World Cup halftime show features Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Muppets in packed 11-minute performance
An 11-minute halftime show at MetLife Stadium combined performances by Madonna, BTS, Shakira, Justin Bieber and others, along with a house band of Muppets and a mixed orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
An 11-minute halftime spectacle at MetLife Stadium outside New York blended music, sport and pop culture in a single show that featured a rotating lineup of international stars. Madonna opened with her 2000 hit “Music,” accompanied by former Brazilian soccer icons Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, and arrived on a dune buggy after a prerecorded roller-rink segment.
Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel led an orchestra that included musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, performing a rendition of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” while a Muppets house band provided accompaniment. K-pop group BTS followed, delivering a brief version of “Dynamite.”
In a promotional segment for the upcoming season of “Ted Lasso,” actors Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, in character, encouraged Justin Bieber, who performed an acoustic version of “Everything Hallelujah.”
Shakira and Afrobeats artist Burna Boy performed the tournament’s official anthem “Dai Dai,” with Shakira appearing barefoot in a feathered dress and joined by dancers and children. The finale featured the PS22 Chorus of Staten Island elementary-school students, backed by Dudamel’s orchestra and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, alongside additional Muppets and Sesame Street characters.
The closing ceremony later included performances by Jennifer Hudson, Robbie Williams, Post Malone and a brief speech by actor Tom Cruise, who referenced the two remaining teams in the tournament.