History is being made on July 19, and Burna Boy has a front-row seat. The African Giant has been confirmed as part of the lineup for the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show.
This Super Bowl-style spectacle will air live from the New York-New Jersey Stadium and is expected to pull in billions of viewers worldwide.
He won’t be alone on that stage. Co-headlining the 11-minute show are four of the biggest names in global music: Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, and South Korean pop group BTS.
Add in Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the PS22 Chorus from a Staten Island elementary school performing alongside Coldplay, and characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets, and you have something that feels less like a halftime break and more like a full cultural event.
The entire show has been curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who announced the lineup in a short film alongside Elmo. That detail alone tells you how deliberately feel-good and globally inclusive FIFA and Global Citizen are trying to make this moment.
For Burna Boy, the slot carries extra weight. He already had skin in this tournament before the halftime announcement came through. “Dai Dai,” his collaboration with Shakira, served as the official 2026 FIFA World Cup song and was performed by both artists at the tournament’s opening ceremony at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City back on June 11.
Getting to the final stage, too, means Burna Boy bookends the entire tournament, from the opening ceremony to the biggest night in world football.
Shakira herself said the collaboration felt like the cherry on top of her World Cup experience, adding that she had always wanted to work with Burna. The chemistry between the two already has a track record, so their final performance together on July 19 is one of the more anticipated moments of the show.
Burna Boy didn’t take the announcement lightly either. “The FIFA World Cup is one of the few moments that truly brings the entire world together.
To represent Africa on the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show is a privilege and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly,” he said, framing his inclusion not just as a personal achievement but as something bigger than him.
The show also ties into a broader fundraising push. The FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund has already raised over $50 million, with $1 from every World Cup match ticket going toward the initiative, which aims to reach $100 million in total and expand access to education and football for children in underserved communities across 10 countries.
An 11-minute broadcast. Billions watching. Burna Boy on a stage with Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, and BTS. Nigeria’s place in that room isn’t accidental. It’s earned.
