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.