Jennifer Hudson will sing the U.S. national anthem at FIFA's World Cup closing ceremony before Sunday's final. FIFA announced the lineup Tuesday, putting the ceremony 90 minutes ahead of kickoff and turning the pregame window into a short, scripted stage for music and football rather than a loose warm-up.
Hudson Joins FIFA Lineup
Jennifer Hudson arrives with an EGOT resume: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. That kind of credential is rare in any live event lineup, and it tells you FIFA is using the anthem slot to add weight to a ceremony already built around recognizable names.
Tom Cruise is billed as making a special appearance, while Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger and Robbie Williams are also listed to perform. Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, is on the program as well, giving FIFA a mix of film, pop and internet reach for a ceremony aimed at a global audience.
90 Minutes Before Sunday
The timing is the operational detail that matters most for viewers: the closing ceremony will take place 90 minutes before Sunday's final. That leaves a narrow run-up for anyone arriving late or tuning in only at match time, because the performance window comes before the teams take the field rather than after the result is settled.
Heimo Schirgi said: “Echoing the spirit of the opening ceremonies, which welcomed the world to the greatest stage in Canada, Mexico and the United States, the closing ceremony will bring the FIFA World Cup 2026 full circle through music, culture and football, before we kick off the highly anticipated match that will crown the champions of this groundbreaking tournament,”
World Cup 2026 Full Circle
The line about bringing the event “full circle” matters because the closing ceremony is not exactly new to the World Cup, even if it is being presented here as part of a larger production around World Cup 2026. FIFA is tying the performance block to the tournament’s 48 teams and 16 host cities across three countries, which makes the ceremony feel less like a standalone concert and more like a capstone to the event’s structure.
For anyone planning to watch the lead-in, the practical takeaway is simple: the anthem performance is part of a tightly timed prefinal show, not an add-on after the whistle. Hudson’s slot is the clearest marker in a lineup designed to keep attention on the ceremony before the final starts.
