IShowSpeed confirms he'll be performing on stage at 2026 World Cup final
IShowSpeed has had his dreams come true after FIFA asked him to perform at the 2026 World Cup final's closing ceremony, with the popular streamer officially revealing the news to much fanfare.
While gaming and globetrotting travel are definitely Darren "IShowSpeed" Watkins Jr's two specialties, his interest in football has only grown over the last few years — in particular relating to his love for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Speed has made it to some of the world's biggest football games, and has become a mainstay of this year's World Cup in his native United States, crossing paths with a number of iconic players and even New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Much like the 2022 edition of the tournament, Speed kicked off the 2026 World Cup with his own song, titled 'World Cup (Champions)', and that was quickly added to FIFA's official playlist despite starting off as an unofficial project.
IShowSpeed performs as part of the World Cup closing ceremony
As a result of its popularity, Speed has now been asked to join a number of major celebrities on stage at the closing ceremony, kicking off the final between France and one of Argentina or England with a performance of his very own song.
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Speed will be joined by global superstars like Tom Cruise, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, and Laura Pausini as part of the closing ceremony, with Jennifer Hudson set to perform the national anthem before kick off — even though the United States was confidently dispatched by Belgium in the Round of 16.
Heimo Schirgi, the World Cup's Chief Operating Officer, outlined that "the closing ceremony will bring the FIFA World Cup 2026 full circle through music, culture, and football, before we kick off the highly anticipated match that will crown the champions of this groundbreaking tournament."
IShowSpeed reacts to the announcement
Revealing the news to his streaming audience, Speed shared his initial excitement, recalling the shock he felt when FIFA made the call to ask him to perform.
"Oh my days, a kid from Ohio, Portugal, a young kid from Ohio, Portugal is about to perform at the World Cup final," Speed exclaimed on stream, as per Dexerto.
IShowSpeed Reveals He Will Be Performing His FIFA World Cup Song "Champions" at the FIFA World Cup Final! 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/cJ8sUKdQ7R
— Speedy Updates (@SpeedUpdates1) July 14, 2026
"Chat, when I tell you I got this phone call, it's gonna be all in the vlog, they said, 'Hey, they heard your song, they want you to perform at the World Cup final', I was like what? I was like yo, this a prank call, I'm like no way, I kid you not I was going all crazy, I did a backflip."
It's certainly a big opportunity for the streamer, although some have bemoaned his selection alongside the general introduction of a performance before and during the final itself.
"FIFA STOP Americanising the World Cup – all that matter is the game – this rubbish 'entertainment' is a major distraction that should NEVER have happened," declared on user on X in response to FIFA's announcement.
Another chimed in to claim that "FIFA forgot that this is football not a concert," and Speed might have to brace for a similar reaction to that of Nusret "Salt Bae" Gökçe who stepped onto the pitch after Argentina emerged victorious in Qatar.
He's far from the only star performing, however, with Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber all set to take to the stage during a half-time performance that technically breaks footballing laws, but for Speed's fans online his song will be the one to watch out for.
How to watch the World Cup final
Whether you're tuning in for Speed or to see which nation emerges victorious at the final whistle, you'll definitely want to be among the likely billions of people tuning in to the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19.
The match is set to kick off at 3 p.m. EDT at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which works out to 8 p.m. BST for fans in the UK or 12 p.m. PDT for fans on the west coast of the United States.
Both BBC and ITV are showing the game simultaneously in the United Kingdom, whereas TV watchers in America can tune into FOX or FOX One for streaming, with a Spanish language option available through Telemundo.
At the time of writing only Spain has made it through to the tournament's final match-up, as they easily dispatched with 2018 champions and 2022 runners-up France to reach only their second World Cup final — and the last time around they won it.
Competing to meet Spain in the final are Argentina and England – which the FBI deems to be the 'highest risk' matchup – with the latter needing to edge out the 2022 champions and the greatest player of all time if they want to win the tournament for the first time since 1966.