# Coldplay’s Chris Martin curates divisive World Cup final halftime show

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/liam-gallagher-compares-cuckoo-world-cup-halftime-show-to-a-bad-trip/
- Published: 2026-07-20T09:16:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-20T15:32:19+00:00
- Original publisher: NME
- Original article: https://www.nme.com/news/music/liam-gallagher-compares-cuckoo-world-cup-halftime-show-to-a-bad-trip-3957919?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=liam-gallagher-compares-cuckoo-world-cup-halftime-show-to-a-bad-trip
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Gallagher branded football's first World Cup halftime show "cuckoo" and "a bad trip"
- Chris Martin curated the show with Madonna, BTS, Bieber, Shakira, Burna Boy
- Wayne Rooney also panned it as "crap"; Spain beat Argentina 1-0

## Summary

Liam Gallagher reacted with bemusement to the first-ever World Cup halftime show, held on 19 July 2026 after Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the final, describing the spectacle as "cuckoo with a capital K" and "like a bad trip" in a series of posts on Twitter. The Oasis frontman's live commentary fed into a broader mixed reaction to the show, which marked a departure for football's biggest occasion by importing a Super Bowl-style entertainment segment featuring a heavyweight pop line-up, and drew a sharper putdown from pundit Wayne Rooney, who called the whole segment "crap".

The show was curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and featured performances from Madonna, BTS, Justin Bieber, Shakira and Burna Boy, alongside appearances from The Muppets, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Gallagher singled out Justin Bieber's stripped-back rendition of "Everything Hallelujah" for praise, tweeting "Justin rules", before closing the night by congratulating Spain on their win. Rooney said he "liked a lot of them artists" individually but found the show "too flat" and wanted the football back, while The Cure's Robert Smith had already voiced dread beforehand, and Gallagher had earlier said he was "ready" for a potential Wonderwall singalong had England reached the final.

## Coverage

- [NME: Coldplay’s Chris Martin curates divisive World Cup final halftime show](https://www.nme.com/news/music/liam-gallagher-compares-cuckoo-world-cup-halftime-show-to-a-bad-trip-3957919?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=liam-gallagher-compares-cuckoo-world-cup-halftime-show-to-a-bad-trip)
- [Far Out: Liam Gallagher likens the World Cup final half-time show to “a bad trip”](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/liam-gallagher-likens-world-cup-final-half-time-show-bad-trip/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.