When it became known that the 2026 World Cup was going to take place in the US, Mexico and Canada, it was immediately thought that this was, essentially, a new attempt by FIFA to make football (soccer there) will take off in the United States, a country where there are many people with money who really like sports. A second attempt after that other World Cup that took place on American soil in the now distant 1994. They were looking for footballizar to the Americans and, in the end, it seems that what has happened is that the Americans, with the acquiescence of Infantino and his henchmen, have Americanized football.
It began with the controversial hydration breaks, a covert way of creating, in the middle of the game, a publicity break in the image and similarity of the one that takes place in the main sports with roots in the United States, which are divided into quarters. These breaks for the players to supposedly cool off have taken place on multiple occasions in covered, air-conditioned stadiums, where, as in El Corte Inglés in the middle of summer, it is advisable to go with a cardigan.
Not content with this absolutely countercultural novelty, many Americans have spent the tournament proposing, in articles in their media and on social networks, changes to the regulations to make this “product” called soccer “more attractive.” It has been one cultural clash after another, perfectly exemplified by the uncomfortable tension that has been experienced throughout the tournament between the former American soccer player and follower of the MAGA movement, Alexi Lalas, and the former French soccer player Thierry Henry, who before the microphones of Fox Sports have had tremendously uncomfortable disagreements that have shown two totally antagonistic ways of understanding this sport.
The final dribble that the Americans have prepared will take place during the final that will take place this Sunday at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, in which not only a 90-minute pre-match ceremony is planned, organized once again by Balich Wonder Studio, responsible for the opening events of this World Cup and the opening and closing ceremonies in the tournament held in Qatar in 2022, but also a Super Bowl-style halftime show with performances by Shakira, Madonna, BTS and Justin Bieber.
FIFA insists that the show will not last more than 11 minutes, although media such as the football magazine Four Four Two They insist that the show It could reach almost half an hour, which would mean doubling the rest time between the first and second half stipulated in a soccer match since soccer became soccer. Beyond the state in which the players can go out onto the field after such a long interval to which they are obviously not accustomed, the lineup of artists is interesting in its eclecticism.
Madonna arrives with a recovered relevance thanks to her new album Confessions IIsupposed sequel to that Confessions on the Dancefloorwhich 21 years ago made him star in a revival spectacular of itself. Shakira is responsible, along with Burna Boy, for the official theme of the World Cup, Dai Dai. It’s the second time he’s done it. The first was in 2010, in South Africa, a championship that it is nice to remember that Spain won. BTS, for their part, arrive in the middle of a reunion after their break to complete mandatory military service in their native South Korea, confirming that this K-pop thing is already so long-lived that it accepts and proposes returns from its original artists. Finally, Justin Bieber lands after revolutionizing the concept of a concert at the last Coachella Festival, where he performed by shooting the bases of his songs from YouTube, optimizing the balance between expenses and income as has not been seen before.
The person responsible for all this is Chris Martin, from Coldplay, and FIFA has already announced that it is going to be a groundbreaking show that is going to seduce “a couple of billion people.” Robert Smith, singer of The Cure, has summed up his feelings about this show on the band’s official Twitter: “Aaaaaaaaagh”, followed by hashtags like “bread and circuses” or “fuck you.”
When news of this show became known, the BBC was the first network to confirm that it was not going to broadcast it. They were going to do what they always did, comment on what they saw on the pitch during the first half with their experts. The British public broadcaster is the usual suspect of ignoring these types of events. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, they did not broadcast the closing ceremony either.
Yes to show Before the start of the match, with a duration of no less than 90 minutes, we add the halftime show, we have to say that, unless it goes to penalties, there will be more minutes of spectacle than of game. The lineup for this event has been known gradually over the last few months; It is not known if due to marketing or improvisation, or even by adding characters who have requested its inclusion.
FIFA states that in this event it wants to celebrate the 48 countries that have participated in this World Cup, the largest in history with up to 104 matches. Perhaps for this reason, one of the first names to be revealed was that of the Italian Laura Pausini, whose country failed to qualify for the tournament. Jennifer Hudson will perform the American anthem and Robbie Williams and Post Malone will also perform. But the most disturbing thing about the event comes from two last-minute inclusions: Tom Cruise and the streamer Ishowspeed. Cruise already appeared doing some tricks at the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympics, so it cannot be ruled out that he decides to do something on top of a cable.
He streamer He has been omnipresent throughout the tournament, and has become universal like ash, because almost every time he has decided to support a team from the stands, it has lost, his saddest moment being the elimination of his beloved Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal at the hands of Spain. Knowing the animosity that the Argentine fans have developed towards him, who have trolled him on more than one occasion during the tournament, sometimes bordering on racism, it is very likely that the young man will choose to support Spain in the final, something that, certainly, would make De La Fuente’s team take the field with a non-negligible disadvantage.
Yesterday the boy uploaded a video of his rehearsal for this ceremony. It is not very clear what it is going to do, but in a few hours it accumulated more than five million views. If this is what was sought in this World Cup of entertainment, sponsorship and virality, the success has been resounding.