![Array]](https://backingtracksfullcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1779850244_Array.svg.svg+xml "“This is like a bad trip\": Liam Gallagher, Wayne Rooney and others share their views on the first ever World Cup Halftime Show 18"){kind=small}
Football fans around the world have been reacting to the first ever World Cup Final Halftime show last night, and seem to have given the thumbs down to the Chris Martin-curated extravaganza.
The Coldplay singer put together the 11-minute farrago, which was opened by Madonna singing a mash up of Disco Inferno and her 2000 hit, Music, whilst speeding into the arena on a vehicle driven by Brazilian football legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
That gave way to a ‘performance’ of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army by The Muppets. Then we had BTS running through Dynamite, followed by Shakira and Burna Boy playing a section of their hit Dai Dai.
Then we had Justin Bieber playing a ballad on his acoustic guitar, followed by Coldplay performing a new song with a children’s choir, the lyrics of which instructed us that ‘everything is possible’ if we ‘believe in love’.
One of the BBC TVpundits, ex-England star Wayne Rooney wasn’t impressed. When asked by anchor Gabby Logan what his highlight of the show was, he said: “I’ll be honest, mine was when it finished… I thought it was crap.”
“What did you think of the World Cup final half-time show?”
Wayne Rooney: pic.twitter.com/1j6OQap9YiJuly 19, 2026
Rooney wasn’t alone.
The actor Tom Holland backed-up the ex Man United man, saying: “Wayne speaking for the nation”. Meanwhile Liam Gallagher tweeted: “This is like a bad trip.”
Liam was quite restrained compared to the Norwegian commentator Aleksander Schau, who remarked that he would “rather watch my dad wipe his ass than this.”
Justin Bieber was picked out for special criticism for his choice of the ballad Everything Hallelujah. “Why would Justin Bieber do that sleepy ass song for the World Cup?” asked one fan, with another suggesting: “Justin Bieber picking the 86th most famous song in his catalogue with a negative tempo for the halftime show was… a choice.”
Another fan posted on X/ Twitter simply: “Are we all miserable or do Americans think this shit is stupid too?”
Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were driving Madonna through the tunnel during the half-time show 😅 pic.twitter.com/N0Z0hzbvXnJuly 19, 2026
Yesterday’s show was the first for a World Cup final and saw the half time extended to a full half an hour for the first time. It appears to have been the idea of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who ahead of the Final described it as a “groundbreaking spectacle” that will “celebrate football, music and our shared values, ensuring a legacy that transcends the final whistle.” Infantino looks to have secured the FIFA presidency for the fourth term so the bad news for Rooney, Gallagher and others is that it’s a ‘spectacle’ that looks likely to be repeated in 2030.
Oh and unless you’ve been hiding under a rock since yesterday, Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time.
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