The Cure frontman Robert Smith has criticised the forthcoming FIFA World Cup final halftime show, curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, in a blunt Instagram post. His response targets FIFA’s promotion of the event as a “groundbreaking spectacle”, suggesting he sees it as empty commercial spectacle; the post matters because it is a high-profile musician publicly challenging FIFA’s framing of a major new World Cup feature.

The show is due to take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July and is expected to include Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and BTS. It will be the first official halftime performance at a World Cup final, modelled on the Super Bowl, and FIFA says it will support its Global Citizen Education Fund; Smith’s post also used NASA’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ image and referenced his previous deadpan public remarks.