Shakira, Madonna and BTS to Perform at the First FIFA World Cup 2026 Final Halftime Show

Shakira is set to take part in the first FIFA World Cup final halftime show in 2026, sharing the stage with Madonna and BTS in a collaboration that Global Citizen cofounder and CEO Hugh Evans says was built around the idea of unity.

In the conversation, Shakira framed the invitation in personal terms, calling the lineup an honor and contrasting it with her Super Bowl halftime performance. “I’m honored to be performing alongside Madonna and BTS,” she said. “I think that this is going to be completely different from the Super Bowl experience, which, by the way, it was incredible for me.”

Evans traced the project back four years, to the last World Cup, when Chris called him with the idea of working with FIFA to create the first halftime show for a World Cup final. From the start, he said, the process centered on a shared value: unity. The ambition was to make the show feel, from a distance, like a signal that people from different nations and backgrounds could gather around something bigger than themselves.

That larger purpose, Evans said, was children’s education. It is a cause Shakira has supported throughout her career, and one Global Citizen sees as central to its mission. “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” he said, describing the pairing of the artists and the cause as the framework for the show.

From there, the artist list made sense within those parameters. Shakira’s long-running commitment to education, along with her history of moving between pop spectacle and football culture, made her an obvious choice. Evans also pointed to Madonna, who he said shared that passion for education, while BTS responded immediately when approached about joining the project. The result is being positioned as a World Cup first, but the logic behind it is familiar: large-scale pop, carefully aligned with a message the organizers clearly want to outlast the event itself.