FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed that the 2026 men’s World Cup final, hosted in the United States, will include a halftime show for the first time. The U.S., Canada and Mexico are set to co-host next year’s tournament, with the final set to be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19, 2026. Never in the history of the tournament — from the inaugural competition in 1930 to now — has there been a halftime show, but Infantino confirmed the break of tradition after speaking at a World Cup event in Dallas. “I can confirm the first ever halftime show at a FIFA World Cup final in New York and New Jersey, in association with Global Citizen,” Infantino said in an Instagram post last week. “This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world.” As well as advocacy group Global Citizen, Infantino said FIFA would be working with British group Coldplay to help produce the halftime show. Coldplay performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2016 and called upon artists such as Bruno Mars and Beyoncé as special guests. Infantino did not say Coldplay would be performing in 2026, but said its members would be helping put together a list of artists. The official rules of soccer, outlined by the International Football Association Board, state that halftime breaks should not exceed 15 minutes and it’s unclear whether it will be changed to accommodate the performance, such as with halftime shows at the Super Bowl. FIFA said that it didn’t have any more details than already announced on the proposed halftime show at this time. While there hasn’t been a halftime show during a World Cup final before, the world of elite soccer has called upon musical acts for major competitions in the past. In recent years, World Cup tournaments have had official songs and the Champions League final — the top club competition in Europe — has often included pre-match musical acts, such as Lenny Kravitz ahead of last year’s final at Wembley Stadium in London. In 2022, though, singer Camila Cabello was drowned out by both Liverpool and Real Madrid fans ahead of the Champions League final. The opening match of the 2026 World Cup is set to kick off in Mexico City at the Estadio Azteca on June 11, 2026. The schedule will consist of 104 matches as the tournament has been expanded to 48 national teams from 32. (SD-Agencies) 國際足聯主席詹尼?因凡蒂諾確認，2026年在美國舉辦的男子世界杯決賽將首次引入中場表演。美國、加拿大和墨西哥將聯合主辦明年的賽事，決賽定于2026年7月19日在新澤西的大都會人壽體育場舉行。從1930年首屆賽事至今，世界杯歷史上從未有過中場表演，但因凡蒂諾最近在達拉斯的一次世界杯相關活動上發言，確認了這個消息。 因凡蒂諾上周在Instagram發帖表示：“我們與‘全球公民’組織合作，在紐約州和新澤西州舉行的國際足聯世界杯決賽中將首次呈現中場表演。這將是世界杯的歷史性時刻，表演配得上全球最大的體育盛事。”除了全球公民組織，因凡蒂諾還提到國際足聯將與英國酷玩樂隊合作出品中場表演。 酷玩曾在2016年超級碗中場秀上演出，并邀請了布魯諾?馬爾斯和碧昂斯等藝術家作為特別嘉賓。因凡蒂諾未明確2026年酷玩是否會登臺表演，但表示樂隊成員將協助敲定演出陣容。根據國際足聯理事會制定的官方規則，中場休息不應超過15分鐘，目前尚不清楚是否會因為加入類似于超級碗中場秀的演出而調整規則。 國際足聯表示，關于中場表演目前沒有更多細節可提供。盡管此前世界杯決賽未曾有過中場表演，但過去足球頂級賽事曾邀請音樂家表演。近年來，世界杯賽事有了官方歌曲，而歐洲頂級俱樂部賽事——歐冠決賽，也常在賽前安排音樂表演。萊尼?克拉維茨曾在去年倫敦溫布利球場決賽前登臺演出。不過，2022年歐冠決賽前，卡米拉?卡貝洛的歌聲被利物浦和皇馬球迷的歡呼淹沒。 2026年世界杯揭幕戰將于2026年6月11日在墨西哥城的阿茲特克體育場打響。賽程將包含104場比賽，因為參賽隊伍從32支擴增至48支。(Translated by DeepSeek) | 