Ricky Martin is heading back to one of the world’s most iconic sporting venues when the Dallas Cowboys face the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil. The Puerto Rican superstar will headline the halftime show alongside Brazilian DJ Pedro Sampaio.
The performance will be part of the NFL’s first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro and the league’s growing international slate. For the singer, however, the Maracana stage is not an entirely unfamiliar setting.
He has already appeared at major sporting events, including one of the biggest stages in American sports earlier this year. Before he takes the field in Rio, it is worth looking back at his previous sporting-event appearances.
Ricky Martin’s history with major sporting events
Ricky Martin has already performed at some of the biggest sporting events in the world, most notably the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final and the 2026 Super Bowl.
His connection with major sporting events goes back to France 1998, when he performed “La Copa de la Vida”, the official song of the FIFA World Cup, before the tournament final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
Ricky Martin during the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show (Source: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
FIFA itself highlights his performance in its retrospective of World Cup musical moments. The song had become one of the defining anthems of the tournament and helped turn him into a global pop star during the late 1990s.
That World Cup appearance remains one of the most significant sports-related moments of his career. “La Copa de la Vida” was not simply another song in his catalog: it was created for FIFA’s tournament and became closely associated with the 1998 competition. He returned to the song at the 1999 Grammy Awards.
More than two decades later, he added the Super Bowl to that list. In February 2026, he joined Bad Bunny during the halftime show of Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
He appeared during “Lo Que Le Paso a Hawaii”, as Bad Bunny’s Puerto Rican-themed performance featured several high-profile guests. NFL’s official recap confirms his appearance alongside Lady Gaga during the show.
That makes the upcoming Cowboys vs. Ravens halftime show particularly notable. He will return to a sports setting where music and football history intersect, this time in a country with a deep soccer culture and at the Maracana.
For the NFL, the September 27 matchup represents its first game in Rio; for Martin, it adds another major sporting stage to a career that already includes a World Cup final and a Super Bowl halftime appearance.
Key takeaways
- Ricky Martin performed at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final.
- He recorded and performed “La Copa de la Vida”, the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
- He appeared alongside Bad Bunny during the Super Bowl LX halftime show in 2026.
