Besides Trump’s appearance, the other big talking point in the run-up to the finals was the Super Bowl-style halftime show.

While the mid-game break is usually for players to recover from their first-half effort, coaches to give a team talk and fans to buy food and drink, this time it was extended to allow a mini concert to take place.

There were some big names: Madonna, BTS, Coldplay and Shakira, whose song ‘Dai Dai’ is the official anthem of the World Cup, all starred, while Justin Bieber was also present.

After receiving a pep talk from Ted Lasso and his assistant coach Beard, Bieber changed the pace of the energetic performances with an acoustic guitar version of ‘Everything Hallelujah.’

The break lasted 27 minutes, but did it work? The reaction from the fans was a bit mixed, but within the Match of the Day study, the assessment of former England striker Wayne Rooney was quite overwhelming.

“I thought it was bullshit,” he said. “I thought the performances were bad. The times were bad. Let us play football.”

Meanwhile, the closing ceremony before the game was similar in style to many other similar ceremonies with loud music, dancing on the field, but also a somewhat dramatic speech by actor Cruise.