Fans react to Chris Martin’s World Cup halftime show – and Wayne Rooney’s viral assessment

    Fans have reacted to the Chris Martin-curated World Cup halftime show – and Wayne Rooney’s viral assesment.

    The World Cup final was staged at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last night (19 July). President Donald Trump, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Timothee Chalamet, Kylie Jenner and Matt Damon were just some of the famous faces spotted in the star-studded audience. Spain triumphed against Argentina, with Ferran Torres scoring the winning goal 106 minutes into the game to beat their opponents 1-0.

    For the first time ever, the World Cup also featured a halftime show curated by Coldplay‘s Chris Martin. Madonna performed her song ‘Music’ with football legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho making a cameo beside her. After a performance of The White Stripes‘ ‘Seven Nation Army’ by The Muppets, BTS took over to perform their hit ‘Dynamite’.

    Ted Lasso actor Jason Sudeikis appeared in-character to introduce Justin Bieber, who performed ‘Everything Hallelujah’ solo, followed by Shakira and Burna Boy duetting the 2026 World Cup anthem, ‘Dai Dai’. Chris Martin rounded off the ceremony with a performance of new Coldplay song called ‘We Dance’, aided by children’s choir PS22.

    The halftime show elicited some strong opinions from former England footballer and BBC commentator Wayne Rooney. When asked by journalist Gabby Logan for his halftime show highlights, Rooney responded: “I’ll be honest, mine was when it finished.

    “I like a lot of them artists but I thought it was crap,” he added. “It just didn’t get me going and I wanted the football to come back on. I like Burna Boy, I like Bieber, I like Shakira, but that was too flat.”

    Fans have reacted to Rooney’s assessment of the halftime show, with historian and author Tom Holland writing: “Wayne speaking for the nation”. Another user likened Rooney to an employee “on his last day at work before his holiday,” adding: “Fair play Wayne, fair play”.