The World Cup closing ceremony took its time to come together.
The pre-match concert, which kicked things off, was made for television. Unfortunately, it did not look particularly good on television. By the end, the stadium was full, fireworks were exploding overhead and Tom Cruise was standing in the centre of the pitch telling supporters that football “belongs to the world”.
Before Spain and Argentina took the pitch at New York New Jersey Stadium, a drumline and a group of break dancers surrounded a circular stage shaped like a football when seen from above. Models of New York landmarks, including Washington Square Arch and the Vessel, rose around it.
Much like at the opening ceremony, scale rarely came across on screen. Wide shots exposed large patches of empty seating as supporters continued to enter the stadium, while tighter angles left the performers stranded in the middle of the production. Pyrotechnics added noise and colour, but the direction never found a way to make the stage or its surroundings look impressive.
IShowSpeed supplied much of the energy himself. The American streamer raced on to perform World Cup (Champions), catching and kicking a golden football as dancers pranced around him.
Like Post Malone and Swae Lee, he appeared to be performing over a fully recorded vocal track. The sound did not noticeably change when any of the performers moved their microphones away from their mouths, and little effort was made to maintain the illusion of a live performance.
That is hardly unusual at a large stadium show, where choreography and broadcast timing can take priority over live vocals. It becomes harder to overlook when the performers also seem detached from the occasion.
Speed did not. He looked genuinely delighted to be there and appeared to have a connection to the tournament that went beyond accepting a booking.
That enthusiasm has been evident throughout the World Cup. His streams have been filled with attempts to speak to supporters in their own languages, including a widely shared moment in which he addressed a Chinese fan in Mandarin and encouraged him to join in.
There is plenty of chaos in Speed’s persona, but there is also curiosity and humility. He travels ready to look foolish, learn a few words and connect with whoever is in front of him. In that sense, he offered an appealing image of a young American on the world stage: loud and excitable, but open to the rest of it.
Post Malone, in probably the only time in his career he'll perform to a half-empty crowd in New York, followed in denim for Chrome Heartbreaker, accompanied by dancers in similarly styled outfits. Swae Lee then performed Sunflower alongside women in multi-coloured tracksuits, shaking hands and dancing with Malone before he returned for his verse.
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Inside the stadium before the closing ceremony ahead of the match. Reuters -
Post Malone performs during the closing ceremony before the Fifa World Cup 2026 Final between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium. AFP -
Singers Post Malone and Swae Lee perform during the closing ceremony. Reuters -
Swae Lee performs during the closing ceremony. Reuters -
Performers during the closing ceremony before the Fifa World Cup 2026 final match between Spain and Argentina. AFP -
US YouTube creator IShowSpeed performs during the pre-match closing ceremony. EPA -
Performers during the World Cup closing ceremony before the match. Reuters -
Performers during the closing ceremony. Reuters -
Christopher Macchio performs during the closing ceremony. Reuters
It was the only major hit in the short set and the closest the performance came to creating a shared moment. Even then, the supporters visible around the stage seemed more concerned with reaching their seats than joining in.
The World Cup closing ceremony found more purpose after Jennifer Hudson performed the US national anthem to a full crowd. Robbie Williams, Laura Pausini and Nicole Scherzinger then appeared together for Desire, the Fifa anthem, correcting the impression that they had been absent from the production.
All three wore blue, with Williams in a bedazzled Adidas tracksuit and wide trousers. Men carrying Fifa flags marched towards the stage as the flags of the 48 nations taking part surrounded the singers and were waved in time with the song. The three performers put their arms around one another as fireworks filled the sky, drawing cheers from a stadium that was now full.
Tom Cruise then appeared alone in the centre of the pitch, dressed in a black polo shirt. His speech traced the tournament from its 48 starting nations to finalists Spain and Argentina, whose names he pronounced in Spanish to cheers from the crowd.
“Football is a language spoken without words,” Cruise said. “A force that unites people. A force that turns strangers into friends and reminds us of what we all have in common.”
He closed by asking the crowd to celebrate “a tournament that brought the world together”.
“This is football,” he said. “This is unity. And this is greatness.”
The language was familiar, but Cruise delivered it with conviction and knew when to let the crowd respond. After an opening concert in which the stadium often seemed little more than a backdrop, the final section developed a clearer sense of occasion.
Fifa was still saving its biggest musical line-up including Madonna for the first World Cup final half-time show. The stronger closing stretch did not erase the problems of the earlier concert, particularly the empty seats and clumsy filming, but it stopped the ceremony from ending as badly as it began.
IShowSpeed had supplied that enthusiasm from the start. By the end, the rest of the production had finally caught up with him.
