Post Malone, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams and Tom Cruise were among the top stars of the American show at the World Cup closing ceremony, which kicked off Sunday at MetLife Stadium ahead of the grand final between Spain and Argentina.

This first act, which began at 13:30 local time (19:30 France time), is supposed to celebrate 'the extraordinary journey that the tournament experienced across the three host countries and the 16 host cities'.

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The field was covered with a flag depicting key landmarks of New York City, such as the Statue of Liberty. Robbie Williams, Laura Pausini and Nicole Scherzinger, performers of the official anthem 'Desire', were present alongside rapper Post Malone. Also invited was American content creator IShowSpeed, whose channels have 160 million subscribers, while Oscar-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson will perform the US national anthem. It is not yet known what Tom Cruise, known for performing the most insane dangerous stunts, will present to the crowd at MetLife Stadium near New York. The Hollywood star two years ago performed a rope descent at Stade de France during the flag handover ceremony between the Paris 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The ceremony is taking place in front of stands that are still nearly empty due to extremely tight security at the stadium entrances, where US President Donald Trump is expected to arrive.