tyla, LISA and Anitta are also set for the 2026 World Cup opening ceremonies across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Perry will headline the opening ceremony in Los Angeles before the U.S. men’s national team faces Paraguay on June 12, while Future is also slated to perform at SoFi Stadium alongside DJ Sanjoy.
It’s a major first for the tournament, but not for the artists involved. Madonna took center field at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, while Shakira co-headlined the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez.
