Madonna, Shakira, BTS to play World Cup final halftime show

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · May 14, 2026 · 418 words · By Mark Hallam

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What to know about Madonna, Shakira, BTS to play World Cup final halftime show

Madonna, Shakira, BTS to play World Cup final halftime show May 14, 2026The July 19 World Cup final in New Jersey will be the first to include a Superbowl-inspired "Halftime Show," with performances from American veteran Madonna, the Colombian voice of the…

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The curator is Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who announced the lineup in a promotional video featuring characters from Sesame Street and the Muppets on Thursday.

Common ground

FIFA says the event aims to raise money for its FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Madonna, Shakira, BTS to play World Cup final halftime show?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The video featured various characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets, including Elmo, the Cookie Monster, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Animal on the drums?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/world-cup-final-halftime-show-will-feature-madonna-shakira…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “The video featured various characters from Sesame Street and The Muppets, including Elmo, the Cookie Monster, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Animal on the drums.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia entries and random YouTube/TikTok videos about the characters, but no evidence linking these characters to a promotional video for the 2026 World Cup halftime show.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — An anthropomorphic green frog, Kermit is the pragmatic everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably as the showrunner and host of the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Sh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_the_Frog

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Ft Elmo, Cookie Monster & Big Bird - YouTube | Kermit the frog, Kermit, Big bird.Description. Kermit the Frog, Elmo, and Puppy go Swimming!In todays video Kermit the Frog makes Elmo go swimming, and w…
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/important-stuff--8045259209307…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, breakup, heartbreak, emotional, video, Kermit The Frog, Abby Cadabby, Elmo, The Muppets, Sesame Street, Puppet Army, Puppets.Join Elmo and Cookie Monster in a hilarious co…
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/elmo-and-miss-piggy

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Claim 2: “The July 19 World Cup final in New Jersey will be the first to include a Superbowl-inspired "Halftime Show,"”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that FIFA has announced a Super Bowl-inspired halftime show for the World Cup final on July 19, 2026, in New Jersey.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup final will be the final match of the 2026 World Cup, the 23rd edition of FIFA's competition for men's national soccer teams. The match is scheduled to be played at MetLife Stad…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_final

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification decided the 45 teams that joined hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Qualification began on 7 September 2023 with three matche…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “FIFA says the event aims to raise money for its FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the event aims to raise $100 million for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Asian section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for national teams of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC teams were allocated eight …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificat…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “The Champions League, for instance, has a pre-match concert, rather than eating into the brief break between the two halves”

SINGLE SOURCE

The search results provide general information about the UEFA Champions League but do not confirm or deny the specific claim regarding pre-match concerts versus halftime shows.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Besides UEFA Champions League scores you can follow 1000+ soccer competitions from 90+ countries around the world on Flashscore.info.UEFA Champions League 2026 scores service is real-time, updating li…
https://www.flashscore.info/football/europe/uefa-champions-l…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League is the 71st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 34th season since it was rebranded from the European Cup to the UEFA Champi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–26_UEFA_Champions_League

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web search NEUTRAL — From the group stage to the knockout rounds, find all of the official UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 fixtures and results here.
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/fixtures-results/

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Claim 5: “performances from American veteran Madonna, the Colombian voice of the 2010 and now 2026 World Cup Shakira, and South Korean boyband BTS.”

CORROBORATED

The lineup of Madonna, Shakira, and BTS is reported across multiple independent news sources and cross-references.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( shə-KEER-ə, Spanish: [ʃaˈkiɾa isaˈβel meβaˈɾak riˈpol]; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, and record producer. Referred to as the "Queen …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakira

+ 4 more evidence sources

info

Claim 6: “Typically, the half time break at a football match is only around 15 minutes long.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The web search results provided for this claim are definitions of the word 'standard' and insurance companies, not information regarding football halftime durations.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Standard Superior, and automotive manufacturer, e.g., of the Standard automobile (1933–1935, 1950–1954), produced from 1933 to 1935 by Standard Fahrzeugfabrik of Ludwigsburg, Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Standard is a marketing name for Standard Insurance Company (Portland, Oregon), licensed in all states except New York, and The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York (White Plains, New York)…
https://login.standard.com/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago · standard, criterion, gauge, yardstick, touchstone mean a means of determining what a thing should be. standard applies to any definite rule, principle, or measure established by authority…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/standard

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Claim 7: “The curator is Coldplay frontman Chris Martin”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results explicitly state that Chris Martin of Coldplay is the curator of the halftime show.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Apple Blythe Alison Martin (born 14 May 2004) is a British model. She is the daughter of singer Chris Martin of Coldplay and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Martin

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Martin

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Music of the Spheres World Tour is the eighth concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It is being staged to promote their ninth and tenth studio albums, Music of the Spheres (2021) …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Spheres_World_Tou…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “FIFA President Gianni Infantino also shared news of the lineup for the event, which he first announced would take place this March, online.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm that FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced the halftime show in March (specifically March 2025).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of presidents of FIFA, the world association football governing body. Presidents Daniel Burley Woolfall, Rodolphe Seeldrayers, and Arthur Drewry died during their term in offic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_FIFA

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The FIFA ASEAN Cup is an upcoming international football competition sanctioned by FIFA for the men's national football teams of Southeast Asia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_ASEAN_Cup

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (born 23 March 1970) is an Italian-Swiss-Lebanese football administrator and the president of FIFA since 2016. He has also been an International Olympic Committee member si…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Infantino

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 9: “German pop star Helene Fischer performed at half time at the 2017 German Cup (DFB Pokal) final”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this specific claim.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.