Amid Spain’s Victory, World Cup Final’s First-Ever Halftime Show Warms the Soul

By Anthony Paradiso

Sunday, July 19 was the day that Spain took down the defending FIFA World Cup champions, Argentina 1-0 in the final of the 2026 World Cup at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Argentina were denied becoming the first men’s national team since Brazil in 1962 to retain the World Cup, while Spain lifted their second World Cup trophy since 2010.

Fast forward to the end of the 90 minutes of regulation play. Things could not have seemed worse for Argentina. They had been reduced to 10 men thanks to Enzo Fernandez’s second yellow card and Spain would not let them possess the ball.

In the 96th minute, Spain won a free kick on the edge of Argentina’s 18-yard box. Spanish teenage superstar Lamine Yamal bent the free kick inside the right post, but his shot was denied by veteran Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who made a great diving save.

In the second 15-minute extra time period, Spain was controlling the ball on the edge of Argentina’s box when right-back Pedro Porro decided to hit a high, looping cross to the back post. Spanish midfielder Nico Williams chased down the cross, which was going out of bounds at the byline, and headed it back into the box.

The ball popped up for substitute Spanish forward Ferran Torres inside Argentina’s box. He hit a half-volley that flew into the roof of the net and gave Spain a 1-0 lead in the 106th minute.

In the 118th minute, Argentina had one last chance to equalize. Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi took a corner that was flicked on at the near post. The ball fell to Argentina substitute midfielder Guiliano Simeone who hit it first time but over the bar.

Just minutes later, the referee blew the final whistle and Spain’s bench erupted in celebration.

Scoring the decisive goal in the World Cup final was a full-circle moment for Torres because he hit the crossbar in Spain’s opening group stage match against Cape Verde, which ended in a 0-0 draw and borderline humiliation for Spain who had been heavily favored in that match.

As Spain felt the elation of capping off a terrific run to the World Cup final, during which they conceded one goal — a new men’s world cup record — Argentina and their hero, Messi, could not hold back their tears.

With this likely being Messi’s last World Cup appearance, let’s review the World Cup records he holds: Messi has recorded the most assists (12), goal contributions (33) and matches played (34) in World Cup history. In addition, Messi became just the second man to play in three World Cup Finals, alongside Brazil’s Cafu. Lastly, at the age of 39, Messi scored eight goals at this World Cup which made him runner-up in the Golden Boot race.

It was a spellbinding final which will be remembered for Spain’s remarkable consistency as well as the 11 saves made by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who kept his team in the game. Sadly, for Argentina, they fell one win short of becoming the third men’s national team to win back-to-back World Cups and the first men’s national team to win a fourth consecutive major international tournament, including their victories in the 2021 and 2024 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup.

During halftime, the first World Cup final halftime show was held on the field at MetLife Stadium, adding American flair to the global sporting event.

The show began with Madonna performing her hit song Music in a pre-taped performance, which was a weak start. Eventually, the British singer/songwriter made her way through the tunnel and onto the field to sing for the fans, flanked by former Brazilian soccer superstars Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, who garnered a rousing applause from the crowd of 80,633.

At this point, TV viewers caught a wide shot of the field, which had been covered by a colorful canvas containing an image of the planet Earth and various hand-written words. Meanwhile, dancers and an orchestra, including Muppets were led by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel as they performed Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. When the performance ended, the camera shifted to members of the K-Pop band BTS who gave a now hackneyed performance of their hit song Dynamite.

Then the show shifted to a little bit of acting. Actor Jason Sudeikis walked onto the field in-character as Ted Lasso — the main character in the TV show Ted Lasso — and gave pop singer Justin Bieber a pep talk before sending him onto the field to give his musical performance. Bieber proceeded to sing and play guitar to his 2025 hit Everything Hallelujah in the middle of the field. The performance was quiet compared to the other performances and Bieber sang to the crowd instead of the camera, which had a way of acknowledging the fans who had paid high prices to attend the World Cup final in-person.

After Bieber bowed out, the cameras cut to Colombian singer, songwriter and dancer Shakira, who performed the anthem of the 2026 World Cup, Dai Dai. Shakira and Nigerian singer Burna Boy followed up Bieber’s strong performance with an energetic, well-choreographed performance. That, along with the colorful costumes of Shakira and her back-up dancers, reflected the pageantry and vibrance of the World Cup.

Once more, a wide shot of the stadium revealed the stadium’s big TV screens displaying the late former Brazil and New York Cosmos superstar soccer player Pelé. Pelé repeated the word “love” several times before members of Staten Island’s P.S. 22 Children’s Choir closed out the halftime show by singing Coldplay’s World Cup song, We Dance, alongside the famous band.

All in all, FIFA, the teams and a diverse group of musicians brought the world a sporting event and halftime show that truly captured the spirit of the World Cup, which is based on passion and togetherness.