minute halftime show to rival Super Bowl

Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, Burna Boy, Gustavo Dudamel and the PS22 Chorus featuring Coldplay are due to perform on Monday (NZT) at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, renamed New York New Jersey Stadium for the World Cup.

The 8pm kickoff (7am NZT) will also be preceded by a closing ceremony starting 90 minutes earlier and featuring the likes of Robbie Williams, Tom Cruise and Nicole Scherzinger.

The sport’s lawmaking body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), rejected a 2021 proposal from the South American confederation, Conmebol, for the maximum length of halftime to be extended to 25 minutes.

The IFAB cited the “negative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity”.

Despite this, Conmebol staged a Shakira concert lasting that long during the 2024 Copa America final in Miami.

That led to a complaint from Colombia head coach Néstor Lorenzo, who had been sanctioned at the same tournament for his team returning from halftime one minute late.

Fifa has been approached for comment.

– Daily Telegraph UK

Click here to read article