For the first time ever, the FIFA World Cup final will feature a star-studded halftime show.

In what is being compared to a Super Bowl spectacular, the performances are set to be broadcast live to millions of soccer fans.

The 2022 final in Qatar was the most-watched in FIFA World Cup history, attracting 1.5 billion viewers around the world. This year’s final in New Jersey is expected to break those records.

Curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the halftime show will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has promised “a historic moment for the World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world.”

With the World Cup underway in its three host countries—Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.—here’s what you need to know about the final’s hotly-anticipated halftime show.

When is the World Cup final halftime show—and how can I watch it?

The show will take place during the FIFA World Cup final which is set to start at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 19.

It’s happening at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which is temporarily being called the New York New Jersey Stadium due to the World Cup’s rules on endorsements.

In the United States, viewers will be able to watch the show live on Fox Sports, with the match airing on the FOX network.

Spanish-language viewers can watch through NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service with a Premium or Premium Plus subscription. The match will also air on Telemundo.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced a free World Cup final watch-party for 50,000 New Yorkers.

“You don’t need to drop thousands of dollars to watch the World Cup final. And you don't need to be a professional to play in the World Cup. You just need to head to Central Park,” Mamdani said.

Who is performing at the FIFA World Cup halftime show?

The show will be co-headlined by Shakira, Madonna, and K-pop supergroup BTS.

Shakira, who also led the line-up for the tournament’s opening ceremony in Mexico City on June 11, serves on the advisory board of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

Shakira and Nigerian singer-songwriter Burna Boy partnered up for this year’s official World Cup anthem, “Dai Dai.” 

Royalties from the song will support the education fund, with Sony Music pledging to match the first $250,000 raised with a donation.

Shakira will be joined by the Ghetto Kids, a Ugandan dance troupe that rose to prominence following appearances on America’s Got Talent in 2024.

Shakira is no stranger to either the World Cup or halftime performances.  In 2010, she cemented her place in soccer culture with Waka Waka, the chart-topping anthem of that tournament. 

A decade later, she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Jennifer Lopez.

Madonna also has experience leading a halftime event, as she famously headlined the 2012 Super Bowl show.

BTS, the seven-person K-pop group who recently returned to the scene following a three-year hiatus to complete mandatory military service obligations, will be taking the night off from their global tour to perform at the soccer event of the year.

Why has Global Citizen partnered with FIFA—and how is Chris Martin involved?

The FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund aims to support grassroots programs in more than 200 countries, expanding access to education and soccer.

The initiative is “aiming to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and football [soccer] opportunities for children worldwide.” 

Global Citizen has previously partnered with governments, businesses, and entertainers on large-scale fundraising efforts, such as the Stand Up for Ukraine event launched in 2022.

Martin became involved after he reached out to the initiative during the previous World Cup. 

“Four years ago, at the time of the Qatar World Cup, Chris Martin called me and said, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing if we could do a halftime show for the World Cup, because it is this moment that brings all of humanity together,’” explained Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans.

When asked whether Martin himself would perform at the halftime show, Evans did not confirm either way, but said that the audience is in “for some big surprises.”

International hesitations over the halftime show

British television networks BBC and ITV, which are broadcasting the World Cup for U.K. fans, are reportedly considering not airing the halftime show in real-time. 

Instead, the broadcasters are expected to stick with their traditional format of using the slot to air commentary from pundits analyzing the first half of the match.

The performances would instead be viewable via the networks’ respective digital platforms.

The interval for soccer matches is typically timed to 15 minutes. It’s understood FIFA has yet to confirm exactly how long the halftime show will be.

TIME has contacted the BBC and ITV for comment.

On June 14, the South Lawn of the White House will host not an easter egg roll or a turkey pardon, but rather a series of fights in a caged 92-foot tall Octagon, constructed and hosted by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Organizers of the UFC Freedom 250 event say the fights are meant to celebrate America's 250th anniversary, but they also coincide with President Donald Trump’s 80th Birthday. 

Read More: How Dana White Took the UFC From the Fringes to the White House

The fight card constructed by UFC’s President and CEO Dana White, a long-time Trump ally, is headlined by a lightweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje and an interim heavyweight title bout between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.

The fights will unfold on a massive stage constructed on the White House’s South Lawn, with approximately 4,000 spectators in attendance. Another 80,000 are expected to watch from the nearby Ellipse. UFC fans at home will also be able to stream the event live or online.

UFC Freedom 250 has been the subject of multiple controversies, much of it relating to the decision to allow the privately-held UFC to host an event on public land. A federal lawsuit filed this month by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents called the event “deeply corrupt” and alleged that several federal rules and regulations were violated by the Department of Interior and the National Park Service in order to organize the event.

Despite the suit, the fight appears set to move forward. Ahead of Sunday’s fight, the UFC has scheduled a news conference for Friday night in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and an official weigh-in of the players on Saturday at the Ellipse.

Here’s how you can watch the historic UFC fight.

Where is it streaming? When does it start?

UFC Freedom 250 is exclusively streaming on Paramount+, where all UFC fights usually stream, and will begin at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. It will also be broadcast live by CBS.

Can I attend the event?

About 4,000 attendees were invited to watch the event in person at the White House. Mixed martial arts fans who signed up in advance will have access to the watch event at the 52-acre Ellipse park just south of the White House. Those tickets are free, and White confirmed that about 85,000 tickets were made available. The 4,000 attendees at the fight on the South Lawn will be mostly military, according to White.

How to watch the other weekend events

The UFC press conference will take place in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, June 12, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET, and is expected to be streamed on the UFC’s YouTube channel or website.  The weigh-in, set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, will also stream on the UFC’s YouTube channel.

The 90-degree sun was making a mockery of my sunblock, as evidenced by the bright red hue of my hand (and face and neck and legs). Truck exhaust made the mid-afternoon air even more suffocating, doing my hydration woes no favors. I was about halfway into a 13-mile journey, almost exclusively by foot, from Penn Station in New York City to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, to see if walking to the World Cup was a cost-effective—and sane—transportation alternative for the area’s soccer fans on match day. After my editor bet that I’d spend the $98 cost of a game-day train ticket on food and drink, I packed plenty of water and other provisions to save money on the route. 

But at this point, my drinks were hot, my legs were getting heavy, and I had no choice but to slink into a North Jersey Dunkin’ to purchase two very large and oh-so-cold bottles of water and Gatorade. 

Chugging them left me refreshed, and still $80 ahead of the game! 

The near-$100 train fare from Penn Station to the suburban stadium hosting eight World Cup games, including the July 19 final, has neatly encapsulated the fundamental concern with the tournament, which will be hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and officially kicks off on June 11 in Mexico City: that it’s a ridiculously expensive affair. While the sticker shock of what is typically a $13 trip enraged the masses—the price was initially announced at $150 in April, before it got knocked down to 98 bucks in the face of public backlash—some observers, particularly those from Europe, scoffed at all the outrage. “I know walking is an unfamiliar concept for most Americans, but it is a thing in the rest of the world,” wrote one user on X, igniting a viral debate.

Were it not for a six-plus-hour trip, by ferry and foot, from midtown Manhattan to what is now known as New York New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup (FIFA does not allow stadium sponsors during the event), it would be a very fair point. Plus, some commentary has suggested that it’s technically impossible to walk from New York City to the World Cup stadium, given all the highways that surround the facility. But if walking was really unworkable, why was Apple Maps offering me a route? It wouldn't be the first time tech misled humans, but perhaps it knew what it was talking about. And while FIFA has clearly stated that walking to New York New Jersey Stadium is not allowed on game days, citing safety concerns, could you still get pretty close? Should walking to the World Cup, and potentially saving $98 and gaining the exercise benefits, really be prohibited? Is the trek as perilous as some have led us to believe? 

With these questions in mind, I set out little before noon from the New Jersey Transit waiting room at Penn Station in early June. (My oldest son, home from college, accompanied me.) The area was nearly empty, but still sweltering. If any air-conditioning was on, it wasn’t doing much. Picturing a few thousand more enthusiastic soccer nuts in this space, crowded together in the heat, was enough to quicken my stride to the Hudson. 

There, at 39th Street, a $10.75 ferry takes you across the river to Weehawken, N.J. The views above the Hudson—of the water, the New York City skyline, the George Washington Bridge—surely beat those in the train tunnel below it. 

Upon arrival in New Jersey, directions took us north along the river. New York New Jersey Stadium is actually just six miles, in a straight shot northwest, from Penn Station. But the swampy landscape around the stadium, the Meadowlands, acts as a pedestrian barrier. So we essentially had to circumnavigate the marsh, not to mention the roadways and railways and refineries and electric power plants, to reach our destination. Still, while that infrastructure, never easy on the eyes, is familiar to anyone who has flown into Newark airport, or driven on the New Jersey Turnpike, or watched the opening credits of The Sopranos, it’s not the North Jersey we met at the start of this soccer pilgrimage. Rather, for about two and half miles, we were walking through river towns, which are green and scenic.

As we turned inland, we saw more industry: body shops, gas stations, a place called the Jingle II Cocktail Lounge hawking steaks and burgers (it’s been closed for decades). But even in these less foot-friendly areas, the route is mostly sidewalked. In a few spots where there’s not a sidewalk, there’s a white line indicating where the road begins: we stayed as far to the right of it as we could and made sure there were no signs prohibiting pedestrian activity. While this was definitely the part of the voyage that required the most vigilance, it was relatively brief. On Apple Maps, a few water crossings—over Overpeck Creek and the Hackensack River—looked dicey. But both had walking paths.

Nearing four miles to go, we finally headed due south toward the stadium. At that point, however, the peanut butter sandwiches packed in my bag would no longer do; luckily, a restaurant in Little Ferry, N.J., advertised empanadas. With the end somewhat in sight, a treat was in order. Two beef empanadas and another pair of cold drinks: my total bill for the trip now clocked in at $28.75. 

Fueled for the stretch run, I reached the base of New York New Jersey Stadium at around 6:30 p.m. FIFA won’t let walkers get that close on game day, so if you do walk, you’ll have to get as close as possible, then perhaps Uber to the designated drop-off point at the Meadowlands race track, about a 25-minute walk to the stadium entrances.

My phone informed me I’d set a record for burning calories in a single day and exceeded 28,000 steps. I felt sore but accomplished. Sure, if I was attending a World Cup match that night, I’d be beat. But I’d have earned those beers.  

A group of eight American World Cup defenders locked hands in a circle on Wednesday morning at the U.S. men’s national soccer team training camp in Irvine, Calif. The players were participating in a warm-up drill; the circle inched forward as the Americans headed or kicked the ball to each other. The objective: don’t let the ball touch the ground before reaching a designated spot.  

Luckily for the United States, Chris Richards, the affable anchor for the U.S. defense who has missed all game action for the past three and a half weeks due to an ankle injury he suffered in a Premier League match in May, was part of the group. Displaying his signature Afro and smile, rather than any pain, Richards cheered his teammates on as they finished the routine, then led the soft sprint back to the starting point, where they all joined hands again and repeated the drill. 

“I’m ready,” says Richards, 26, the reigning U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year. 

Richards, who’s from Birmingham, Ala., has won a host of championships during his professional career, including the UEFA Conference League—two tiers below the Champions League—this season with Crystal Palace, plus an FA Cup, England’s annual countrywide knockout tournament, and a Community Shield, the game pitting the Premier League champ and the FA Cup winner against each other, with the Eagles in 2025. As a center back, Richards plays a sort of middle-linebacker role on defense, in charge of seeing the entire field and shouting directions at his fellow back-line players. “He manages the game well, he reads the game well,” says former U.S. World Cup defender Marcelo Balboa, the lead Major League Soccer (MLS) Spanish-language analyst for Apple TV. “He's a guy that can lay a tackle for you, he's a guy that can win a header between a group. He's also not afraid to go forward.”

Balboa predicts that Richards’ mere presence in Team USA’s Friday-night World Cup opener against Paraguay will instill belief. “You start thinking, ‘Oh crap, we’ve got all 11 players back,’” says Balboa. “That gives everybody a boost, because now you walk on the field and you're feeling very confident that at every position, you know you're ready to go.” 

Richards can also bring a little bit of levity to a pressure-packed situation. On the front line of the U.S. attack, the face of the team, forward Christian Pulisic, is admittedly a more intense introvert. He’s said that he will try to enjoy this World Cup experience more than the last one but knows his tendency to revert to form. While Richards will hold himself and his teammates accountable, he has a lighter touch. “When you look at him, he's overall just a positive guy, and that's what you want on your team,” says Balboa. 

Before the biggest game of his life, for example, Richards enjoyed playful interaction with an X account that has gone viral in the World Cup lead-up: a soccer fan purportedly from Germany discovering the finer points of American Southern culture, like Waffle House, Buc-ees and large college-football stadiums. Richards made a plug for Milo’s Hamburger’s, a regional chain based in Alabama. “If there’s any @milosburgershop near you please stop. Trust me,” Richards wrote to the fan. 

Richards has said he felt like an outsider playing soccer in the football hotbed of Alabama, especially as a young Black player. (His mother is white, and his father is Black.) “Kids that looked like me weren’t playing soccer,” he told reporters before his training session in Irvine. “[There were] a few hurdles I had to jump over to get here, but I’d do it every day of the week.” In the HBO documentary on the American men’s team, U.S. Against the World, released in May, Richards says, “I kinda felt too Black for my soccer friends and felt too white for my basketball friends … I already kinda feel like the odd man out on both sides of the spectrum.” 

He stuck with soccer, joined the FC Dallas Academy, and signed a homegrown contract with the MLS team just after he turned 18. Within just nine months, Richards was off to Bayern Munich, the legendary German club, and made his senior-team debut in June 2020. He moved to Crystal Palace a couple of summers later. 

A hamstring injury cost Richards an appearance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and after he had to be carried off the field without his left boot in May following Crystal Palace’s 2-2 draw against Brentford, he feared he might miss another. “My ankle was huge,” he says. “I was devastated.” He tore two ligaments but attacked his recovery. 

Richards is “doing everything possible to make sure he's in the best shape possible coming into this week,” says Mark McKenzie, a fellow Team USA defender. “Whether it's on the field working with performance coaches, trying to get that ankle exposed to as many different actions as possible, and then off the field, we're talking about recovery, we're talking about every modality you could possibly think of, and modalities you probably don't even know about.” 

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino expressed frustration that Richards couldn’t suit up for the team’s last World Cup tune-up, a 2-1 loss to Germany last Saturday. “I got a little annoyed and I am not happy because Chris Richards is an important player, and we all know that,” he said before the game. At this point, Richards insists that he can play through any pain to move in any direction, which should please his coach. “I look good on the pitch now,” says Richards, with a confident grin. If that form holds on Friday, the U.S could be on its way, locking hands for a long stretch this summer.