World Cup final or Super Bowl? Why FIFA’s half-time show has fans in a tizzy

Less is more, so the adage goes. Unless you’re FIFA.For the first time, the football federation will host a half-time show during Monday’s World Cup final, in which Argentina will square off against Spain. Not only are they adding a half-time show, prompting comparisons to the Super Bowl extravaganza, they’re also packing it with A-listers. Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and BTS are just a few of the celebrities set to grace the field at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.FIFA will host its first-ever World Cup final half-time show on Monday, featuring stars like Justin Bieber. Not everyone is happy about it.GettySounds great, right – who doesn’t love a show? Soccer fans, apparently. The decision to add half-time entertainment has ruffled feathers ahead of the big game, with some concerns over what it could mean for the players and the World Cup itself.So, what’s behind the ruckus and what can we expect from this half-time spectacle?Who will perform?The FIFA World Cup final is usually only accompanied by a pre-match closing ceremony. At the Qatar final in 2022, for instance, Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and French singer Gims performed together, as well as Nora Fatehi, Balqees, Rahma Riad and Manal.This is the first time there has ever been a half-time show, though, and the line-up is stacked.When you think of Madonna, you think of football … right?Rafael PavarottiFirstly, the queen of pop herself, Madonna, will sing. This isn’t necessarily surprising, given she recently released her album Confessions II and has been promoting it everywhere, including New York’s Times Square with a surprise pop-up show, and at the Tribeca Festival with the release of Confessions II: The Film. There’s no doubt she’ll whip out one of her new tracks, as well as her bilingual World Cup anthem Read My Lips, on which she collaborated with Feid.Alongside Madonna will be Justin Bieber in his first stage appearance since Coachella in April. He divided audiences then with his YouTube-heavy throwback special but he’ll probably need to forgo the laptop at this performance – unless he’s just going to handle the tech?It also wouldn’t really feel like a World Cup spectacular without Shakira, who’ll perform the World Cup’s official song Dai Dai alongside Burna Boy. Viewers may feel some deja vu as they performed the same track during the opening ceremony in June.But wait, there’s more. FIFA will also squeeze in BTS, the mega-popular K-pop group who recently blew away the American Music Awards with their latest reunion album Arirang. Talk about coming out of the gate swinging, following their nearly four-year hiatus.Elsewhere there will be Gustavo Dudamel, and the PS22 Chorus featuring Coldplay, with frontman Chris Martin curating the whole shindig. If that wasn’t already enough, characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets will also take part, though we’re not sure how yet. You can’t get more star power than Kermit the Frog.The half-time entertainment is expected to run for only about 11 minutes. How they’ll fit all that in – presumably including setting up and deconstructing an on-field stage – during that short window, only time will tell. This will be paired with 15 minutes of the usual mid-game analysis, making half-time about 20 to 25 minutes long all up.Why has this caused drama?This half-time length is unprecedented for FIFA World Cups, which technically include a rule that dictates the interval of any match should last no more than 15 minutes. Notably, last year’s FIFA Club World Cup final half-time lasted 24 minutes, with performances from Coldplay, J Balvin, Doja Cat, Tems and Emmanuel Kelly.Unprecedented or not, FIFA says it is doing it for the children. The half-time show will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative aiming to raise $US100 million to expand access to quality education and football opportunities for children worldwide.This hasn’t stopped some fans and sports figures from bristling, however. Some have lamented the “Americanisation” of an event that is supposed to be multicultural, noting its stark resemblance to the Super Bowl half-time show.Others are also worried it will operate as a distraction, shifting attention away from the match itself. “FIFA adding American-style half-time show to the World Cup final is so unnecessary. Football never needed theatrics to be great, the game is the show in itself. I’m so upset,” one X user wrote.Retired Socceroos player Craig Foster also took to X to express disappointment: “Let them all come out, wave, sing a few beats if necessary, and get off within the 15 minutes. As the laws of the game dictate.”Some also have concerns around player health and performance, given they will need to remain warmed up before heading back to the field. Will there be other performances?A pre-show closing ceremony will also be replete with famous faces. This will begin 90 minutes before kick-off and will feature Robbie Williams, who released the FIFA anthem Desire last year, Italian singer Laura Pausini, and Nicole Scherzinger. YouTube star IShowSpeed and rapper Post Malone will also appear.Robbie Williams can’t resist a sporting match. He’ll perform during the World Cup final’s closing ceremony.Getty ImagesJennifer Hudson will sing a special rendition of the United States’ national anthem ahead of the game in honour of the host country.The real highlight, however, will presumably be a “special appearance” from Tom Cruise. What this will be, we’re not yet sure, but if his appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony is any indication, it’ll be epic and potentially life-threatening.In 2024 he rappelled from the roof of a Parisian stadium to present an Olympic flag to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Could he parachute into MetLife Stadium, or perhaps ride off the edge of the arena on a motorbike, a la Mission: Impossible? Or maybe he’ll go full Digger, rocking up in major prosthetics and holding a ridiculously fake-looking cat to promote the coming Alejandro G. Inarritu film. Where Cruise is concerned, anything is possible.Join our live blog for all the FIFA World Cup final action on Monday morning. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.From our partners