As well as Trump’s appearance, the other big talking point in the lead up to the final was the Super Bowl-style half-time show.
While the mid-game break is usually for players to recover from first-half exertion, coaches to give a team-talk and fans to buy food and drinks, this time it was extended to allow a mini-concert to take place.
There were some big names featured – Madonna, BTS, Coldplay and Shakira, whose song ‘Dai Dai’ is the official anthem of the World Cup – all starred, while there was also an appearance by Justin Bieber.
After getting a pep talk from Ted Lasso and his assistant coach Beard, Bieber changed the pace of the otherwise energetic performances with an acoustic guitar version of ‘Everything Hallelujah’.
The half-time interval lasted 27 minutes, but did it work? The reaction among fans was a bit mixed – but inside the Match of the Day studio, the assessment by former England striker Wayne Rooney was pretty blunt.
“I thought it was crap,” he said. “I thought the performances were bad. The timings were bad. Just let us play football.”
Meanwhile, the closing ceremony before the match was similar in style to many other such ceremonies with loud music, dancing on the pitch though with the addition too of a somewhat dramatic speech by actor Cruise.
