MADONNA, SHAKIRA AND BTS ANNOUNCED AS CO-HEADLINERS FOR FIRST EVER HALFTIME SHOW AT THE 2026 WORLD CUP FINAL

The 2026 World Cup final will take place on Sunday, July 19, at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey

Shakira, BTS and Madonna.
Credit : Kevin Mazur/Getty; Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty; Marc Nader/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock

The 2026 World Cup final is going to have some global superstars headlining its first ever halftime show.

On Wednesday, May 13, the official FIFA World Cup Instagram account announced that Madonna, Shakira and BTS will be performing at the final in July. 

“On July 19, the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show is coming to New York New Jersey Stadium, featuring superstars@madonna ,@shakira , and@bts.bighitofficial , curated by@coldplay ‘s Chris Martin!” the post read.

The tournament’s final will be held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with the match kicking off at 3 p.m. ET. 

Madonna performs at Coachella 2026.
Kevin Mazur/Getty

The post added, “A FIFA World Cup first, the Halftime Show supports the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a landmark initiative working to raise $100 USD million to expand access to quality education and football for children around the world. Throughout the tournament, USD 1 from every ticket sold to FIFA World Cup 2026 matches will be donated to the Fund.”

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin also shared the news in an Instagram video featuring BTS on FaceTime, along with the help of Sesame Street’s Elmo and Muppets characters Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, the Cookie Monster and Statler and Waldorf. 

This will be the first time a halftime show has taken place during a World Cup final.

The news comes after Madonna announced her new album Confessions II last month and made a surprise appearance at Coachella during Sabrina Carpenter's headlining set. The Queen of Pop’s new record, a sequel to her 2005 hit album Confessions on a Dancefloor, will be released on July 3.

The 2026 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico and features 48 teams, begins on June 11 when Mexico take on South Africa. 

Earlier this month, the likes of Katy Perry, J Balvin, Future, Michael Bublé, Tyla and Lisa were announced to be among those performing at the three opening ceremonies of the soccer tournament.

Shakira performing in New York City in September 2025.
Theo Wargo/Getty 

While Perry will headline the U.S. opening ceremony on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, J Blavin will headline the opening ceremony in Mexico City and Bublé, Alanis Morissette and Alessia Cara will co-headline in Toronto.

According to Variety, the soccer World Cup Finals are the most-watched annual sporting event, with the 2022 final drawing in more than 500 million live viewers.

- Kirsty Hatcher