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Rb Hip Hop

Here’s Why FIFA President Thinks Drake Performing at 2026 World Cup Is a ‘Good Idea’

Gianni Infantino even commented on Drizzy's feud with Kendrick Lamar.

Drake performs at History on November 7, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario.

Drake performs at History on November 7, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario.

Robert Okine/Getty Images

Drake, a Toronto native, represented for Canada when the 2026 World Cup host cities were announced last year, and he could be making an appearance at the 2026 games as a performer.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino pulled up to FOX 5’s Good Day New York on Thursday (March 6), and co-host Rosanna Scotto pressed Infantino about the possibility of Drake performing at the World Cup next year.


“I have a great idea for you for the halftime — Drake,” she said. “Because you were at the Super Bowl — Kendrick Lamar dissed him at the Super Bowl.”

“So we can create a bit of a rivalry,” Infantino quipped about Drake’s feud with Lamar. “That’s a good idea. Actually, Drake was with us when we announced the host cities. I should have his number saved somewhere.”

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Infantino called the World Cup halftime show — which is produced by Coldplay’s Chris Martin — the “best halftime show ever.”

“We’re thinking big,” he told FOX 5. “We’ll have 2 billion viewers from every corner of the world. It’s like 20 times the Super Bowl. So, we are very excited about that. You have to watch it – that’s the surprise. … It will be global, different languages, different countries.”

Toronto will be playing host to the first tournament game of the World Cup on June 12, 2026. Vancouver, B.C, will also host a match north of the border.

“Canada as a whole, we have an incredible melting pot. But in Toronto, there are just so many different cultural experiences,” Drake told Infantino in February 2024. “So when the world comes, it’s going to be beautiful.”

Eleven U.S. cities will also host, including Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco (Bay Area) and the greater New York City area.

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Watch FOX 5’s full interview with FIFA’s Gianni Infantino below.

This article first appeared on Billboard U.S.

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Don Pyle
Andrew Blair

Don Pyle

FYI

Music News Digest: Don Pyle's New Memoir, Changes To Canadian Folk Music Awards

Also this week: The Dream Serenade returns, Dwayne Gretzky and the James Barker Band play the Canadian Open and more.

Veteran Toronto musician, author and photographer Don Pyle (Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet, PhonoComb) has just published a new memoir, Rough Description: Love Letters and Ghost Stories From a Life in Music. The book covers his hilarious tour stories, his experiences growing up in punk, his experiences attending hair school, working with the Kids in the Hall and more from his influential life in music and culture.

He launches the book via a reading tour that starts at Standard Time in Toronto on May 28 (with Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley & Ira Kaplan spinning records) with stops in Guelph, Hamilton, Picton, Kitchener and London. The latter event also features Faith No More's Roddy Bottum reading from his memoir The Royal We. More info here.

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