liam gallagher

The first ever FIFA World Cup halftime show attracted a mixed reaction from sports fans – with Wayne Rooney declaring the best part was when it ended, despite Madonna, Justin Bieber and more taking part

The 2026 FIFA World Cup final halftime show has been brutally panned despite including performances from the biggest names in music. On Sunday night, Argentina faced off against Spain to fight for the official World Cup trophy, which was delivered to the pitch at the beginning of the match inside a Louis Vuitton case.

But the footballers were not the only major stars to appear on the pitch as a host of big names lined up to perform during the halftime interval. Anticipation was high as the musicians prepared to take centre stage in the first halftime show of its kind in the FIFA tournament’s history.

Pop music legend Madonna kicked off the celebrations with a lively performance of her 2000 single Music – weaving in elements of her recent hit, Bring Your Love. While Bring Your Love duet partner Sabrina Carpenter was nowhere to be seen during her performance, Madge had other major stars at her side to give her appearance an extra punch.

She sat in a pink jeep with Brazilian football legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho at the wheel as they drove into the stadium and took a bow after the chart superstar repeated her infectious chorus, “Music brings the people together.” Cameras then cut to members of The Muppets on stage performing an instrumental version of the White Stripes’ classic song “Seven Nation Army,” with help from Gustavo Dudamel.

Korean pop kings BTS then took over the spectacle, belting out their song Dynamite – before cameras cut to Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt in character as Ted Lasso and Coach Beard. The duo then introduced Canadian pop prince Justin Bieber, who took to the field to strum out his single, EVERYTHING HALLELUJAH.

As the halftime show continued, Shakira took to the centre of the stage alongside Burna Boy and an army of backing dancers to belt out Dai Dai – the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This was then followed by Coldplay and PS22 Chorus, who sang the uplifting track We Believe in Love – before all the performers and dancers took their final bow.

While no one can dispute that the halftime show was packed with major stars, some felt that the show was a disjointed mess – and they made their feelings very clear.

Wayne Rooney was among those to put the boot in. Asked what his favourite part of the show was, he deadpanned: “Mine was when it finished.”

He added: “I like a lot of those artists but I thought it was crap. I did, honestly, it just didn’t get me going, I wanted the football to come back on.” He later explained that he believed Justin Bieber’s performance was “flat”. He fumed: “I liked Burna Boy, I like Bieber, I like Shakira, but that was too flat.”

Liam Gallagher also shared his thoughts, wading in to praise Justin Bieber for his performance of Everything Hallelujah – but hinted he didn’t fully enjoy it. While he said Justin “rules”, he added: “This is like a bad trip… It’s a good job I’ve got my spiritual socks on or that halftime entertainment could have tipped me over the edge.”

However, many fans were thrilled by the halftime show, with one on X, formerly known as Twitter, remarking that the entrance of Madonna alongside Ronaldo and Ronaldinho was “Iconic”.

There was more music before kickoff, with a fun-filled closing ceremony show. IShowSpeed took to the stage to sing their song, Champions. And Post Malone thrilled fans with a trio of hits; Chrome Heartbreaker, Wow., and the song Sunflower – featuring Swae Lee.

As the kick-off grew closer, Jennifer Hudson appeared to give a powerful performance of the United States National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner, while Spanish Brass performed La Marcha Real and Maria Becerra belted out the Argentinian national anthem. And amid all the celebrations, there was even time for Robbie Williams to join Laura Pausini and Nicole Scherzinger to sing the Fifa song, Desire.

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On Sunday, Mexico will take on England at Mexico City’s famed Estadio Azteca for a round of 16 World Cup match in one of the most hotly anticipated contests of the tournament so far.

But days before anything goes down on the pitch, Mexico and England fans have already started bickering with each other online — from cheeky jabs to heated debates about which country does beans on toast better.

Joining in on the soccer smack talk are two of the biggest rock stars from the countries — Liam Gallagher of Oasis fame and Maná frontman Fher Olvera.

The beef kicked off Wednesday morning when Gallagher replied to a fan question on X about the possibility of England playing Mexico on their home turf before the Three Lions sealed their win against DR Congo.

“Liam how do you feel about England being crushed at the azteca,” the X user @angelchilddemo asked.

Gallagher answered by writing, “I think we’ll beat Mexico 5-0.”

The “Wonderwall” singer’s prediction was so audacious that Olvera took it upon himself to publicly respond with an Instagram video Wednesday evening.

“The singer of Oasis said that Mexico will lose to England 5-0,” Olvera said in Spanish with a giant grin on his face while draped in a Mexican flag. “No way! Check yourself dude! 5 to 0? Calm down! We’ll see you Sunday to see how it goes, dude. Don’t play with me.”

By Thursday morning Gallagher amended his prediction for the match.

“[L]et me just clear someting up I was obv kidding when I said England will beat Mexico 5-0,” the English rocker wrote in an X post. “I reckon it’ll be more like 3-0 to England.”

While Olvera and Gallagher will be at odds over the next few days, the two singers shared parallel experiences as Maná was one of the bestselling Mexican rock bands of the ‘90s and Oasis was the bestselling British rock group of the ‘90s.

Maná already made its mark on this year’s World Cup when it played its 1992 hit “Oye Mi Amor” at the tournament’s opening ceremony in Mexico City ahead of the Mexico-South Africa match on June 11.

Sunday’s contest between England and Mexico also marks the first time the English side will play at Estadio Azteca since the 1986 World Cup when they lost to eventual-champions Argentina in a quarterfinal game infamous for Diego Maradona‘s “Hand of God” goal.

The last time Mexico and England squared off in a World Cup setting was during the 1966 World Cup in England where the Three Lions beat El Tri 2-0 in a group stage match at Wembley Stadium.