Mixed reactions trail FIFA’s move to extend World Cup final half-time to 25mins
Football fans and football pundits across the globe have expressed mixed reactions over a move by FIFA to extend the first half of the ongoing 2026 World Cup to 25 minutes breaking the standard 15-minute half-time rule.
While pop-music enthusiasts are thrilled by the star-studded 2026 World Cup final line-up, football traditionalists have been left furious over FIFA’s move to break the standard rule.
The planned Super Bowl-style show features headliners like Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber. Other show acts billed for Sunday’s performance includes Burna Boy, Gustavo Dudamel, Chris Martin and the PS22 Chorus featuring Coldplay.
Many long-time supporters of the game are complaining that extending the break up to 25–30 minutes is an “Americanized” disruption that kills the game’s flow and risks player safety.
Supporters have expressed concerns that the spectacle (which is co-headlined by K-pop and Western pop acts, and features 3-minute hydration breaks in addition to the concert) is a backdoor attempt to force more commercials into the beautiful game.
Football fans expressed their anger on social media platform Reddit.
@void_bet wrote: “Thirty minutes is long enough for players to cool down and start tightening up. The real joke is that IFAB rejected a 25-minute proposal, then FIFA just went ahead and did 30 for the final anyway.
@BQORBUST commented; “Infantino is an evil, malignant influence on the game. Goes beyond money/bribes to strike at the core of what we all love.
@ShufflingToGlory added: “It used to be a running joke that we need to hide football from the Americans because they’ll just split it into four quarters with commercial breaks and half time shows.”
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@Chefdangerdagger stated: “There’s zero chance they just decided to do this. This has been the plan all along but they knew there would be a big backlash so they waited to announce it.
While expressing his anger at the extended half time show, former Australian international player, Craig Foster on Wednesday criticised the extension, while sharing a screen shot of IFAB’s Law 7 on X.
“Let them all come out, wave, sing a few beats if necessary, and get off within the 15 minutes,” he posted.
“As the laws of the game dictate.” He noted.
Football journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor wrote on X: “A 30 minute half time show is obviously nonsense for all sorts of conditioning and legislative reasons, but in plain terms it’s yet another instance of the football coming second”.
The Telegraph’s Jason Burt also added: “FIFA appears to be on a mission to Americanise football into soccer.
“The headliners are, and always should be, out on the pitch wearing shirts, shorts, socks and football boots and kicking a ball with the aim of scoring a goal.
“That is it. That is all that matters. If it was not the case, football would not be so popular. The rest is greed with football in danger of eating itself.”
However, some surveys suggested that younger demographics welcome the entertainment value that the event presents to many watching the 2026 World Cup.
“The FIFA World Cup brings the world together in a way nothing else can,” Justin Bieber said in a statement announcing his participation.
“I’m grateful to be part of this Half-time Show, and even more grateful knowing it’s already helping expand access to education for children around the world.”
“The FIFA World Cup is one of the few moments that truly brings the entire world together,” Burna Boy said in a statement ahead of the final.
“To represent Africa on the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Half-time Show is a privilege and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.” He noted.
A Facebook user identified as @ScottAbercrombie supported the move by FIFA saying it has so much potential to be a great event.
“I like the HT entertainment idea. Would love to see a huge band artist perform live. It has so much potential to be great.
“It would be much better than birthday announcements and beat the goalie at HT!!”
@AndyJude also supported the idea saying; “It worked when Chelsea demolished PSG at the Club World Cup last year, so why wouldn’t it work this Sunday?
@ByronMalcolm said; “In the East Coast of Australia, kick off is 5am. So that would mean 5:50am roughly for the start of the halftime. Enough time to get breakfast done and get back to the screen for second half.
FIFA argues that the spectacle serves a purpose -raising $100 million for children’s education through the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund but die hard fans of the game are upset that football does not need to become an American-style sporting event.
