Robbie Williams has released a new version of FIFA anthem desire, pairing Nicole Scherzinger and Laura Pausini on the Official Fifa Anthem before the World Cup Final. The three are set to sing it live together for the first time at the closing ceremony on Sunday, July 19.
Williams, Scherzinger, Pausini
Williams first moved this song into public view last July, when he and Laura Pausini played Desire live before Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Later in 2025, he returned to the track at the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026, this time as a duet with Scherzinger.
That sequence gives the new version a clear function: it is not a standalone release, but the next step in a staged rollout built around FIFA's biggest television moments. The closing ceremony at New York New Jersey Stadium is scheduled shortly before Spain kick off against Argentina, and it will be available to watch in the UK on One.
World Cup Final scale
The ceremony is expected to draw around two billion people worldwide, which puts the performance in the same category as the event's first ever Halftime Show. Williams is listed as FIFA's Music Ambassador, a role he took last summer, and that makes him the central figure linking the anthem to the tournament's presentation plan.
Other names already attached to the closing ceremony include Post Malone, Tom Cruise and Jennifer Hudson. Separately, the Halftime Show is organized by Chris Martin and is expected to feature Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and BTS, while supporting the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is trying to raise $100 million to enhance children's access to education and football worldwide.
Robert Smith backlash
The showpiece has also drawn resistance. Robert Smith criticised the Halftime Show idea on Instagram with the hashtag '#pleasejustfuckoff', a blunt reminder that FIFA is trying to turn the final into a broader entertainment package, not just a match-ending ceremony.
Williams' own calendar now crosses football and fashion as well as music. Last month, it was confirmed that he had become the Foundation Ambassador and official front-of-shirt partner for Port Vale FC under a two-year partnership, with his RW mark set to appear on the front of the club's home and away shirts in both 2026/27 and 2027/28.
The unresolved piece is simple enough: what, if anything, changes in the arrangement itself when Scherzinger and Pausini join Williams on Desire. If FIFA wants this anthem to travel beyond one-off appearances, the live debut on Sunday is the test that matters.
