Placido Domingo and Lang Lang to perform before World Cup final

12 June 2014, 15:59 | Updated: 12 June 2014, 16:09

24 years on from the original performance by The Three Tenors, Placido Domingo is set to return to the World Cup to sing on July 11 ahead of the final game.

Placido Domingo has been announced as part of the World Cup's grand finale, performing at a concert in Rio de Janeiro alongside pianist Lang Lang, soprano Ana Maria Martinez, conductor Eugene Kohn and the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira. The singer plans to perform a selection of classical music and traditional Brazilian songs to bring the month-long football tournament to a close.

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"I always think music and sport are the two great things many people can understand without any need to really speak the language," he said.

Something of a football expert, this will be Domingo's sixth time singing before a World Cup final. Apart from the 1978 final, the star has attended every World Cup final since 1970 - whether he has performed at the match or not.

A run of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at London's Covent Garden prevented Domingo from performing at the 2010 final, but he was still able to visit South Africa to watch his native Spain beat The Netherlands 1-0 in the final. This year he hopes his home country will take the trophy for a second tournament in a row, declaring that "they have as many chances as anybody else."