Muppets Take Center Field

All Access Staging & Productions built a special stage for Muppets at the FIFA World Cup Final on July 19, 2026 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin to benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, the star-studded show featured Miss Piggy, Kermit, and Count Dracula from Sesame Street, as well Madonna, Shakira, BTS, and Justin Bieber at the final 2026 World Cup game in which Spain beat Argentina.

Built to meet the unique demands of on-field production, the Muppet stage featured: 

• 2’ expandable section that widened on the field while remaining narrow enough for stadium tunnels 
• Custom puppeteer well deck, cooling fans, and onboard video monitors 

• The largest turf tires All Access ever deployed – 14” × 29. 

  

  Muppet Stage Cart

The project was completed on a four-week schedule from final design through shipment, requiring close collaboration across All Access's CAD, fabrication, project management, purchasing, and New Jersey operations teams. 

Overall stage detail

Live Design chats with Joey Brennan (Technical Design & Sales) at All Access:

Live Design: How did All Access get hired for the FIFA final halftime show? 

Joey Brennan: We were invited to bid based on our decade-plus experience providing our field-safe Versa Field® Systems for Super Bowl Halftime Shows, as well as our successful work for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. 

LD: What was the design brief for the Muppets stage?

JB: The design direction for the Muppet stage came through the creative and production design team for the show of Bruce Rodgers, Shelley Rodgers, Misty Buckley and Gloria Lamb. From there All Access worked to incorporate their design and functionality needs into the engineering and technical design of how the cart would get on and off the field and function during the show. We took into account the design directives for the comfort and position of the puppeteers in addition to the needed camera angles. Additionally, the goal of integrating the cart scenically into the ground cloth and overall look of the show. And lastly, we needed to make sure that it fit within the stadium tunnel system, up and down various ramps, and that we were able to deploy and strike within the time allotted.  

LD: Can you explain a little more about why the tires on the cart are so large? 

JB: To evenly and widely distribute the live load once the Muppets cast members and support team were inside the cart.  

LD: How does the expandable section actually expand? 

JB: There are heavy-duty slides and a guide track system that allows the section to pull out from the main cart body. It expanded one of the performer areas by about two feet. 

LD: How does this show differ from a Super Bowl Halftime Show? 

JB: In execution, very little. The same constraints existed to protect the field, and to work with cast, crew, and field team members to move the carts and scenery on and off the field. The show itself was different, I think, in its presentation, platform, and audience. There was a global feel and specific goal to celebrate the World Cup and raise money for children's education initiatives around the world.  

LD: Can you explain more about the custom puppeteer area? 

JB: The puppeteer area was a lowered portion of the Muppet cart that allowed the performers the right positioning to control the puppets. This drop deck, or well deck, sat low to the ground between the wheels to prevent the overall cart from being prohibitively tall. We had masking to hide various structures, and we color coordinated the interior of the cart to match the puppeteer outfits, to further camouflage them from the camera and audience. We also integrated a battery system for several fans to help keep the performers cool during rehearsals and the event. Lastly, we mounted and ran power to a provided monitor system, which allowed everyone to see what they needed during the performance.  

LD: What was the biggest challenge for this project? 

JB: There was not one big challenge to overcome on this one. The entire production worked well together to accommodate the various design needs, logistic challenges, and changes as they came through. As always, it was a team effort to get everything on site, rehearsed, and set up for the big day, and we could not have done it without our partners at DPS, Theatrical Resources, Tribe Inc., Done + Dusted, and Global Citizen.