Beautiful endgame: The beautiful game as practiced by Pelé, Eusébio, Beckenbauer, Maradonna, and others is now officially a relic. FIFA ended a more innocent era when it recently announced a Super Bowl–like musical extravaganza at halftime of the 2026 World Cup final to be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, kowtowing to the now-global need for incessant stimulation. This new long break will, by its protracted nature, mar the diction and syntax of a wide-open game once played and filmed without commercial interruption. For years, American television sponsors had pressed for NFL-like breaks, but FIFA, still governed by purists, adamantly resisted. If advertisers required means to monetize the game, and what an ugly verb that is, they could use the fringes of television screens to do so. That began changing early this century, when teams, players, and stadiums began bowing to all manner of visible sponsorship. These days, some club players resemble Formula One drivers, ad logos stitched to every seam. More recently came the introduction of three-minute water breaks, allegedly to cool players on hot days but in fact another monetizing strategy since players of all nations had endured heat and rain since the game’s inception. In fairness, this is no longer Pelé’s world, one in which some players casually smoked at the half. Some of today’s players are millionaires many times over. Attention spans are now shorter, smartphones at all times revved up, so a Madonna at the half makes sense — as do outrageously high ticket prices. I once spoke to Italian star Giorgio Chinaglia, who in his waning years defected from Rome club Lazio to play alongside Pele in the short-lived 1970s North American Soccer League. What did he think of it all? “Fine,” he said, “but too much spectacle,” by which he meant cheerleaders and distracting fireworks. “We are here to play for those who love the game,” the beautiful game, part of whose once-naive heart is busily being carved out.