Shakira to perform World Cup song at Mexico opening ceremony

FIFA is putting Shakira at the center of its World Cup launch in Mexico City, where the Colombian star will perform the official tournament song, Dai Dai, at the opening ceremony at Estadio Azteca. The show is set for Thursday, June 11, 2026, beginning at 11:30 a.m. local time, 90 minutes before kickoff in the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa.

Shakira will be joined by Burna Boy, while the broader lineup also includes Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvin, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná and Tyla. FIFA said gates at Mexico City Stadium will open four hours before kickoff and urged fans to arrive early because stadium spectators will have an active role in the ceremony.

The song itself carries the kind of simple, globally legible branding FIFA wants for the tournament. Dai Dai is an Italian phrase meaning “let’s go” or “come on,” and FIFA has tied it to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which it says aims to raise USD 100 million by the end of the tournament. FIFA said more than USD 30 million had already been raised for the fund as of May 14, 2026, and that USD 1 from every World Cup match ticket sold will go to support the fund’s social projects.

The Mexico City ceremony is part of a wider strategy that extends well beyond one opening act. FIFA is staging three opening ceremonies across Canada, Mexico and the United States, with additional talent for the other two still to be announced. In Mexico, the mix of artists from Colombia, Nigeria, Mexico and South Africa sends a clear message about the tournament’s cultural positioning: this is being sold not only as a sporting event, but as a cross-border entertainment product built for a global audience.

Shakira’s role does not stop in Mexico City. FIFA has also placed her among the headliners of the first-ever World Cup final halftime show, scheduled for Sunday, July 19, 2026, at New York New Jersey Stadium. Madonna, Shakira and BTS will co-headline that show, which FIFA said is being curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay and produced by Global Citizen with Live Nation and Done + Dusted. With one artist carrying both the opener and the final halftime show, FIFA is making Shakira one of the tournament’s most visible cultural anchors from the first ceremony to the last spectacle.