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Liam Gallagher Slams World Cup Halftime Show Featuring Madonna, Shakira, and More as “a Bad Trip”
Oasis singer Liam Gallagher publicly criticised the World Cup's first-ever halftime show, calling it "like a bad trip" in a series of posts on X during Spain's 1-0 win over Argentina. The star-studded, nearly 12-minute performance was curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and featured Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber, Burna Boy and others, drawing a strong reaction from the outspoken Britpop frontman, who dismissed the spectacle as "cuckoo" and "absolutely insane behaviour".
The show opened with Madonna performing "Music", followed by Shakira and Burna Boy's "Dai Dai", a live rendition of "Dynamite" from BTS, and an acoustic take on "Everything Hallelujah" from Bieber. Orchestral musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra played The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", before the segment closed with Martin, the PS22 Chorus and the Muppets amid fireworks. Music also featured prominently at the tournament's closing ceremony, with performers including Post Malone, Robbie Williams and Jennifer Hudson, and an appearance from Tom Cruise, prompting FIFA president Gianni Infantino to praise the fusion of football and entertainment.
In short
- Liam Gallagher blasted the World Cup halftime show as "a bad trip"
- Show featured Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Bieber and more, curated by Chris Martin
- Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after the near 12-minute performance
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A halftime show featuring eight major international artists lacks artistic coherence and becomes sensory overload rather than meaningful entertainment. This approach subordinates the sport to commercial interests, prioritising celebrity assembly and music industry marketing over the tournament's integrity. The excess itself becomes the point—spectacle for spectacle's sake—which ultimately detracts from the athletic excellence that should be the focus.
The case against
Assembling world-class performers from multiple continents alongside prestigious orchestras represents a celebration of global human creativity and cultural unity. The World Cup is fundamentally a global spectacle, and entertainment at that scale appropriately reflects its significance and universal reach. Such ambition enhances rather than diminishes sport, demonstrating that football's greatest tournament deserves to showcase humanity's finest artistic talents alongside athletic excellence.
Explained simply
The FIFA World Cup recently held its first-ever halftime show during a match between Spain and Argentina. The nearly 12-minute performance was curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and featured major musical acts including Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and Burna Boy, alongside orchestral musicians from the New York Philharmonic and Venezuela's Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.
This marks a shift for the World Cup, which has traditionally focused exclusively on sporting competition. The tournament now incorporates large-scale musical entertainment at events such as halftime and closing ceremonies, as FIFA seeks to broaden the event's cultural reach and appeal.