‘It was c**p’: 27-minute FIFA World Cup final halftime show divides fans despite Shakira, Justin Bieber, BTS’ starpower
Global K-pop superstars BTS kept the momentum going with an electrifying performance of their worldwide hit Dynamite. Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso appeared, introducing Justin Bieber, who then delivered an emotional performance of Everything Hallelujah. The atmosphere quickly returned to full throttle as Shakira ignited the stadium with a high-energy rendition of Dai Dai, the official song of the FIFA World Cup 2026. It was truly a star-studded affair, and a lengthy one too. The performances took around 27 minutes to wrap up, much longer than the 20-minute halftime breaks football games usually see.
Not many fans impressed
While fans of the artistes cheered both in the stadium and at home, flooding social media with tweets, threads, and Instagram stories, football fans were less than thrilled. As the BBC’s broadcast of the game resumed after the halftime show, host Gabby Logan asked the panellists what they thought of the performance. England legend Wayne Rooney did not mince his words: “I like a lot of them artists but I thought it was c**p. It just didn’t get me going and I wanted the football to come back on. I like Burna Boy, I like Bieber, I like Shakira, but that was too flat,” he said, adding that for him, the highlight of the show was ‘when it was over’. Roy Keane, who was commentating on ITV, echoed Rooney’s thoughts and added, “It was a bit of an anti-climax, but I think the people in the stadium probably enjoyed it more than us. But it’s always nice to see Shakira.”
