On July 19, as the entire world’s eyes turn to the 80,000-seater MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, U.S. where Spain and Argentina will trade tackles, one of the most anticipated moments will be the halftime show, the very first of its kind since the World Cup was conceived 96 years ago.
On top of the 80,000 people who will fill the MetLife Stadium, some other 50,000 fans will gather on Central Park’s iconic Great Lawn for the Final watch party, featuring giant screens and live entertainment.
The lineup of the performers includes musical greats like Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and Burna Boy. Other performers will include Gustavo Dudamel, the PS22 Chorus featuring Coldplay and popular Ugandan dance group, Ghetto Kids.
Together, the performers will turn the first-ever FIFA World Cup Halftime Show into a cultural crossover moment built for football fans, pop fans, and global audiences watching around the world. Curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and produced by Global Citizen, the show will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a landmark initiative working to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and football for children acros more than 200 countries worldwide.
In a video posted on his Instagram on Saturday, Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen said: “The vision of the halftime show started four years ago when Chris Martin of Coldplay called me after the last World Cup. And he said ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could have a halftime show at the next World Cup?”
“And then Chris called Shakira, then he called Madonna, then he called BTS, he called Justin Bieber, then he called thePS22 Choir, and then Gustavo Dudamel and the New York philharmonic, then Shakira called the Ghetto Kids,” Evans added.
Sunday is no small moment for Uganda. The FIFA World Cup final is the most-watched sporting event in the world. An estimated 1.5 billion people watched 2022’s showpiece match in Qatar, according to ESPN, and the 2026 final between Spain and Argentina is likely to eclipse that figure.
The 11-minute extravaganza will cast a spotlight on a group of children from underprivileged families in Uganda who through their creative prowess have become consequential enough in the global pop culture to share the stage with names like Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber and Burna Boy.
“It was about bringing together the biggest stars on the planet to create something that felt collaborative, that really represented the world and like all corners of the world was coming together,” Guy Carrington, Executive Producer, FIFA World Cip 2026 Final Halftime Show told ABC’s breakfast show Good Morning America.
Dauda Kavuma, founder of the Ghetto Kids told AFP last month that this World Cup journey started when the group did a challenge for Shakira’s Zootopia. “Then we got contacted by Shakira’s team. We got to know them,” he said.
The group had captioned their Instagram and TikTok posts dancing to Zootopia with “Hey @Shakira. Here’s a beautiful video for you”
When Shakira released the official World Cup song Dai Dai in May, the Ghetto Kids did not leave anything to chance. Like they have always done with viral pop anthems, the youngsters positioned themselves by showcasing individual dance strokes. Filmed in a remote football pitch with unkempt grass, a little girl held a dirty ball, while her peers raised printouts of flags for 2026 host countries U.S., Canada and Mexico. Others held tree branches.
“And Shakira reacted on her story that; ‘Guys, would you want to dance with me at the FIFA World Cup Halftime show?’ Of course, we said ‘Yes’,” Kavuma told AFP.
But their ‘Yes’ was not just a text reply. They still delivered it in nothing short of showmanship – a dramatized skit where their manager delivers a folded scroll containing a printout of Shakira’s post where the singer asked if the group was willing to perform alongside her.
The group would later feature in the official music video of the 2026 World Cup Song which has so far generated 463 million views on YouTube. Kavuma says it “is a very huge opportunity” that will give hope to the children who had no hope.
FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund will inspire new commitments from philanthropies, businesses, and individuals, and comes following the announcement of the impactful and engaging four-year partnership between FIFA and Global Citizen made at last September’s Global Citizen Festival in New York. As part of this effort, $1 from every ticket sold to World Cup matches in the United States this summer will be donated to the Fund.
Finances from the Fund will be granted into grassroots programmes in over 200 countries. Half of the funds will also be allocated to the FIFA Football for Schools (F4S) programme, a FIFA and UNESCO led initiative that advances life skills, learning, and community development through football around the world.
Speaking on stage at Global Citizen NOW in 2025, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, said: “Today, we are announcing the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a new initiative to raise money from philanthropies, businesses and the public to support global learning. I’m pleased to announce that one dollar from every ticket sold to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will go to the Fund. Football unites the world, and over the coming years we will harness that unity to improve education for millions of children globally.”
At the same event Global Citizen’s Hugh Evans said the Fund represents a bold step towards a world where every child, no matter where they’re born, has access to education and opportunity.
For Ghetto Kids, it has been 13 years of bringing smiles to millions of global citizens many of whom they have never met in person. While their journey has been characterized by peak moments – performing on the PSG home turf, Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent, World Cup 2022 in Qatar, 2023 CAF Awards in Morrocco – their story is only a glimpse into the work that remains unfinished in Uganda, Africa and other countries in the Global South where quality education is still a privilege for a few. This is why involving them in World Cup finale Halftime show carries more significance than just entertainment.
According to the Ghetto Kids founder, there are currently 60 children under his custody but he estimates at least 500 children have at some point gone through his charity’s hands.
During the 2023 Britain’s Got Talent (BGT), Ghetto Kids were the first acts to get a Golden Buzzer. Judges used words like “magical”, “incredible”, “absolute superstars”, “unbelievable” to describe their performance.
Their latest achievement – booking a slot in the World Cup finale halftime show – was much needed, at a time when Uganda’s image has recently been portrayed negatively internationally following the Ebola outbreak in DRC as well as government’s clampdown on human rights and press freedom.
Bushingtone, a renowned producer, music director and events manager told PLUGGED in 2023 that moments like Ghetto Kids getting international platforms are good mileage for Uganda as a country and the arts industry.
“The more we get such exports, the more we attract attention from the rest of the world. People Google about Ghetto Kids, they see Uganda, they see other performers like Masaka Kids. All these kids have performed to several Ugandan songs. So, before you know it, someone has fallen in love with the Ugandan sound,” he told PLUGGED days after the group put up a titillating show at BGT making international headlines.
Ghetto Kids who first came to the spotlight in Eddie Kenzo’s 2014 music video, Sitya Loss, have collaborated with big international artistes like French Montanna and American rapper 6ix9ine. Their work has also earned them admiration from P. Diddy and Nicki Minaj, and have met football players like Sergio Aguero, Kylian Mbappé and Rio Fedinand.
“Being kids from the ghetto is a powerful story. It’s a Hollywood movie. Underprivileged children who are using natural gifts – talent – to express themselves”.
According to Bushingtone, such opportunities serve as a conduit through which other creatives can connect with executives, investors and other key players in the global creative ecosystem.
Uganda’s entertainment sector, particularly music, continues to grapple with the puzzle of how to successfully penetrate the international market. The remarkable success that Nigerian artistes have registered in the U.S. and UK has reopened a debate on what needs to be done for Ugandan musicians to expand their audience beyond the borders.
“This (Ghetto Kids) shows that our culture and creative nature can compete at the global level and excite the world. We need to come out and showcase at the highest level. We need to seek opportunities and when we get them, we need to perform and show what we are about,” Bushingtone says, citing other precedents like Eddy Kenzo, Radio and Weasel and others.
It also speaks to the spirit of being hungry for success and not being complacent, he adds.
“You would have expected the Ghetto Kids to be complacent because they have done it all. Yet they keep on pushing. Their manager (Kavuma) understood what the global audience is like and is always capitalizing on every opportunity to expand their visibility.”
In 2018, singer Eddy Kenzo used the event where he donated three accolades (including his 2015 BET Award) to the Uganda museum, to express his dissatisfaction with the government for continuously sidelining musicians despite the glory they have earned Uganda on the international scene.
“They [government] don’t even know what we are doing or what a Nickelodeon Award means. The only medal they know is a gold medal by athletes like Kiprotich. But these music awards are big,” the singer said. He had just won two major awards; International Reggae and World Music Award and Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award in a space of one week, beating stiff competition from bigger international artists.
He said that dynamics had changed and that music had become a major export for many countries unlike in the past when Uganda was mainly known for coffee and cotton.
Bushingtone agrees as much. He argues that the creative arts are the biggest promoter of Uganda’s tourism. Adding that for a country like Uganda whose toxic politics often dominate the Ugandan story in international media, there needs to be a strategy to neutralize this and that culture is a low hanging fruit.
“America does have a lot of nature. But they make all these shows like Amazing Race, they shoot movies at strategic tourism sites, about their history. When Ghetto Kids shine on an international stage, it’s a free advert. If I were the government, I would put aside the funding needed to create 20 more Ghetto Kids, 20 more Kenzos to make sure that our name is out there,” Bushingtone says.
