FIFA President Makes Historic Announcement

According to Infantino, the final will feature a new twist: a Super-Bowl style halftime show.

Originally discussed last year, the president of FIFA confirmed the plans in an Instagram post on Wednesday morning following the FIFA Commercial and Media Partners Convention in Dallas.

"I can confirm the first ever half-time show at a FIFA World Cup final in New York New Jersey, in association with Global Citizen," Infantino wrote to his 2.8 million followers.

"This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world."

According to FIFA, the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France had an average live audience of 571 million viewers globally, reaching more than 1.4 billion people in total during the course of the match. 

For comparison, Super Bowl LIX set an American television viewership record with an average audience of 127.7 million. The number spiked to 133 million for Kendrick Lamar's performance, another Super Bowl record.

The massive audience gives FIFA an unmatched commercial opportunity to put on a halftime event, and Infantino is not limiting himself to one artist. 

In the announcement, he referred to a "list of artists" who will perform, which will be chosen with the help of Coldplay's Chris Martin and Phil Harvey.

Because of his involvement with Toronto's host committee for the 2026 World Cup — and rivalry with Lamar — Canadian rapper Drake is among the early names rumored to be on FIFA's short list of candidates to headline the show.