Hits, misses and Muppets: the star-studded World Cup half-time show nobody asked for

The 2026 World Cup final’s halftime spectacle has already become a talking point, with critics questioning whether football’s biggest match needed an added entertainment show at all.

According to a monitored public feed from The Guardian Football, the final will feature a star-studded performance that brings together names including Shakira, Madonna and Coldplay. The pace of the show, the feed noted, was brisk enough to keep moving through a packed lineup of global pop acts.

But the concept has not been universally welcomed. The report said the halftime show sits uneasily alongside long-standing football traditions, especially because it stretches the final beyond the International Football Association’s 15-minute halftime limit. That detail alone has fueled concern among purists who see the format as a departure from the sport’s usual rhythm.

The feed also pointed to the American influence behind the idea, drawing a comparison with the Super Bowl’s famously elaborate halftime entertainment. What began there as modest marching-band performances has grown into one of the most prominent pop culture showcases of the year. In football circles, though, that evolution is not necessarily viewed as a model worth copying.

For detractors, the issue is not only the spectacle itself but what it symbolizes: an imported entertainment tradition being layered onto the World Cup’s most watched match. The feed suggested that some fans see the move as less about celebrating the game and more about reshaping it to fit a different sporting culture.

The report also made clear that the halftime show is one of several innovations linked to the 2026 tournament that have stirred debate. The mention of hydration breaks and other unusual interventions reflected a broader sense that the event is becoming a testing ground for changes that would once have seemed far outside football’s core identity.

Still, the show’s scale underlines how commercial and cultural the World Cup final has become. Even those unconvinced by the concept are likely to be aware that it is designed to reach far beyond the usual match-going audience, turning a 15-minute interval into a global entertainment moment.

This article is based on a monitored public feed and has been prepared from the available summary material. Source attribution: The Guardian Football. Source: The Guardian Football - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/19/hits-misses-and-muppets-the-star-studded-world-cup-half-time-show-nobody-asked-for