Thursday 16 July 2026 17:07
Italian singer Laura Pausini to perform at closing ceremony for World Cup final
Grammy-winning Italian singer joins Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger in performance of FIFA anthem.Italian singer Laura Pausini will take to the stage at the FIFA World Cup 2026 closing ceremony this Sunday, bringing a piece of Italy to one of the biggest events in world sport.
The ceremony will be held at MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey ahead of the tournament final between Argentina and Spain with Pausini among a star-studded line-up that includes Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger and a special appearance by Tom Cruise.
Jennifer Hudson will perform the American national anthem before kick-off.
Desire
Pausini will reunite with Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger to perform Desire, the official FIFA World Cup anthem written by Williams, which Pausini adapted into Spanish.
The trio previously performed the song together at the Final Draw for the tournament in Washington DC last year, and the singer said she was proud to carry an Italian voice into the celebration, expressing enthusiasm to share the moment with football fans worldwide.
The ceremony begins at 13.30 local time, 90 minutes before kick-off, and will also serve as a send-off for the 48 competing nations following weeks of matches across Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The closing ceremony will be followed by the first ever half-time show at a men's World Cup final, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and featuring Madonna, Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber.
World stage
Pausini's appearance continues a run of high-profile international engagements for the singer, who recently wrapped the Latin American leg of her World Tour 2026/2027 - her 11th world tour - in New York, having already sold some 450,000 tickets worldwide.
The tour resumes in the autumn across Italy and Europe. She previously performed at the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, cementing her status as one of Italy's most recognisable cultural exports on the global stage.
Photo credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com
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Italian singer Laura Pausini will take to the stage at the FIFA World Cup 2026 closing ceremony this Sunday, bringing a piece of Italy to one of the biggest events in world sport.
The ceremony will be held at MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey ahead of the tournament final between Argentina and Spain with Pausini among a star-studded line-up that includes Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger and a special appearance by Tom Cruise.
Jennifer Hudson will perform the American national anthem before kick-off.
Pausini will reunite with Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger to perform Desire, the official FIFA World Cup anthem written by Williams, which Pausini adapted into Spanish.
The trio previously performed the song together at the Final Draw for the tournament in Washington DC last year, and the singer said she was proud to carry an Italian voice into the celebration, expressing enthusiasm to share the moment with football fans worldwide.
The ceremony begins at 13.30 local time, 90 minutes before kick-off, and will also serve as a send-off for the 48 competing nations following weeks of matches across Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The closing ceremony will be followed by the first ever half-time show at a men's World Cup final, curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and featuring Madonna, Shakira, BTS and Justin Bieber.
Pausini's appearance continues a run of high-profile international engagements for the singer, who recently wrapped the Latin American leg of her World Tour 2026/2027 - her 11th world tour - in New York, having already sold some 450,000 tickets worldwide.
The tour resumes in the autumn across Italy and Europe. She previously performed
at the opening ceremony
of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, cementing her status as one of Italy's most recognisable cultural exports on the global stage.
