FIFA World Cup 2026 Final: Halftime Show & Closing Ceremony Guide

• Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 after extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Ferran Torres scoring the winner in the 106th minute.
• Post Malone headlined the closing ceremony at New York New Jersey Stadium, with Tom Cruise, IShowSpeed, Robbie Williams and more making appearances.
• Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and BTS headlined the first FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show, with Burna Boy, Chris Martin and the PS22 Chorus also involved.
• The closing ceremony was scheduled for 3:30am AEST on Monday, 20 July, with kick-off at 5am and the halftime show expected around 5:50am to 6am.
• Australians could watch the final and its entertainment live and free through SBS and SBS On Demand.

The World Cup final has never struggled for spectacle, but this year, FIFA took things to another level by bringing in Mr Spectacle himself to star in the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s closing ceremony: Tom Cruise.

Fresh off debuting a new look in the trailer for Digger, Cruise was announced as a special guest for the closing ceremony, with FIFA keeping the details of his appearance under wraps until the big day. And when you’re dealing with a bloke who’ll happily jump out of a plane for the sake of a good stunt, the possibilities were pretty much endless.

Then there was IShowSpeed, who went from dominating the internet with his live reactions to the World Cup’s biggest moments to opening the closing ceremony with his song Champions. Not a bad way to cap off a tournament spent screaming at football matches in front of millions.

With Post Malone as the headline act of the closing ceremony, FIFA delivered on its promise of a “landmark performance”, with the rapper joining Swae Lee for a rendition of Sunflower.

That’s not all, though. FIFA also gave fans its first-ever World Cup Final Halftime Show, packing an 11-minute performance with some of music’s biggest names. Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and BTS were announced as co-headliners for the first FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show at New York / New Jersey Stadium, with Burna Boy, Gustavo Dudamel and the PS 22 Chorus featuring Coldplay also joining the unusually crowded bill.

Who Won the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final?

Spain walked away from New York New Jersey Stadium with their second World Cup title, defeating defending champions Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final on Sunday, 19 July.

The Red Fury booked their place in the final with a 2-0 victory over France (pour one out for Mbappe), while Argentina ended England’s hopes of bringing football home with a 2-1 semi-final win.

It took until the 106th minute to separate the two finalists, with substitute Ferran Torres firing home the winner to deny Lionel Messi and Argentina back-to-back titles. Spain claimed its first men’s World Cup since 2010, ending Argentina’s hopes of defending the trophy it won in Qatar four years earlier.

And for all the attention on the closing ceremony and halftime show, most of us set our alarms for 5am to watch Spain vs Argentina.

The result capped off the biggest World Cup in history, with 48 teams competing across Canada, Mexico and the United States. Of course, the football wasn’t the only thing making headlines. Between the closing ceremony and FIFA’s first-ever World Cup Final Halftime Show, there was plenty happening off the pitch, too. Here’s how the entertainment unfolded.

Who Appeared at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony?

While closing ceremonies are usually rammed with special musical performances, FIFA made sure the action was as high-octane as possible by throwing a few wildcards into its World Cup closing ceremony lineup.

Post Malone headlined the closing ceremony ahead of kick-off, performing ‘Sunflower’ alongside Swae Lee as part of FIFA’s pre-match celebrations.

Tom Cruise was initially promised to make a “special appearance”, but FIFA kept the details quiet ahead of the final. Cruise ultimately closed the ceremony with a message about football bringing people together. Not quite the death-defying stunt we might have expected, but a fitting way to wrap up 39 days of World Cup action.

Then, there was IShowSpeed’s appearance, which turned out to be a little more involved than simply watching the action from a very cushy suite. After spending much of the tournament posting his live reactions across social media, Speed opened the closing ceremony with a performance of Champions. Given how much noise he made throughout the World Cup, it was a fitting way to kick things off.

Beyond those two, the lineup was more traditional, with Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger and Italian artist Laura Pausini. The trio performed FIFA’s official anthem, Desire, bringing familiar, stadium-sized pop to the celebrations before the two finalists took the field.

Finally, EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson took the stage to perform the US national anthem, which FIFA had touted as a “special rendition.” Given how impactful, and in some cases legendary, national anthem performances have been at other major American sporting events like the Super Bowl over the years, it was always going to be a big moment in the pre-match proceedings.

Who Performed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show?

The 2026 World Cup brought together a record 48 teams, and FIFA took a similarly crowded approach to its first Final Halftime Show. Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and BTS were the four co-headliners, covering several generations of pop before you even got to Burna Boy and Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

Chris Martin was also heavily involved, curating the show through his work with Global Citizen before joining the PS22 Chorus and a collection of familiar characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets for the finale.

As for the performances themselves, Madonna kicked things off with Music, joined by Brazilian football legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. BTS followed with Dynamite, while Justin Bieber performed a World Cup-inspired version of Everything Hallelujah after a surprise appearance from Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso. Shakira and Burna Boy brought things back to the tournament’s official soundtrack with Dai Dai, before Martin and the PS22 Chorus closed proceedings with We Dance. Even Animal from The Muppets got in on the action with Seven Nation Army.

With four co-headliners, several supporting performers and only 11 minutes to work with, the halftime show was unusually crowded. Plenty of football fans probably faced a similar dilemma before the performance: bathroom break or Bieber?

What Time Did the FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremony and Halftime Show Start?

By the time the final arrived, Australian football fans were already used to the 5am alarm, but to watch the full spectacle, we were all up much earlier. For Australian football fans, the World Cup final kick-off was scheduled for 5am AEST on Monday, 20 July.

FIFA scheduled the closing ceremony for 90 minutes before kick-off, putting its Australian start time at 3:30am AEST. Couple that with any pre-event coverage, and staying up all Sunday night might have been the more appealing option for the truly committed.

The halftime show was trickier to pin down in advance. FIFA hadn’t announced a separate start time, which made sense given that football rarely cooperates with minute-by-minute scheduling. Allowing for the opening 45 minutes plus stoppage time, the performance was expected to begin somewhere between 5:50am and 6am AEST.

Here’s how the original broadcast schedule worked across Australia:

Location	Closing Ceremony	Final kick-off	Estimated Halftime Show Start
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart	3:30am	5am	Around 5:50am-6am
Adelaide, Darwin	3am	4:30am	Around 5:20am-5:30am
Perth	1:30am	3am	Around 3:50am-4am

Scroll horizontally to view full table

Those tuning in for the music rather than the match were advised to err on the early side of caution. A long VAR check, injury or goal celebration could shift the halftime window, so the safest bet was to be watching by 5:45am AEST.

As for the full 3:30am pre-game commitment? We left those responsibilities to Claudes Fabiano and the rest of the SBS crew.

Where Can You Watch It?

Australia was in a rather fortunate position with the World Cup coverage. There was no maze of subscriptions, add-ons, or separate music streams to navigate. The World Cup final and its halftime show aired live and free on SBS, with the same broadcast available to stream through SBS On Demand.

Hopefully, nobody found themselves attempting a password reset while Madonna was already striking a pose on stage or Tom Cruise was doing whatever Tom Cruise does best.

How Long Was the FIFA World Cup Final Halftime?

FIFA scheduled the halftime show broadcast to run for 11 minutes, an ambitious window given the number of artists involved. That’s plenty of time to relieve yourself between halves of a World Cup final, but once you divide it among four co-headliners and the rest of FIFA’s supporting cast, the production pressure becomes obvious.

But let’s spare a thought for the production crew who put the whole thing together for everyone on the couch and inside the stadium. Under football’s Laws of the Game, the halftime interval cannot exceed 15 minutes. That left a pretty tight turnaround for staging, performances, changeovers and clearing everything away before the players returned to the field.

Somehow, FIFA managed to squeeze pop royalty, a K-pop supergroup, a couple of Brazilian football legends and a collection of Muppets into the same halftime show. You’d hate to have been the person responsible for making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time.

Related reads

• 10 Highest-Paid Players at the 2026 World Cup
• Every FIFA World Cup 2026 Kit Revealed So Far
• 4 Socceroos Showing Us the True Beauty of the Beautiful Game
• 10 Best World Cup Fashion Collaborations That Are Actually Worth Your Money

FIFA World Cup 2026 Final: Halftime Show and Closing Ceremony Guide FAQs