A cavalcade of international stars headlined the World Cup's first-ever halftime final show

As of halftime, the World Cup final Sunday was still anybody's game, with Argentina and Spain tied 0-0.But there's been one winner already – if for nothing but sheer logistics: FIFA managed to pull off its first-ever World Cup final halftime show, featuring a parade of many of the biggest names in music, from Madonna to Coldplay.The organizers summoned big names from six continents, and oh boy, did they show up to represent.

Plus the eternally lovable Muppets including Kermit and Miss Piggy, the viral dance troupe Ghetto Kids from Kampala, Uganda, who danced with Shakira, and children from Staten Island's PS22 Chorus, who closed out the show singing with Martin.The lineup, announced this past week, signaled a feel-good, family-friendly procession of fan favorites, and that's exactly what the performers delivered.There wasn't much of a throughline in the 11-minute spectacle, save for some broadly inspiring strokes: Togetherness! Unity! Love! Madonna opened the show, reminding the audience in her roller rink setup that "music makes the people come together!" She was riding in a dune buggy manned by two of football's past kings from Brazil, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

What was a dune buggy doing in a roller rink? Best not to ask too many probing questions.From there, the show unspooled into a series of celebrity cameos and brief reminders of memes from this year's Cup, from the orchestral musicians mimicking the widely beloved Norwegian row to the Congolese superfan Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, who performs at games as a living statue commemorating his country's slain independence leader Patrice Lumumba.The show also managed to tap into some non-World Cup soccer heartwarmers too: Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) and Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) were on hand to introduce Bieber — with a "Beliebe" sign, no less – and Dudamel and his musicians played the now-eternal stadium anthem, the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," along with the Muppets Animal, Janice and Floyd Pepper.The...