FIFA and Global Citizen are teaming up to give the FIFA World Cup final game its own Super Bowl-style halftime show, the first of which will be in 2026.
The two organizations announced the news Saturday during the annual Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. Global Citizen — an advocacy organization that produces entertainment events with the goal of ending world hunger — will produce the halftime show as part of a four-year agreement. The first halftime show will be at the World Cup final game scheduled for New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, 2026.
The announcement was made midway through Global Citizen’s signature festival in New York City by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans, and one of the latter org’s official ambassadors, actor Hugh Jackman, as DJ Khalid and Gayle King looked on. They emphasized the partnership between FIFA and Global Citizen is not just to put on a show but to help end extreme poverty and increase access to sports and quality education for children around the world.
The lack of a halftime show for the internationally viewed game has been a subject of conjecture, with the New York Times speculating about it earlier this year in a story with the headline: “Would a half-time show work for the World Cup or Champions League final?” Now, FIFA and Global Citizen have provided the answer: It was just as much of a no-brainer as everyone thought. (Excepting those who believed impatient Europeans would never sit still for the extended halftimes that American NFL fans are accustomed to.)
Although the first halftime for a World Cup final won’t take place till 2026, prior to that, the four-year partnership will include Global Citizen’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, a new competition that will be held across American cities next year, featuring 32 clubs from all six continental confederations. Those 10 host cities for the ’25 games, announced at the festival Saturday, are Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia.
“FIFA’s mission is to develop football in every corner of the world and to have a positive impact on society,” Infantino said in a statement. “Through this partnership, FIFA and Global Citizen will bring together the worlds of sport and entertainment to actively contribute to a better world. We are committing to a series of joint activities that will help promote access to football and engage fans of the sport in an effort to create positive change in their local communities.”
Evans touted the statistic issued by FIFA that 5 billion out of the world’s 8 billion people engaged with the last World Cup final in some fashion. (FIFA has also said that 1.5 billion people watched the game live.) With that reach, he said, “Together with FIFA, we have a remarkable opportunity to broaden our movement of action takers…. FIFA and Global Citizen share a common vision to work with football fans around the world with a view to driving positive action towards ending extreme poverty by ensuring that all children have access to quality education.”
As part of the partnership, football fans will be asked to take action on Global Citizen’s signature issues. Activism will be incentivized with promotions that include earning tickets to FIFA Club World Cup matches. More details will be announced in the coming months, the organizations said.
Saturday’s Global Citizen Festival in Central Park was scheduled to include sets from Post Malone, Doja Cat, Lisa of Blackpink and Rauw Alejandro following the World Cup announcement. Performers who took the stage earlier in the day included Jelly Roll, Benson Boone and Raye.
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