Overview
- FIFA confirmed on Wednesday a star‑studded halftime lineup co‑headlined by Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and BTS and curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin to benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.
- Organizers say the musical set itself will run roughly 11 minutes, but multiple outlets report the total interval including setup and teardown could push well beyond the 15‑minute limit in football’s Laws of the Game and approach 25–30 minutes.
- The proposed longer break has revived IFAB’s past welfare concerns that extended inactivity can harm player safety and conditioning, a point IFAB cited when rejecting a CONMEBOL request to extend halftime to 25 minutes.
- Broadcasters and producers are still finalizing plans: ITV has confirmed it will show the performance in full while the BBC and RTÉ have not yet announced their approaches to airing the interval or preserving pundit analysis.
- The decision builds on recent precedent for long breaks at MetLife (a 25‑minute Club World Cup interval in 2025) and is likely to reshape how future major football events balance live entertainment, match flow and player care.