AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The World Cup certainly left its mark on the U.S., from the thirsty Tartan Army to falling in love with the players from Cape Verde to sending fans home with a new appreciation for ranch dressing. These memories will long outlast the games. And the U.S. made sure that there was an American twist to the final yesterday. Instead of a brief break at halftime, yesterday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina included a new element. For the first time ever, the World Cup featured a Super Bowl-esque halftime show, and NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas was watching that show even more closely than the nail-biting game.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Usually, the World Cup is one of the most watched sporting events around the globe. Even before the final, FIFA, soccer’s organizing body, had already logged 20 billion video views across digital platforms. But for the first time, FIFA took a page from American football and mounted a live concert mid game to keep sports fans and nonfans alike entertained. And they went big, as you can hear in these clips that come courtesy of Fox. The Brazilian soccer kings Ronaldo and Ronaldinho accompanied Madonna out onto the pitch.
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MADONNA: (Singing) Come together, yeah.
TSIOULCAS: FIFA massed a cavalcade of top stars from six continents. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel was joined by musicians from the New York Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela for a sing-along of a now eternal stadium anthem. They played the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” with the Muppets band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, with Animal, of course, pounding out the drum line.
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TSIOULCAS: One of Afrobeats hottest stars, Burna Boy, from Nigeria, joined the queen of World Cup anthems, Shakira, for their official World Cup 2026 song “Dai Dai.”
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SHAKIRA AND BURNA BOY: (Singing) What broke you once made you strong.
TSIOULCAS: It was a feel good, family friendly procession of fan favorites. There wasn’t much of a through line in the spectacle, save for some broadly inspiring strokes like togetherness, unity, love. It was an 11-minute parade of celebrity cameos and references to memes from this year’s cup and other feel-good soccer moments, like a “Ted Lasso” reference. Justin Bieber sang his “Everything Hallelujah” with a few new lyrics to mark the occasion.
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JUSTIN BIEBER: (Singing) It is the World Cup power (ph).
TSIOULCAS: The show was a vehicle for FIFA’s charity arm, the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. The charity’s goal is to raise $100 million to expand education and soccer access for children worldwide. At the end of the show, kids from Staten Island’s PS22 Chorus sang alongside Coldplay’s Chris Martin in a riot of rainbow colors with an enormous banner emblazoned with the word love. FIFA invited fans to visit the charity’s website, which asks fans to, quote, “use the power of love to defeat poverty and defend the planet.”
In more normal times, that would be a rather apolitical goal. But at this game, which was attended by President Trump and Melania Trump, messaging about rainbows, global unity and good sportsmanship comes with an inescapable side of politics.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAD BUNNY SONG, “NO ME QUIERO CASAR”) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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