{"id":3935,"date":"2026-07-20T18:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3935"},"modified":"2026-07-20T18:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:39:17","slug":"was-the-world-cup-final-halftime-show-too-american-rest-of-the-world-seems-to-think-so-glib-and-unsubtle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3935","title":{"rendered":"Was the World Cup Final Halftime Show \u201cToo American\u201d? Rest of the World Seems to Think So: \u201cGlib and Unsubtle\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThis year\u2019s World Cup was not short of criticism. Millions of viewers were enraged over extortionate ticket pricing, political interference and rumors of widespread corruption that put a real downer on what is normally a jubilant, unifying global sporting event.<\/p>\n

Read more Ben Shapiro Praises \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 as a \u201cMasterpiece\u201d Despite Elliot Page Casting Criticism<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the not-too-well-received addition of \u201chydration breaks\u201d (cough, ad breaks, cough), controversially splitting every soccer match into four quarters as opposed to its regular two halves, you can imagine how the news of a Super Bowl-esque halftime show was received by international soccer fans.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese spectators are not so used to their favorite sport coming with a side of flashy dance numbers, body-popping boy bands and extravagant set pieces. Why are Carlos Alcaraz and Hoyeon on the pitch opening a Louis Vuitton case to reveal the World Cup trophy? A screenshot of that exact moment accrued over 120,000 likes on X, with the comment: \u201cSincerely one of the most gauche and disgusting things I\u2019ve seen in a minute.\u201d FIFA boss Gianni Infantino is no stranger to accusations of soul-sucking greed, but the garishness of the Spain vs Argentina final \u2014\u00a0from which the Europeans would emerge triumphant \u2014\u00a0felt, to some of its one billion projected viewers, like a new low.<\/p>\n

\n\tEvent producers were confident the 27-minute spectacle was a smash hit, even though the International Football Association Board had repeatedly stated that, per rules, players are only entitled to a maximum 15-minute stoppage. It didn\u2019t matter: They had recruited BTS, Shakira, Justin Bieber, Chris Martin and Burna Boy for it. They\u2019d even catered to the real soccer-obsessed by having Madonna throttling through the New York-New Jersey stadium tunnels in a dune buggy driven by Brazilian greats Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt is, after all, America \u2014\u00a0a Trump-hosted final that necessitated showmanship even in the parts where soccer wasn\u2019t happening. Many of its supporters said the show was supremely entertaining and a hugely impressive feat given the scale of the sets and star power of those involved. Jason Sudeikis (as Ted Lasso) came out. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel led musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Venezuela\u2019s Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar Symphony Orchestra in a rendition of \u201cSeven Nation Army.\u201d Iranian violinist Bijan Mortazavi and The Muppets\u2019 rock group Electric Mayhem performed, in one of several Muppets appearances.<\/p>\n

Read more Sony\u2019s Mallory Morehead Pritzl Joins Kovert Creative to Work on Entertainment PR Team<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe consensus outside in the U.K.? As The Guardian <\/em>put it: \u201cTo its detractors, it smacks of America not so much embracing the World Cup as imposing itself upon it.\u201d The Times<\/em>, meanwhile, said: \u201cStars underwhelm in a glib and unsubtle spectacle.\u201d Former English soccer star and pundit on the BBC Wayne Rooney soon went viral on X, amassing millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes, for giving his opinion: \u201cMy favourite bit of the halftime show was when it finished\u2026 I like all of them artists, but I thought it was crap.\u201d Or maybe The Cure\u2019s Robert Smith can capture things more succinctly: \u201cAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH,\u201d he wrote on Instagram, with the hashtags #breadandcircuses and #pleasejustfuckoff.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Germany, a viewer there tells The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>: \u201cIn the media, the comments were very bad\u2026 Too long and too much [of an] American show. The break should have been 15 minutes [as it usually is]. What they do in those 15 minutes doesn\u2019t matter but the rules should be followed.\u201d A Spaniard accrued over 319,000 likes on an X post for pointing out the hypocrisy of Trump\u2019s war on Iran while a giant \u201cLOVE\u201d flag was rolled out onto the pitch. (The Iranian team and its coaching staff were the only team required to fly in and leave the U.S. on their match days).<\/p>\n

\n\tEven U.S. publications weren\u2019t very fond of the event: \u201cThe show as a whole was so blandly, sappily crowd-pleasing that few individual moments stood out as highlights,\u201d writes TIME<\/em>\u2018s Judy Berman. The Athletic <\/em>called it \u201cslick, surreal and entirely unnecessary.\u201d London-based reporter Tim Spiers wrote: \u201cBTS doing a pop number, Bieber bringing the mood to a halt and then Coldplay, with the help of a load of kids from the PS22 Chorus, ramping up the schmaltz singing about love\u2026 you just kept asking yourself why? Why is the greatest footballer to have ever kicked a ball being made to endure the longest half-time of his entire career so that Chris Martin could tell us all to believe in love?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s football, but not as we know it. It\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0American sport, exactly as we know it,\u201d said Spiers. Elsewhere, Lindsay Zoladz wrote for The New York Times<\/em>: \u201cThe performances were all quite episodic, to the extent that they seemed to be taking place on different planes of existence\u2026 Lots of stars, little purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Dwayne Wayne Returns (Without the Flip-Up Shades) in Netflix\u2019s \u2018A Different World\u2019 First Look<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 World Cup Final halftime show with Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS, Shakira is being criticized by global fans outside of the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2060,1581,1132],"class_list":["post-3935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nWas the World Cup Final Halftime Show \u201cToo American\u201d? 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