Shakira is setting expectations sky-high for what she is already calling a landmark moment in live music history.
Speaking on The Capital Evening Show with Jimmy Hill on Wednesday, July 8, the singer offered a tease of the inaugural FIFA World Cup Final halftime show, calling it "pretty historic" and describing a lineup she herself still seems a little awestruck by.
"It's going to be a shared halftime show. It's going to be pretty historic, five amazing artists," she said according to People. "Well, four amazing artists plus me."
The co-headliners joining her at MetLife Stadium/New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 19 are Madonna, BTS, and Justin Bieber, with Coldplay's Chris Martin curating the 11-minute performance. Burna Boy, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the PS22 Chorus from a Staten Island public elementary school, and Muppets characters Kermit and Miss Piggy round out the bill, per Deadline.
Shakira noted she is still figuring out the shape of her set. "I played at the inauguration, and now I'm playing at the final. I've got to wrap my head around it, make it a little different from what I did at the inauguration," she said. She also floated a hope for the headlining rock act: "I really hope that Chris Martin is going to be singing too."
As for the overall production, she admitted the logistics are still coming together. "We'll all get together and we'll all figure it out how it's gonna be, but I'm really curious. I'm as curious as you are right now!"
This marks the first time a halftime performance has ever taken place at a FIFA World Cup Final. Previous tournaments featured pre-match concerts rather than in-game shows. The 11-minute runtime was deliberately designed to stay within football's rules, which cap halftime intervals at 15 minutes.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who called the Final stage "definitely the biggest stage ever" and projected "a couple of billion" viewers, framed the show around a charitable mission. "We are proud to have Justin Bieber joining Madonna, Shakira and BTS to co-headline the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show in support of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund," he said. The fund aims to raise $100 million to expand access to education and football for children worldwide, and has already cleared the $50 million mark, with $1 from every World Cup ticket sold going directly to it.
Bieber echoed the sentiment, saying the show is "already helping expand access to education for children around the world." Burna Boy, who will represent Africa on the bill, called the moment "a privilege and a responsibility that I don't take lightly."
The show kicks off around 3:50 p.m. ET, with the Final's opening whistle set for 3 p.m. Coverage airs on FOX, with Spanish-language broadcasts on Telemundo and Peacock.
