On July 8, j-hope held a live broadcast at 3 p.m. (UK local time), shortly after waking up following two explosive concert nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on July 6 and 7. During the livestream, the rapper delighted fans by sharing his daily skincare routine, chatting casually with viewers, and even singing a birthday song to celebrate the 13th anniversary of ARMY officially becoming BTS's fandom name.
Meanwhile, BTS still have four concerts remaining in Germany and fяαи¢є before officially heading to the United States to perform at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Halftime Show as one of the event's three headlining acts. With the highly anticipated performance drawing closer, it naturally became one of the hottest topics during j-hope's livestream. In particular, one of his cryptic responses quickly sparked widespread speculation that BTS may be preparing to unveil an entirely new song on one of this summer's biggest stages.
Specifically, during the livestream, a fan left a comment asking, "Is BTS releasing any song for FIFA?" j-hope read the question aloud. Instead of answering immediately, however, he reacted in a way that left the entire ARMY fandom on the edge of their seats. He took a small breath, let out a long, playful "Hmmmm...", smiled, and then neither confirmed nor denied anything.
His deliberately ambiguous reaction has only strengthened fans' belief that BTS may have prepared an entirely new song specifically for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Before this, ARMY had repeatedly discussed whether the group would perform one of their existing нιт songs or debut a brand-new track during the Halftime Show on July 19. Following j-hope's response, however, many fans are now convinced that it must be a brand-new song created to suit the World Cup, and that BTS are simply keeping it under wraps until the very last moment.
Netizens quickly flooded social media with excited discussions after j-hope responded to the question: "Let's pretend we don't know", "Maybe remix of Swim with Justin?", "Just say yes or no, Hobi... my heart can't take this", "The only time I'll take silence as a yes", "Bro's expressions revealing everything", "Was that a spoiler Hobi???", "That means yessss. Be ready you all", "WE GOT IT HOBI thank you", "I’m pretty sure they have a new song",...
On the other hand, the World Cup is the world's biggest sporting festival. While national flags and team jerseys have traditionally represented each country's identity, music has taken on part of that role at this tournament. FIFA uses music from participating nations to elevate the atmosphere inside stadiums, while fans complete the experience by singing together at the top of their lungs. Music has become another catalyst that transforms stadiums into true festival-like cauldrons of excitement.
FIFA is currently utilizing more than 750 different music tracks. FIFA's Stadium Entertainment team has collaborated with the football αѕѕociations of participating countries to create in-stadium playlists that play from the pre-match warm-up all the way through the end of each match. Alongside legendary songs such as "Wonderwall" by Oasis, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver, and "One More Time" by electronic music duo Daft Punk, BTS's "FIRE" has also been selected for the official playlist. The song was played before the South кσяєα vs. South Africa match at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Ultimately, all of fans' speculation will be answered in just ten days when BTS officially take the stage at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Halftime Show. Whether they perform one of the group's clαѕѕic нιтs—other than "FIRE"—or seize the opportunity to introduce an entirely new song to millions of viewers around the world, fans are eagerly counting down the days until BTS's highly anticipated appearance.
