The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has just announced that "World Cup music queen" Shakira and artist Burna Boy will take on the main performance role at the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The two artists will perform live the song "Dai Dai" - the official song of this year's tournament for the first time.
The event will take place on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca stadium (Mexico), expected to start 90 minutes before the opening match. Besides the two main artists, the art program also has the participation of many international names such as Alejandro Fernández, Maná, J Balvin, Belinda, Danny Ocean...
In a press release jointly released with strategic partner Sony Music, FIFA emphasized the strategic vision of the theme music work. The organizers affirmed that the song "Dai Dai" was built with the goal of becoming a cultural bridge, spreading the message of solidarity and connecting billions of fans from many different civilizations through a common love for football.
Notably, the song "Dai Dai" is also associated with social responsibility when it was chosen as the official theme song for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. This is a humanitarian initiative of international scale implemented in parallel with the progress of the tournament.
The core goal of the campaign is to mobilize and raise 100 million USD before the final match ends.
All funding raised from this campaign will be directly transferred by FIFA and partner organizations to educational sponsorship programs, providing learning materials and building school sports infrastructure for children in particularly difficult circumstances in developing countries around the world.
This is the 4th time in Shakira's career to contribute music to World Cups. Previously, the Colombian singer performed the "Hips Don't Lie – Bamboo" version in Germany in 2006, performed the official song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" in South Africa in 2010 and performed the song "La La La" at the closing ceremony of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Besides the opening ceremony, FIFA also confirmed that Shakira and two global superstars, BTS and Madonna, will co-assume the role of performing artists at the mid-time music festival (Halftime Show) in the Final match taking place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium (New Jersey, USA).
The 2026 World Cup marks a historic turning point when it is co-hosted for the first time by 3 countries: Mexico, Canada and the United States. The opening ceremony in Mexico City will mark the beginning of a series of 3 consecutive welcoming events in the 3 host countries. The organizers said that the next art programs in Canada and the United States are in the process of completion and the list of participating artists will be announced in the near future.
