Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber steal the show at FIFA World Cup halftime: All the unforgettable moments

Dubai: The World Cup just had its Super Bowl moment.

Tonight, the World Cup final got its own halftime show for the first time in 96 years, and it went as big as you'd expect from a lineup that included Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, an orchestra, and, somehow, the Muppets.

Eleven minutes. That's all organisers gave themselves to fit in five decades of pop history, a K-pop takeover, an Afrobeats anthem, and a full symphony orchestra. Somehow, they pulled it off.

Here's everything that happened, in order.

Leave it to Madonna to turn a football stadium into her own personal stage set within thirty seconds.

She opened with "Music," her 2000 dance-pop classic, and went full theatre with it.

A pre-recorded bit set in a roller rink played first, then she rolled into the stadium on a dune buggy, belting out the song's own hook back at the crowd: "Music makes the people come together." Fitting, really. She brought Brazilian football royalty Ronaldo and Ronaldinho out with her too, so this wasn't just a pop star borrowing a football stage. It felt like she'd actually done her homework.

Next came a genuinely unexpected pairing. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel led a full orchestra through "Seven Nation Army," that White Stripes riff every football fan has chanted at least once in their life. Muppets characters bopped along in the background while it played, somehow making a symphony orchestra and Animal from The Muppets feel like they belonged on the same stage.

BTS came out in red and black and went straight for "Dynamite," full choreography and all. Betting markets had this one locked in as their opener days before it happened, and it delivered exactly the jolt of energy you'd want from a K-pop group's first-ever World Cup appearance.

Then Shakira showed up with Burna Boy for "Dai Dai," the song they wrote together as this year's official World Cup anthem. Dancers in yellow surrounded her, including Uganda's Ghetto Kids, who she'd personally invited after spending weeks asking fans worldwide to send in their own dance videos. Within seconds, the whole stadium was moving with her.

This is the moment that probably got the biggest laugh. Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt strolled out in full Ted Lasso and Coach Beard costume to introduce Justin Bieber, who followed it up with a stripped-back, acoustic version of "Everything Hallelujah."

Chris Martin, who'd curated the whole eleven minutes himself, closed the show with New York's PS22 Chorus, a choir made up of more than 80 fourth and fifth graders from Staten Island. Shakira, BTS and Bieber all came back out for one last group moment, fireworks and all. Fans in the stadium even walked away with a flag carrying a handwritten thank-you note from Martin himself.

Beyond the spectacle, the whole thing was in aid of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, working to raise $100 million for children's education and football access worldwide. And regardless of how you feel about football borrowing from the Super Bowl playbook, there's no denying it: after 96 years of World Cup finals, this was the first time any of it happened at all.