Madonna, Shakira & BTS to play first World Cup final half-time show

Madonna, Shakira and BTS will headline the half-time show at the final in New Jersey Madonna, Shakira and K-pop boy band BTS will co-headline the Super Bowl-style half-time show at this summer's World Cup final. The tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, concludes with the final in New Jersey on 19 July. The BBC understands the show will be 11 minutes long.

Pre-match performances at showpiece occasions such as the Champions League final have become commonplace, but this will be the first half-time show at a World Cup final. Colombian pop star Shakira is releasing her official World Cup song Dai Dai - an Italian phrase meaning "let's go" or "come on" and also featuring Nigerian singer Burna Boy - on Thursday. The 49-year-old Hips Don't Lie singer also released Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

'Queen of Pop' Madonna is the best-selling female music artist of all time and is preparing to release her 15th album, Confessions II, on 3 July. In April, the 67-year-old made a surprise guest appearance during Sabrina Carpenter's headline set at the Coachella music festival for a duet of Vogue and Like A Prayer. Meanwhile, the seven members of BTS are the best-selling music act in South Korean history, with more than 45 million albums sold.

They and Coldplay had a UK number three hit with My Universe in 2021. The band have been making their comeback after a three-year music hiatus to complete their mandatory military service, and will be in the middle of an 85-date world tour when they perform at the final. In March, Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the show "will be a historic moment for the Fifa World Cup, befitting the biggest sporting event in the world".