Tom Cruise—and Other Celebrities Who Make More Sense—Had a Blast at the World Cup Final

Even if you were not interested in the actual “soccer” element of the World Cup over the last six weeks, there were a great many reasons to watch: drama, pageantry, hottie players, and a number of celebrities in attendance that seemed to grow in direct proportion to the importance of the game. Last night’s final—between Argentina and Spain, with Spain blessedly emerging victorious (sorry, Lionel Messi)—was especially star-studded, in especially bizarre ways. 

It started with Tom Cruise giving an insane on-field speech before kickoff, saying, “From three countries across them, and from every corner of the globe, we have witnessed greatness, and we have shared in moments of joy, moments of hope, moments we will all never forget. Football is a language spoken without words, a force that unites people, that turns strangers into friends and reminds us of what we all have in common.” Go off, I guess?? (He was apparently promoting his upcoming film Digger, according to Variety, but the synergy between the two isn’t obvious to me.) 

Then Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem, Robbie Williams sang the FIFA anthem, Timothee Chalamet brought out the game ball, and the match began. About an hour later, we were treated to—or held hostage by, depending on your perspective—a very American halftime show, produced by Chris Martin, featuring Madonna (in an ATV with legendary former Brazilian players Ronaldo and Ronaldinho; the connection here, I assume, is going by a mononym), Shakira, Burna Boy, BTS, Coldplay and a children’s choir, and Justin Bieber, who sang a ballad accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, bringing the high-energy performance to a screeching halt mid-way through. Oh, and the Muppets also “played” “instruments.” 

Apparently, there was also a pre-game show featuring Post Malone and an influencer (?) named IShowSpeed (??), who performed his song “Champions” (???), which apparently had gone mega-viral???? I feel so old sometimes.

Then there were the celebrities in the audience: Jay-Z and Beyonce; Rihanna and A$AP Rocky; Pharrell; Kylie Jenner; Richard Gere; Blake Lively and her insane selfie arm; Amelia Dimoldenberg; Florence Pugh; Anna Kendrick; Mick Jagger; Dua Lipa and Callum Turner; Chloe Malle; Karlie Kloss; Ashley Graham; Marcello Hernandez; Matt Damon; and probably dozens more that I haven’t yet stumbled across on Instagram. I’m especially happy for Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (though the latter was not there last night), who were fixtures in the stands during La Rioja matches.

The “crazy random blunt rotations,” as one DeuxMoi commenter put it, were also a factor the night before, with Austin Butler, Woody Harrelson, Odessa A’zion, Chris Rock, and Steve Guttenburg took a halftime smoke break together during a watch party in Soho for the England-France third place game. 

If you, like me and some of these celebs (at least Bardem and David Beckham) arranged your life around the World Cup over the last six weeks, my hat is off to you, and I hope you enjoy your new hours of free time per week. 

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• Speaking of soccer: Cardi B has been spotted with Nigerian national team player Maduka Okoye a bunch recently… [TMZ]
• Matty Healy and Gabbriette got married at Madonna’s former estate. [Just Jared]
• Travis Scott and Knicks star Jordan Clarkson were booted from Zero Bond’s Raising Cane’s party. What a Madlibs sentence. [TMZ]
• Hannah Einbinder: “It’s been made clear to me that there are people in the industry who don’t like me.” [The Cut]