Robbie Williams explains World Cup final TV incident

Robbie Williams addressed an incident during the World Cup final broadcast where he accidentally spat a small white object onto his microphone. Following his performance with Nicole Scherzinger and Laura Pausini at the closing ceremony, the 52-year-old singer made an appearance on the German TV channel Magenta Sport. During a discussion with pundits, the object fell out of his mouth, prompting him to pick it up, hold it, and rub it against his forehead where it stuck.

The incident quickly gained attention, leading Williams to share a video on social media to clarify the situation. In the video, which he filmed while lying in bed, he stated, "I’d just like to apologise for the object that fell onto the microphone yesterday. I was deeply unprofessional, and people worried about me."

Williams then reassured his followers: "But it’s OK. Because I had several more," before sticking his tongue out and revealing two circular mints. He ended the video with a laugh before it cut off.

The Instagram post also included the caption, "Just woke up and feeling…. Mint x."

On the same night, the final match between Argentina and Spain featured the first World Cup half-time show, which lasted for 11 minutes and included performances from stars like Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber. The show took place at the New York New Jersey Stadium and featured appearances from Muppets characters Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. FIFA extended the half-time interval from the usual 15 minutes to over 27 minutes.

Former England forward Wayne Rooney, who was present at the stadium as a BBC pundit alongside Joe Hart and Micah Richards, criticized the show when asked for his highlights by presenter Gabby Logan. He stated, "I’ll be honest, mine was when it finished. I like a lot of those artists but I thought it was crap. It just didn’t get me going and I wanted the football to come back on. I like Burna Boy, I like Bieber, I like Shakira, but that was too flat." Richards responded by calling Rooney "miserable," with Logan noting, "I’ll tell you what else you get on the BBC: honest reviews."