Justin Bieber will co-headline the first-ever World Cup halftime show at the tournament final on Sunday, 19 July.
He'll join other huge global names like Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Burna Boy in an 11-minute performance during the halftime break of the world's biggest sporting event.
Bieber said: “The FIFA World Cup brings the world together in a way nothing else can. I’m grateful to be part of this halftime show, and even more grateful knowing it’s already helping expand access to education for children around the world." (Music News)
His last comment refers to the fact that the show, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin, will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is raising $100 million to help children access education and soccer.
FIFA's decision to introduce a halftime show to the World Cup final for the first time ever - taking inspiration from the lavish, highly monetised interval performances seen in US sporting showpieces like the Super Bowl - has been roundly criticised by global football fans.
In response to FIFA's X post unveiling Bieber on the lineup, user Sportzz1 said: "The game is gone smh... this should be a one-off please, this is not the superball."
Meanwhile, @ehvsinner commented: "You should bother about football and not destroy it. We don't care about that show, because football is the show. The 15 minutes break is for pissing and grabbing a beer."
Fan concerns are unlikely to bother Bieber and co., whose performances at the New York New Jersey Stadium will be broadcast globally to hundreds of millions of viewers. Regardless of how the interval plays out, the backlash from supporters suggests that FIFA will be under real pressure to scrap its World Cup halftime show ahead of the next tournament.
