The 2026 FIFA World Cup final on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, featured the first-ever halftime show in the tournament’s history.
After Spain and Argentina played a scoreless first half in the World Cup final, a star-studded, 11-minute halftime show followed.
Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, and The Muppets were among the performers in the halftime show, curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
Even Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) and Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) made an appearance.
Ted Lasso and Coach Beard bring in Justin Bieber at the World Cup final halftime show. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/GEUTz2cEAx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 19, 2026
While the show certainly had plenty of stars, the chaotic performance was still met with a lot of criticism.
And former England soccer star Wayne Rooney was one of those critics.
Rooney, a World Cup analyst for the BBC, is frequently quite honest with his opinions. And that was certainly the case with Rooney’s evaluation of the halftime show.
“I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap,” Rooney said on BBC Sport about the World Cup final halftime show.
“I thought it was crap.” – Wayne Rooney on the FIFA World Cup final halftime show pic.twitter.com/AvKgbXHPJ7
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 19, 2026
Many viewers thought the halftime show performance felt prerecorded and bizarre.
You can watch the halftime show below, as it looked on the Fox broadcast:
Did you reach the same conclusion as Rooney?
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.