FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, announced that for the first time in World Cup history it will be hosting a Super Bowl-like halftime show for the 2026 World Cup.
The show will take place in The MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on July 19th, 2026. Infanito remarked that the weekend of the final will be a “takeover” of Times Square.
Infantino stated that this show will be “20 times bigger than the Super Bowl. There have been no details yet regarding if there will be extended time given for the performance, due to the fact that the usual halftime break for soccer is only 15 minutes.
The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will be held across North America in three host countries: the USA, Canada, and Mexico, with matches held in 16 different host cities. This will be the first World Cup since 2002 to involve multiple host countries. Moreover, FIFA is also expanding the number of included teams from 32 to 48. The tournament is currently slated to occur from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
Potential artists
Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin and manager Phil Harvey have signed on to help curate the show. It has not been confirmed whether Coldplay will confirm, but Martin will be involved in booking other artists for the event. FIFA president Gianni Infantino shared his opinion on a potential performance from Canadian rapper Drake. The FIFA President sat down with Good Day New York, where host Rosanna Scotto asked about Drake playing the 2026 FIFA World Cup Halftime Show.
“That’s a good idea,” Infantino said. “Actually, Drake was with us when we announced the host cities. I should have his number saved somewhere.”
Last year, Drake and Infantino discussed the World Cup. During their conversation, Drake promoted Canada as a host country for Toronto’s melody of cultural experiences.
Super Bowl Halftime
The Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, which garnered over 133 million viewers in Feb., is a yearly pop culture event. However,more viewers tune into the FIFA World Cup every four years. In 2022, approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide watched at least one minute of the FIFA World Cup final. Approximately 127 million people watched the Superbowl this year.
“It will be, truly, an unmissable event with a global audience of 2 billion and more,” Infantino said.
