Shakira returns to the World Cup stage.
Shakira and Burna Boy officially kicked off the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a fiery live performance of Dai Dai.
The global duo closed the opening ceremony at Mexico City’s historic Estadio Azteca before co-host Mexico faced South Africa in the first match of the tournament.
Shakira appeared first, serving fresh strawberry-blonde hair, sharp choreography and full World Cup command in a bright yellow mesh ensemble with matching gloves.
Then Burna Boy entered halfway through the track in denim, bringing his unmistakable Afrobeats swagger into the Latin-and-African celebration.
At this point, a World Cup beginning without Shakira would simply feel incorrectly scheduled.
Follow the tournament and revisit the global music that has defined generations of World Cup summers.
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Dai Dai blends Shakira’s global Latin-pop energy with Burna Boy’s Afrobeats rhythm, creating a song designed to travel easily between countries, languages, stadiums and living-room watch parties.
The pair performed across an enormous turquoise-and-yellow field covering that declared, “We Are Ready.”
The statement could not have been more direct. After months of anticipation, the expanded 48-team tournament was finally underway across Mexico, Canada and the United States.
Green, white and red fireworks then filled the stadium to match the colors of the Mexican flag, carrying the ceremony directly into the opening match.
Shakira and Burna Boy take over the World Cup stage.
The global stars perform across the enormous Mexico City field as dancers, flags, choreography and stadium fireworks officially welcome the world to the tournament.
Dai Dai closes the Mexico City ceremony.
Shakira and Burna Boy followed a celebration filled with Mexican and international music from performers including Maná, Danny Ocean, Los Ángeles Azules, Belinda, J Balvin and Ryan Castro.
The appearance continues Shakira’s extraordinary relationship with football’s largest tournament.
She performed during the 2006 World Cup era, delivered the permanently embedded Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) in 2010 and returned with La La La for Brazil in 2014.
Now, 20 years after her first World Cup appearance, Shakira once again arrives to help introduce the tournament to another generation.
Burna Boy provides the ideal global counterpart, bringing the Nigerian rhythms and genre-blending presence that have helped carry Afrobeats into arenas around the world.
Fresh hair, giant flags, stadium fireworks and two international superstars. The World Cup has officially entered the building.
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Watch Shakira and Burna Boy perform Dai Dai. (watch via link in embed)
Shakira and Burna Boy close the Mexico City opening ceremony with the official FIFA World Cup 2026 song before Mexico and South Africa begin the tournament.
If the embedded player is unavailable, open the official performance through FIFA.
Sources: The official FIFA performance page provided the featured video and ceremony details; Reuters provided additional opening-ceremony context; and WIPO Magazine provided official-song background.
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