Liam Gallagher's blunt dismissal of FIFA's inaugural World Cup final halftime show, calling it "like a bad trip" in posts on X, capped a Spain-Argentina final that saw the tournament embrace Super Bowl-style celebrity spectacle for the first time. The Oasis frontman's reaction, posted during Sunday's match at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, quickly became a talking point alongside the performance itself, reflecting divided opinion over FIFA's decision to insert an 11-and-a-half-minute entertainment segment into the sport's biggest fixture.

Curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin, the show opened with Madonna performing her 2000 hit "Music" and moved through sets from BTS, Justin Bieber, Shakira and Burna Boy, with the latter two performing official World Cup song "Dai Dai". Conductor Gustavo Dudamel led musicians from the New York Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela through a rendition of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", before the finale brought together the PS22 Chorus, Martin, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy around a giant "LOVE" stage formation and fireworks. Gallagher's response came off the back of Oasis' own return to stadium touring, a band whose songs, including "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger", have long been terrace staples in football culture.