{"id":2045239,"date":"2026-07-15T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2045239"},"modified":"2026-07-15T18:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:31:00","slug":"why-everyone-hates-the-fifa-world-cup-halftime-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2045239","title":{"rendered":"Why everyone hates the FIFA World Cup halftime show"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-3000-2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/9\/1449761.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/music\/article\/70646\/1\/hate-fifa-world-cup-2026-final-halftime-show-madonna-justin-bieber-shakira\" data-article-id=\"70646\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.41\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"MixCollage-15-Jul-2026-08-22-PM-6244\" class=\"img\" height=\"2121\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/9\/1449761.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Justin Bieber. Photo by Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Coachella \/\/ Madonna. Photo by Santiago <span class=\"nowrap\">Felipe\/GC Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-15T18:31:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"15 July 2026\"><span class=\"month\">July<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"15\">15,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - music\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/explainer\">Explainer<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/explainer\">Explainer<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Why everyone hates the FIFA World Cup <span class=\"nowrap\">halftime show<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>The World Cup final comes accompanied by a generational lineup of pop stars \u2013 including Madonna and Justin Bieber \u2013 but many fans view it as the last straw in a long series of corruption scandals <span class=\"nowrap\">and rule-bending<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-07-15T18:31:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"15 July 2026\"><span class=\"month\">July<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"15\">15,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-07-15T18:31:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"15 July 2026\"><span class=\"month\">July<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"15\">15,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/solomonpacemccarrick\"><br \/>\nSolomon PM<br \/>\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The lineup for the first-ever FIFA World Cup final halftime show, taking place this Sunday, is undeniably stacked: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/madonna\">Madonna<\/a>, fresh off her return-to-form 15th album, <em>Confessions II<\/em>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/shakira\">Shakira<\/a>, who has released some of the biggest football anthems to date; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/justin-bieber\">Justin Bieber<\/a>, who made headlines earlier this year as Coachella\u2019s most expensive headliner ever; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/bts\">BTS<\/a>, whose comeback album, Arirang, is, by some metrics, the best-selling project of 2026. It\u2019s a lineup to rival even the biggest festivals on earth \u2013 so why has the show provoked such widespread opposition among football fans?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Well, aside from being curated by Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin (yawn), gripes with the FIFA World Cup final halftime show centre on the fact that it would exceed the standard 15-minute half-time limit. As stipulated by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs football matches around the world, World Cup players are entitled to a half-time break \u201cnot exceeding 15 minutes.\u201d The body has previously cited the \u201cnegative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity\u201d as justification for not extending the break at previous World Cups. By contrast, this weekend\u2019s halftime show is expected to take between 25 and 30 minutes, including setup and strike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Up until last night, multiple sources had reported that the UK\u2019s official broadcasters, ITV and the BBC, would not show the halftime performance, instead sticking to the usual mid-game analysis from their pundits. Both broadcasters had previously declined to air Ellie Goulding\u2019s halftime performance during England\u2019s quarter-final victory over Norway. However, after news emerged this morning that the final\u2019s break would run longer than usual, ITV and the BBC are now expected to broadcast the full 11-minute show, followed by 15 minutes of analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>For many, the bending of longstanding World Cup rules in the long-anticipated final is the last straw in a long line of meddling by its North American organisers. Elsewhere, the 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada, has angered fans, managers and players alike with the introduction of two three-minute \u2018hydration breaks\u2019 in each game \u2013 which many have branded an attempt to cram in more advertisements. FIFA\u2019s official justification is that the breaks protect players\u2019 wellbeing in the hot conditions of Mexico and the southern US, but others have pointed out that they take place even in air-conditioned stadiums.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt breaks the match almost in four quarters and it changes the characteristic of the match more than I thought,\u201d England manager Thomas Tuchel told reporters last month. Meanwhile, the Dutch team captain Virgil van Dijk admitted that the breaks weren\u2019t \u201cgreat for TV\u201d and that he \u201cdidn\u2019t really like\u201d them. In the stadium, fans erupt into boos each time a hydration break is announced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even more damningly, this year\u2019s FIFA World Cup has seen accusations of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70625\/1\/is-this-the-most-corrupt-world-cup-2026-fifa-ever-argentina-messi-peace-prize\"><span>widespread corruption<\/span><\/a><span>. Most notable was President Trump\u2019s personal intervention of calling FIFA officials to persuade them to rescind USA striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s red card before the team\u2019s last-16 match (which they ultimately lost anyway). In the wake of Trump\u2019s intervention, both the French Football Association and British MP Noah Law attempted to petition FIFA to rescind their own team\u2019s cards, respectively, both of which were unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>All of this combines to form a World Cup that has frustrated many longstanding fans of the sport. \u201cFIFA appears to be on a mission to Americanise football into soccer,\u201d wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/football\/2026\/07\/14\/half-time-show-world-cup-final-30-minutes-fifa-shakira\/\">one incensed Telegraph journalist<\/a> this morning, while another <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/worldcup\/comments\/1ur2xxz\/comment\/owemj8m\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button\"><span>commenter on Reddit<\/span><\/a><span> puts it more bluntly: \u201cWho asked for this crap. Stupid NFL nonsense.\u201d Ultimately, rather than centring on the halftime bookings themselves, it is the longer trends of corruption and meddling with rules that have stood for nearly a century that cast a shadow over the World Cup final this weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"article-series header tags\"><span class=\"heading\">More on these topics:<\/span><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/explainer\">Explainer<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/football\">football<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/justin-bieber\">Justin Bieber<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/bts\">BTS<\/a><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp-text-container\">\n<h3 class=\"lava-lamp-subheading\">Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 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class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/70335\/1\/olivia-rodrigo-dazed-summer-2026-action-issue-album-interview\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Olivia Rodrigo\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/0-578-2301-1534\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/5\/1445966.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Music<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">Olivia Rodrigo: \u2018A breakup can be an opportunity to redirect your life\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"split-rail-card card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/70638\/1\/unquantified-self-data-driven-optimisation-wellness\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__img-wrapper card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"run lola run\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/640\/218-44-2266-1511\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/9\/1449721.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"split-rail-card__content card-latest__content\"><span class=\"split-rail-card__ribbon card-latest__ribbon\">Beauty<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"split-rail-card__title card-latest__title\">\u2018I trust my own body\u2019: The rise of the unquantified self <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The lineup for the first-ever FIFA World Cup final halftime show, taking place this Sunday, is undeniably stacked: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/madonna\">Madonna<\/a>, fresh off her return-to-form 15th album, <em>Confessions II<\/em>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/shakira\">Shakira<\/a>, who has released some of the biggest football anthems to date; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/justin-bieber\">Justin Bieber<\/a>, who made headlines earlier this year as Coachella\u2019s most expensive headliner ever; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/bts\">BTS<\/a>, whose comeback album, Arirang, is, by some metrics, the best-selling project of 2026. It\u2019s a lineup to rival even the biggest festivals on earth \u2013 so why has the show provoked such widespread opposition among football fans?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Well, aside from being curated by Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin (yawn), gripes with the FIFA World Cup final halftime show centre on the fact that it would exceed the standard 15-minute half-time limit. As stipulated by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs football matches around the world, World Cup players are entitled to a half-time break \u201cnot exceeding 15 minutes.\u201d The body has previously cited the \u201cnegative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity\u201d as justification for not extending the break at previous World Cups. By contrast, this weekend\u2019s halftime show is expected to take between 25 and 30 minutes, including setup and strike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Up until last night, multiple sources had reported that the UK\u2019s official broadcasters, ITV and the BBC, would not show the halftime performance, instead sticking to the usual mid-game analysis from their pundits. Both broadcasters had previously declined to air Ellie Goulding\u2019s halftime performance during England\u2019s quarter-final victory over Norway. However, after news emerged this morning that the final\u2019s break would run longer than usual, ITV and the BBC are now expected to broadcast the full 11-minute show, followed by 15 minutes of analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>For many, the bending of longstanding World Cup rules in the long-anticipated final is the last straw in a long line of meddling by its North American organisers. Elsewhere, the 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada, has angered fans, managers and players alike with the introduction of two three-minute \u2018hydration breaks\u2019 in each game \u2013 which many have branded an attempt to cram in more advertisements. FIFA\u2019s official justification is that the breaks protect players\u2019 wellbeing in the hot conditions of Mexico and the southern US, but others have pointed out that they take place even in air-conditioned stadiums.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt breaks the match almost in four quarters and it changes the characteristic of the match more than I thought,\u201d England manager Thomas Tuchel told reporters last month. Meanwhile, the Dutch team captain Virgil van Dijk admitted that the breaks weren\u2019t \u201cgreat for TV\u201d and that he \u201cdidn\u2019t really like\u201d them. In the stadium, fans erupt into boos each time a hydration break is announced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even more damningly, this year\u2019s FIFA World Cup has seen accusations of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/70625\/1\/is-this-the-most-corrupt-world-cup-2026-fifa-ever-argentina-messi-peace-prize\"><span>widespread corruption<\/span><\/a><span>. Most notable was President Trump\u2019s personal intervention of calling FIFA officials to persuade them to rescind USA striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s red card before the team\u2019s last-16 match (which they ultimately lost anyway). In the wake of Trump\u2019s intervention, both the French Football Association and British MP Noah Law attempted to petition FIFA to rescind their own team\u2019s cards, respectively, both of which were unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>All of this combines to form a World Cup that has frustrated many longstanding fans of the sport. \u201cFIFA appears to be on a mission to Americanise football into soccer,\u201d wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/football\/2026\/07\/14\/half-time-show-world-cup-final-30-minutes-fifa-shakira\/\">one incensed Telegraph journalist<\/a> this morning, while another <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/worldcup\/comments\/1ur2xxz\/comment\/owemj8m\/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=web3x&amp;utm_name=web3xcss&amp;utm_term=1&amp;utm_content=share_button\"><span>commenter on Reddit<\/span><\/a><span> puts it more bluntly: \u201cWho asked for this crap. Stupid NFL nonsense.\u201d Ultimately, rather than centring on the halftime bookings themselves, it is the longer trends of corruption and meddling with rules that have stood for nearly a century that cast a shadow over the World Cup final this weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/70646\/1\/hate-fifa-world-cup-2026-final-halftime-show-madonna-justin-bieber-shakira&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-3000-2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/9\/1449761.jpg&#8221;] Justin Bieber. Photo by Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Coachella \/\/ Madonna. Photo by Santiago Felipe\/GC Images July\u00a0 15,\u00a0 2026 Music \/ Explainer Music \/ Explainer Why everyone hates the FIFA World Cup halftime show The World Cup final comes accompanied by a generational lineup of pop stars \u2013 including Madonna and Justin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-2045239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2045239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2045239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2045239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2045239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2045239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}