FIFA’s World Cup Halftime Show: A Necessary Evolution or Unwanted Distraction?

FIFA’s World Cup Halftime Show: A Necessary Evolution or Unwanted Distraction?

It was all so predictable, wasn’t it? Almost as predictable as Kendrick Lamar, who, as you might know, actually won a Pulitzer Prize for his lyrical prowess, coming out on top in his beef with Drake. Equally predictable is FIFA’s decision to hype up the 2026 World Cup final in the United States with a Super Bowl-style musical guest and halftime show. And, of course, it was predictable that purists would rise up against it, lamenting the commercialization of the sport, FIFA’s greed, and the fact that the game they grew up with isn’t what it used to be.

Now, let me tell you where I stand. I have no issue with it, provided they follow a simple rule, which I’ll get to in a moment. I don’t have a problem with it, and frankly, I don’t have much interest in it either. I’m a football fan, and I watch for the football. I’m an NFL fan too, and I didn’t watch Kendrick Lamar at Super Bowl LIX either. During halftime, I took the opportunity to go to the bathroom, pour myself another drink, take a walk outside, and call my best friend. I’d imagine most football fans, other than those trapped in the stadium, will do the same thing.

As my colleague Luis Miguel Echegaray points out, this isn’t really for football fans, just as the Super Bowl halftime show isn’t really for NFL fans. It’s for the folks who tune in once a year or casually stumble across it. Does it work as a marketing gimmick? Does it actually grow the game? Does it generate revenue and attention (in non-wardrobe malfunction years)? I have serious doubts, but hey, knock yourself out.

When it comes to the complaints about FIFA trying to squeeze every last dime out of the game, let’s face it, all of sports has been heading in that direction for the last 50-plus years. It’s a business, and it’s been that way for a long time.

We can debate whether FIFA should be as obsessed with revenue as they are, but they would likely argue they’re no different than a corporation doing what their shareholders want them to. The shareholders, in this case, are the national associations who vote Gianni Infantino into power largely on the basis that he’ll continue generating revenue and redistributing it around the world. Again, FIFA’s history in terms of how all that cash gets distributed isn’t great in terms of leakage, patronage, and outright corruption, but the system itself—when it works, if it works—is basically about generating cash through international competition to help less developed nations grow the game. It is what it is.

For those who perpetually view the past through rose-tinted glasses, as if everything was better back then—well, again, I can’t help you. Football has withstood far more seismic changes than halftime entertainment during a World Cup final.

The One Rule FIFA Must Follow

That said, there is one simple rule that FIFA can’t mess with, an obvious red line: halftime can’t exceed 15 minutes. It’s in the Laws of the Game, and it’s not just “tradition”—there’s an actual sporting basis to it.

• Professional footballers are conditioned to 15-minute breaks.
• They’re athletes, and messing with their routine can lead to them getting cold, hot, stiff, or whatever.
• It’s not worth the risk of screwing with this.

Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo said as much after the 2024 Copa America final’s halftime was extended to 25 minutes last summer to accommodate Shakira’s performance. He didn’t get traction because the focus was elsewhere, like on the organizers who didn’t adequately organize the final, with overcrowding, violence, and chaos resulting in kickoff being delayed more than an hour and ticket-holding fans shut out.

So, if you want to have a halftime FIFAPalooza with Chris Martin, Pitbull, Taylor Swift, and maybe Drake taking a sledgehammer to a cardboard cutout of Kendrick Lamar, go for it. Just make sure it’s over and they’re gone in 15 minutes.

And no, don’t make stupid comparisons with the Super Bowl halftime show. Yes, the NFL rulebook says that halftime lasts 13 minutes, but in the Super Bowl, it’s often twice that, or more. But the NFL is run by an omnipotent commissioner who answers only to the billionaire owners who employ him.

Football has the International Football Association Board (or IFAB) to set the rules, and that’s nominally independent: four FIFA-appointed officials and four from the “home nations” (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). It also has coaches and players who can stand up to silliness. And, most importantly, it’s a different sport, one where the running is continuous and you don’t spend roughly half the time standing around on the sidelines.

That has to be where football mans the barricades: the 15-minute halftime. If it means no setup and light show, so be it. If it means they build a stage in the stands or in the corner of the ground, so be it. If it means performing on a platform suspended from a hot air balloon, so be it. But you’re in and out in under 15 minutes—oh, and take all your crap with you without damaging the pitch.

Football has to evolve, and maybe this is a necessary step (maybe). But there is one line you do not cross: just don’t mess with the sporting aspect of the biggest sporting event in the world. Because that’s what you’d be doing if you extend halftime.