{"id":811409,"date":"2026-07-20T03:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/811409\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T03:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:04:17","slug":"world-cup-final-2026-opinion-that-was-the-craziest-spectacle-ever-seen-and-it-had-nothing-to-do-with-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/811409\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup final 2026 opinion: \u2018That was the craziest spectacle ever seen, and it had nothing to do with football\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion: A president behind bulletproof glass, a trophy arriving in a Louis Vuitton case and a bunch of Hollywood megastars screaming in the crowd<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No, it wasn\u2019t the Super Bowl<\/a> \u2013 it was the 2026 World Cup final<\/a>, and it was the most unhinged, over-the-top entertainment spectacle the sporting world has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\"Shakira<\/p>\n

Shakira at the World Cup half-time show because… well, why the hell not. \u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

In what was, in my opinion, a sluggish and boring match between champions Spain and *sigh* Argentina (apologies, bitter England fan here), it was what happened off the pitch that made the night so outrageous.<\/p>\n

For a start, that half-time show<\/a>. This was the first time in World Cup history we\u2019ve had to endure to an American-style intermission, and it took exactly two seconds for the collective jaw to drop.<\/p>\n

Madonna emerged first, driving football legends Ronaldo and Ronaldinho onto the pitch for a pre-match celebration \u2013 a cheeky little attempt to win over the highly critical football fans for a moment, perhaps? Nice try.<\/p>\n

Gen Z got their moment when beloved boy band BTS hit the stage. Justin Bieber<\/a> then belted out a surreal \u2018World Cup hallelujah,\u2019 before Shakira was seen popping and locking like it was going out of fashion. Oh, and then The Muppets sang a song because… god knows. Bizarre. <\/p>\n

For the most part, many seemed to enjoy it \u2013 apart from legendary English footballer Wayne Rooney, who labelled it \u201ccrap\u201d, and my die-hard football fan dad Ron Douglas who rang me up to complain like I had something to do with it.<\/p>\n

Away from the half-time show, the crowd was filled with a who\u2019s who of Hollywood\u2019s elite<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Blake Lively, who infamously wasn\u2019t invited to ex-bestie Taylor Swift\u2019s wedding<\/a> of the century, was front and centre. Will Ferrell was there. David and Victoria Beckham<\/a>, of course. Kylie Jenner and Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet were smooching in the stands. Even Aussie radio host Lauren Phillips was there. EVERYONE!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ronaldinho, Madonna and Ronaldo opened the show.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tom Cruise (!) of all people delivered a heartfelt monologue before kick-off that was largely drowned out by the crowd, but we all got the gist. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet us celebrate each other! This is football. This is greatness,\u201d he said, beaming. The irony of a Hollywood action star explaining \u201cthis is football\u201d to a stadium full of Europeans and South Americans wasn\u2019t lost on anyone, but it was quite the vision. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tom Cruise. Epic. \u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sadly they weren\u2019t there to cheer on England, but David Beckham and Victoria Beckham were still there to watch the big game. \u00a0Photo by Dan Mullan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The absolute madness didn\u2019t stop there. <\/p>\n

Bruce Buffer, the UFC ring announcer, was pitch side announcing the World Cup final with his \u201cLet\u2019s get ready to rumble!\u201d catchphrase. So American. <\/p>\n

Naturally, President Trump wasn\u2019t about to miss a spectacle of this scale \u2013 albeit with a massive layer of extra security. He sat behind a wall of bulletproof glass alongside Melania, Barron, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump spoke with FIFA President Gianni Infantino before kickoff – behind bulletproof glass. \u00a0AP Photo\/Adam Hunger<\/p>\n

There was a smattering of boos as Trump\u2019s face flashed upon the screen, but he, of course, was not fussed. In fact, he thought America\u2019s hosting of the World Cup was so good they should get to do it again very soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do this again, and we have to do this again while I am around, hear that Gianni?\u201d he told Fox Sports before the match. Sadly for Trump, FIFA rules say the US can\u2019t host again until 2038 \u2013 but given the absolute chaos we just witnessed, rules clearly mean absolutely nothing any more.<\/p>\n

Arguably the greatest part of the whole final was at the end, when Spain were finally handed their trophy after an incredible campaign. The trophy which had been transported to New York in a Louis Vuitton case for good measure, of course.<\/p>\n

Trump was there to shake their hands, and then\u2026 just\u2026 wouldn\u2019t leave the team as they raised the trophy for the first time. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Trump in Spain\u2019s celebrations. \u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

He remained, beaming away like he himself had just won with Infantino actively trying to usher him off-stage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never seen anything like it. It was the perfect, most outrageous end to the maddest World Cup final we\u2019ll probably ever see. <\/p>\n

It was exactly what you\u2019d expect America to pull off for a final, and while I hope we get back to some level of normality in future, it was a laugh for a year. <\/p>\n

Vamos!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion: A president behind bulletproof glass, a trophy arriving in a Louis Vuitton case and a bunch of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-811409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}