FIFA could be set to break one of its own long-standing rules at the World Cup final on Sunday. The governing body is expected to extend the traditional 15-minute half-time interval to around 30 minutes to accommodate its first-ever Super Bowl-style half-time show, despite the Laws of the Game stating the break should last no longer than a quarter of an hour.
The final will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. ITV and the BBC are both planning to broadcast the full 11-minute performance and expect there will still be enough time for their pundits to analyse the first half while the stage is assembled and dismantled. The extended interval would not be unprecedented. FIFA stretched the half-time break to 25 minutes during last year’s Club World Cup final. Football’s governing body has repeatedly declined to confirm the expected length of Sunday’s interval, although broadcasters are preparing for it to last around half an hour.
South American football’s governing body, CONMEBOL, previously proposed increasing the maximum half-time interval to 25 minutes, but the request was rejected by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 2021.
IFAB said it opposed the change because of the “negative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity”.
Both ITV and the BBC had initially been concerned that showing the entire entertainment spectacle would leave little opportunity for their pundits to analyse the opening 45 minutes.
However, both broadcasters now expect to have at least the usual 15 minutes for analysis in addition to the 11-minute performance.
The BBC will also present the semi-finals and final from either pitchside or a studio inside the stadium, rather than from its Salford base, which had been used earlier in the tournament as a cost-saving measure.
The half-time show is expected to feature Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, Burna Boy, Gustavo Dudamel and the PS22 Chorus featuring Coldplay.
Fans will also be treated to a closing ceremony beginning 90 minutes before the 8pm BST kick-off, with Robbie Williams, Tom Cruise and Nicole Scherzinger all due to appear.
CONMEBOL previously ignored the rejected proposal by staging a 25-minute Shakira concert during the 2024 Copa América final in Miami.
The decision drew criticism from Colombia head coach Néstor Lorenzo, who complained that he had been punished earlier in the tournament after his team exceeded the permitted half-time interval by one minute, while CONMEBOL faced no sanction.