{"id":558365,"date":"2026-07-20T02:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/558365\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T02:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:58:14","slug":"tom-cruise-tells-world-cup-closing-ceremony-this-is-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/558365\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Cruise tells World Cup closing ceremony: \u2018This is unity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Cruise, Jennifer Hudson and Robbie Williams were among the stars who stepped on to the pitch for the World Cup closing ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>They appeared at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, minutes before Spain and Argentina kicked off in the final.<\/p>\n<p>Grammy-award winning singer Hudson delivered a rendition of US national anthem The\u00a0Star-Spangled Banner, wearing a white gown and matching blazer.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"427\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/tom-cruise-tells-world-cup-closing-ceremony-this-is-unity.jpg\" alt=\"Jennifer Hudson sings the national anthem \" data-title=\"Spain v Argentina \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 \u2013 Final \u2013 New York New Jersey Stadium\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Nick Potts\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\"\/>Jennifer Hudson sings the national anthem (Nick Potts\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>The blazer had a red, white and blue ribbon detail which tied the back of the jacket together.<\/p>\n<p>Williams appeared to perform the official Fifa anthem, Desire, alongside Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and Italian singer-songwriter Laura Pausini.<\/p>\n<p>The former Take That star wore a sparkling royal blue tracksuit and Scherzinger and Pausini wore blue gowns.<\/p>\n<p>Mission Impossible star Cruise ended the ceremony with a passionate speech on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"427\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784516293_41_tom-cruise-tells-world-cup-closing-ceremony-this-is-unity.jpg\" alt=\"Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams and Laura Pausini\" data-title=\"Spain v Argentina \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 \u2013 Final \u2013 New York New Jersey Stadium\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Nick Potts\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\"\/>Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams and Laura Pausini (Nick Potts\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cThirty days ago, nations began a journey. They crossed oceans. They crossed borders. They crossed cultures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd together, they showed us why this game belongs to the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom every corner of the globe, we have witnessed greatness, and we have shared in moments of joy, moments of hope, moments we will all never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said football is a \u201clanguage spoken without words\u201d and a force that \u201cunites people\u201d, \u201cturns strangers into friends\u201d and reminds people what they have in common.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"427\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784516294_847_tom-cruise-tells-world-cup-closing-ceremony-this-is-unity.jpg\" alt=\"Spain and Argentina flags on the pitch at the New York New Jersey Stadium\" data-title=\"Spain v Argentina \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 \u2013 Final \u2013 New York New Jersey Stadium\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Martin Rickett\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\"\/>Spain and Argentina flags on the pitch at the New York New Jersey Stadium (Martin Rickett\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cThese stories now belong to each and every one of us, to every nation, to every player, to every supporter, to every volunteer, to every dream carried on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we gather for one final chapter, let us celebrate a tournament that brought the world together. Let us celebrate each other. This is football. This is unity and this, this is greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nearly an hour before they took to the stage, the closing ceremony began with gold tracksuit-wearing drummers performing in the centre of the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Streamer IShowSpeed sang his song Champions, sporting a white suit with a team of dancers around him.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"427\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784516294_803_tom-cruise-tells-world-cup-closing-ceremony-this-is-unity.jpg\" alt=\"Post Malone during the closing ceremony \" data-title=\"Spain v Argentina \u2013 FIFA World Cup 2026 \u2013 Final \u2013 New York New Jersey Stadium\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Nick Potts\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\"\/>Post Malone during the closing ceremony (Nick Potts\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>The pitch depicted a number of US landmarks including the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty with a football-like stage at its centre.<\/p>\n<p>The performance later cut to rapper Post Malone, who sang Chrome Heartbreaker while wearing a cowboy hat, denim jacket and jeans.<\/p>\n<p>He was then joined by rapper Swae Lee to sing their hit song Sunflower.<\/p>\n<p>Comedian Will Ferrell was spotted in the crowd along with Dune star Timothee Chalamet and his girlfriend, social media star Kylie Jenner.<\/p>\n<p>David and Victoria Beckham were also in the crowd for the final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Cruise, Jennifer Hudson and Robbie Williams were among the stars who stepped on to the pitch for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-558365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}