Tom Cruise’s World Cup speech splits fans — Roy Keane’s deadpan reaction says everything
After Tom Cruise opened the World Cup final with a pep talk, Roy Keane cut through the fanfare on live TV with a single, withering question.
Tom Cruise kicked off the 2026 FIFA World Cup final in classic Hollywood style at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey. Doing the honours with an emotional pre-match speech, Cruise threw in plenty of big themes – football, unity, greatness, the lot. It was all very rousing. But as you might expect with this sort of thing, not everyone was feeling inspired. In fact, the internet was split down the middle, and a few famous pundits weren’t exactly sold either.
Tom Cruise, a football man now?
If you missed it, here’s the gist. Cruise strolled onto the pitch before kick-off and delivered this grandiloquent flourish:
So as we gather for one final chapter, let us celebrate a tournament that brought the world together. Let us celebrate each other. This is football, this is unity, this is greatness.
It’s the sort of thing you’d expect before an awards show, but with a football twist. Now, there’s always chatter about Americans saying ‘soccer’ instead of ‘football’, but Cruise went for ‘football’. This little detail actually won him points with a lot of fans online, with one posting ‘Bro just called it Football.’ Another joined in ‘Well at least he doesn’t say soccer.’ There was a third who, rather dramatically, went with ‘He called it Football, I’m satisfied with my love for him even more.’
Still, plenty weren’t buying any of it:
- ‘This is ridiculous!!! Please never let the USA host again!!! Such clownery.’
- ‘Tom Cruise giving the worst, most American speech ever to a crowd full of South Americans and Spanish-speaking fans sums "USA" up.’
- And inevitably, more than a few wondered what Cruise was doing talking before the biggest football match on the planet in the first place.
Roy Keane delivers the summary everyone needed
But the best reaction might have come from Roy Keane, who was on ITV duty for the night. As Tom Cruise appeared on screen, Keane offered up possibly the quote of the night:
He isn’t going to sing, is he?
You could almost hear every British football fan at home muttering the same thing. Keane’s deadpan take ricocheted around social media in seconds, with plenty of people agreeing with the sentiment.
The starry opening ceremony (and why everyone was waiting)
Cruise wasn’t the only name on the bill, by the way. The opening ceremony also packed in Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, Post Malone, Jennifer Hudson, and YouTuber IShowSpeed before a ball had even been kicked. The whole circus pushed back kick-off by several minutes while workers scrambled to get the stage off the pitch. For anyone not keen on extended showbiz with their football, it all felt a bit much.
The first-ever World Cup halftime show (not universally adored)
Once the game finally got underway, FIFA had another surprise lined up: the first World Cup halftime show. It ran for a hefty 27 minutes, led by Madonna, Shakira, and BTS, with turns from Justin Bieber, Burna Boy, and Coldplay. Millions tuned in, as you’d expect from that line-up, but football fans and pundits were less than thrilled, eyeing the long break as something of a disruption to the actual match.
Spain end up with the trophy
After all the pre-match razzmatazz, it was Spain who finally got to take centre stage, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time. FC Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute, snatching the winner after Enzo Fernández got sent off to leave Argentina with 10 men. Spain add a second trophy to their cabinet, and a World Cup final that was talked about as much for its celebrity quotient as its football gets inked into the history books.