On the Aug. 5 episode of the ‘A Lot More’ podcast, hosted by Jonathan Buckley, the Ted Lasso star breaks down his cameo at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final halftime show
NEED TO KNOW
- Jason Sudeikis appeared as Ted Lasso at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final halftime show, introducing Justin Bieber’s performance of “Everything Hallelujah”
- In an exclusive clip of the Aug. 5 episode of the A Lot More podcast, Sudeikis revealed that he gave Bieber acting advice during rehearsals
- Sudeikis also confirmed that he is “100%” a Belieber
Jason Sudeikis channeled his inner Ted Lasso and coached Justin Bieber ahead of his performance at the World Cup.
In an exclusive clip of the Aug. 5 episode of the A Lot More podcast, hosted by Jonathan Buckley, Sudeikis, 50, spoke about his cameo at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final halftime show, in which he appeared alongside Bieber as Ted Lasso before the singer performed his song “Everything Hallelujah.”
When Buckley asked Sudeikis if he is a Believer, the Ted Lasso actor responded, “100%.”
“Yeah, man, I love that kid. I got to meet him, ages ago, when he hosted and was a musical guest at SNL,” Sudeikis said. “We did some sketches. I bump into him every couple times a year, one thing or another.”
“I think the world of him,” he added.
Credit: Sebastian Widmann – FIFA/FIFA via Getty
Introducing Bieber on the world’s biggest stage at the 2026 World Cup halftime show, Sudeikis says, was exciting despite the “70, 80,000 people watching” from the stands.
Sudeikis said his favorite part about his World Cup cameo — also with Brendan Hunt as Ted Lasso’s Coach Beard — was reuniting with Bieber and giving him a piece of acting advice during rehearsals.
“When we did the first run through, [I] just gave him one little acting note,” the Emmy winner said. “And I was just like, ‘Just come in. Don’t even look at me. Just come in like the way the men and women do when they’re coming in. And they’re just focused and just stay. Get eye of the tiger, you got work to do.’”
“I mean, the kid took the note just like that,” he continued. “Very coachable young man.”
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Before Bieber began his performance, the Ted Lasso stars stood back to back as Hunt held up a scoreboard that read “Beliebe” with “JB” written underneath. On the podcast, Sudeikis revealed that the sign was Hunt’s idea.
“[Hunt] texted [the idea] to me, he goes, ‘What if we do the believe sign that says Believe?’” he explained. “It made me laugh. It’s such a pure idea that it made me emotional when I received that. I was like, ‘Dude, that is killer.’”
“My only regret is that I didn’t snake that sign and get Justin to sign it and hang it up in the house,” Sudeikis joked.
Credit: MAURICE VAN STEEN / ANP (Photo by ANP via Getty
Since its premiere in August 2020, Ted Lasso has won 11 Emmys and two Golden Globes. The Apple TV series — also starring Brett Goldstein, Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple — is set to return with its fourth season on Aug. 5.
The upcoming season will see Ted return to Richmond, “taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team,” according to an official synopsis. “Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.”
Season 4 of Ted Lasso will premiere globally on Wednesday, Aug. 5. New episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays through Oct. 7.
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