Ronaldinho, Madonna and Ronaldo during the half-time show. Julio Cortez/AP/Alamy Stock Photo

'I thought it was crap': World Cup final half-time takes 27 minutes as Madonna, Shakira and Coldplay perform

Madonna was ‘driven’ to the pitch in New Jersey by legendary Brazilian duo Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

FORMER ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL Wayne Rooney pulled no punches in his assessment of the concert which forced the half-time break in Sunday’s World Cup final to run over 27 minutes long.

Asked for his favourite part of the show headlined by Madonna, K-pop stars BTS, Justin Bieber, Shakira, and Coldplay, BBC analyst Rooney deadpanned: “When it finished.”

“I like a lot of them artists, but I thought it was crap.”

On RTÉ, Shay Given and Richie Sadlier pointed out how “wrong” it was for the rules of the game, which state that the half-time break should not exceed 15 minutes, to be ignored.

Their fellow pundit Kevin Doyle was less aggrieved about the idea of the show but similar to Rooney, he took issue with how boring it was.

Madonna, who opened the show with her early 2000s hit single Music, was ‘driven’ to the pitch in New Jersey by legendary Brazilian duo Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

Along with the performances from BTS, Bieber, Shakira, the show featured cameos from the characters of both Sesame Street and The Muppets before Coldplay closed the show with a previously-unreleased track.

bts-performs-during-the-halftime-show-in-the-world-cup-final-soccer-match-between-spain-and-argentina-in-east-rutherford-n-j-near-new-york-sunday-july-19-2026-ap-photojulio-cortez BTS. Julio Cortez / AP/Alamy Julio Cortez / AP/Alamy / AP/Alamy

justin-bieber-performs-at-halftime-during-the-world-cup-final-soccer-match-between-spain-and-argentina-in-east-rutherford-n-j-near-new-york-sunday-july-19-2026-ap-photoabbie-parr Justin Bieber performed Everything Hallelujah on the acoustic guitar. Abbie Parr / AP/Alamy Abbie Parr / AP/Alamy / AP/Alamy

shakira-performs-during-halftime-during-the-world-cup-final-soccer-match-between-spain-and-argentina-in-east-rutherford-n-j-near-new-york-sunday-july-19-2026-ap-photomatt-slocum Shakira performed Dai Dai, the official World Cup song, with Burna Boy. Matt Slocum / AP/Alamy Matt Slocum / AP/Alamy / AP/Alamy

east-rutherford-united-states-of-america-19-july-2026-overview-halftime-show-at-the-soccer-2026-world-cup-spain-vs-argentina-credit-passion2press-demarkus-fischeralamy-live-news The message displayed during the half-time show. Passion2Press / Markus Fischer/Alamy Passion2Press / Markus Fischer/Alamy / Markus Fischer/Alamy

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