IShowSpeed Performs at the 2026 World Cup Final, Becoming the First Content Creator to Take the Ceremony Stage
The streamer sang his single “World Cup (Champions)” ahead of the Spain-Argentina final, joining a lineup that included Post Malone, Madonna and Jennifer Hudson.
NEED TO KNOW
- IShowSpeed performed his song “World Cup (Champions)” during the closing ceremony before the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.
- The July 19 performance at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, made him the first pure content creator to appear at a World Cup final ceremony, according to FIFA.
- The moment drew mixed reactions online, with some fans calling it a career milestone and others questioning why a streamer was booked for the event.
Yes, IShowSpeed really did perform at the World Cup final and it’s already one of the most talked-about moments of the tournament’s closing ceremony.
The 21-year-old streamer, born Darren Watkins Jr., took the field at MetLife Stadium (officially billed as New York/New Jersey Stadium) on July 19, 2026, ahead of the championship match between Spain and Argentina. Dressed in an all-white suit, he performed his football anthem “World Cup (Champions)” in front of a crowd of more than 82,000 fans, backed by dancers in matching tracksuits.
FIFA confirmed the appearance made him the first-ever pure content creator to perform at a World Cup final closing ceremony, sharing a bill that also featured Post Malone, Tom Cruise, Robbie Williams, Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger and Jennifer Hudson, who sang the U.S. national anthem. Madonna, Justin Bieber and BTS later took the stage for the tournament’s first-ever halftime show, a 27-minute, Chris Martin–curated production benefiting FIFA’s Global Citizen Education Fund.
Speed’s song wasn’t a surprise release. He first teased a follow-up to his 2022 track “World Cup” which charted internationally ahead of that year’s tournament in Qatar with behind-the-scenes clips from a Miami shoot earlier this year. “World Cup (Champions)” officially dropped June 1 and quickly became one of the tournament’s unofficial anthems, following the same playbook that turned Shakira and Burna Boy’s “Dai Dai” into a signature song of this year’s opening ceremony in Mexico City.
Not everyone was thrilled to see him there, though. Several fans online questioned why FIFA chose a streamer over a more established musical act for such a high-profile slot, with some calling the segment underwhelming for the scale of the event. Others noted Speed appeared to lip-sync the performance. Still, plenty of supporters pushed back, pointing to his massive built-in audience and years of viral World Cup content as reason enough for the booking.
That audience showed up in a big way. Speed streamed live from the stadium for nearly six hours on Sunday, stepping away only briefly for his ceremony performance before returning to his broadcast for the match itself. By the time the stream wrapped, it was closing in on 60 million cumulative views and had surpassed a million likes on YouTube though that figure reflects total views over time rather than simultaneous viewers.
The booking caps off a wild tournament for Speed, who has spent weeks streaming matches, trading jabs with rival fans and reacting in real time to results including one heated moment during the semifinal when he shouted at fans in the stands after objects were thrown in his direction. Long known online for his loud support of Cristiano Ronaldo and needling of Lionel Messi, Speed’s presence at the final added another layer of drama to a night already billed by some broadcasters as a potential candidate for the greatest World Cup final ever played.
Whether or not FIFA books him again in four years, Sunday’s performance cemented something undeniable: the line between internet culture and mainstream sports spectacle keeps getting thinner, one viral streamer at a time.
