What Should Justin Bieber Sing During World Cup Halftime Show? There Is Only One Right Answer

Bieber included plenty of throwbacks in his headlining Coachella set. | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella

Late Wednesday afternoon, pop/R&B superstar Justin Bieber was announced as a co-headliner of the FIFA World Cup Final halftime show, where he will join Madonna, BTS, and Shakira in an international star-studded spectacle scheduled for July 19th.

The show will mark Bieber's first live performance since his highly anticipated Coachella set back in April, which also happened to be his first major live performance since his canceled Justice tour back in 2022.

Considering the success of both Coachella weekends—his bare-bones set and minimalist approach drew criticism, yes, but the fans loved it, and the streaming boon was undeniable—it makes sense that Bieber would now want to continue his foray back into the world of live music, and that FIFA would tap him, a Canadian icon, for the job.

But fans looking for a repeat of the desert set shouldn't get their hopes up—the World Cup halftime show is slated to run for just 11 minutes total, and there are two additional superstars, plus a supergroup, with which Bieber must share the stage. Perhaps he'll have enough runway for two, maybe three songs.

Which begs the question ... which of his many hits will he sing?

It's possible that Bieber drops a new single between now and July 19th, in which case I would certainly expect him to perform that. But that remote possibility aside, his choice of setlist should be clear: he should perform "Beauty and a Beat." And he should do it for the good of the people.

From 2012's Believe, "Beauty and a Beat" is one of Bieber's most popular songs, with over two billion streams and counting on Spotify. But I'd venture to say many of those plays arrived after the Ontario native's first weekend at Coachella, when his catalog surpassed 77 million streams in a single day and he reached No. 1 on Spotify's Global Top Artist Chart. "Beauty and a Beat," in particular, also climbed into the No. 3 spot on Spotify's Global Top 200, no doubt a consequence of his performing it during the throwback section of his set.

Bieber sang other old songs during that portion, as well—"Baby" and "That Should Be Me," for instance—but none enjoyed quite the same post-Coachella resurgence as "Beauty and a Beat." And in my opinion, it's clear why.

Society is currently nostalgia-obsessed. Anything that's rebootable is a gold mine, and anything that's low-rise is fashionable again. It's the same with music; if you can repackage an old melody with a new chorus, you've got yourself a TikTok hit and probably a chart-topper, too. We all want something we used to have, and our consumption habits make that clear.

"Beauty and a Beat," with its hyper-techno beat drop and Nicki Minaj verse, plus an outdated reference to Selena Gomez, feels like everything that made the 2010s so great. It feels like summer nights with friends and soccer practice after school. It feels like learning to drive and dimly-lit dances in high school gyms. For three minutes and 47 seconds, it feels like the good ol' days again, and, if the numbers are any indication, the world clearly can't get enough.

The song feels like the good ol' days of Justin Bieber, too. If he is building toward some big comeback, or perhaps preparing publicity to announce a big tour, I can think of no better way for him, specifically, to do so than with a nod to his past. That's sort of what halftime shows are for, anyway.

So, Justin, do us all a favor. Just as you did at Coachella, use your World Cup performance to transport us back in time, one more time. As silly as it sounds, the world will be better for it.

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