Shakira kicks off World Cup 2026 opening ceremony with dazzling efficiency
Shakira headlined the FIFA World Cup 2026 opening ceremony in Mexico City alongside Burna Boy – it was the third time the Colombian superstar has fronted the huge FIFA tournament
Colombian recording artist Shakira (C) peforms during the pre-game show before the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 (Image: SASHENKA GUTIERREZ/EPA/Shutterstock)
Shakira has taken to the stage in Mexico alongside Burna Boy and a plethora of other artists at the World Cup 2026 opening ceremony in Mexico City. The Colombian was once again been entrusted with crafting the official song of the World Cup and unveiled Dai Dai, 16 years after her 2010 smash hit Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) which was the anthem for the World Cup in South Africa.
The performance kicked off the event at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium. Fireworks exploded as the artists danced and sang to an excited crowd ahead of tonight’s clash. Fans joined in enthusiastically with the entertainment unfolding before them in a riot of colour, whetting the appetite before the co-hosts’ opening game.
Hollywood star Salma Hayek Pinault delivered a call for global unity, at a finals whose build-up has highlighted just how divided and full of inequality the world can be.
Mexico’s passion for football cannot be called into question, nor its right to co-host these finals. Mexico’s relationship with the World Cup goes right back to the very beginning, when they took on France in Montevideo in one of two matches which opened the 1930 finals.
They have hosted memorably on two previous occasions – first in 1970 when a Brazil team widely regarded as the greatest ever swept to glory, and again in 1986 in a tournament lit up by the talent of Diego Maradona.
The hope is that this tournament too, will be remembered for its football. The United States’ right to co-host, at a time when the Trump administration’s policies are causing grave concern to human rights groups, has been the subject of far greater debate.
The tournament is also the first where a host is at war with a participant. Despite all the uncertainty after American and Israeli military strikes launched in February, Iran will kick off their campaign on Monday in Los Angeles.
There is also the question of just how open to the ‘world’ this World Cup is. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday that the average ticket price of under 500 US dollars (£374) compared favourably with equivalent tickets to attend play-off matches in US sports.
Those prices however are a world away from even the last two finals in Russia and Qatar, and the argument pitched by Infantino – that if tickets had been sold too cheaply they would have readily been resold at much higher prices – hardly seems like a reasonable justification.
Throw into the mix high prices for accommodation and transport, and the fear is that this tournament will be for those with the deepest pockets, not the deepest passion.
That said, there was no danger of an empty seat in the Azteca, which was rocking and full to the brim in plenty of time for a lively opening ceremony.
Shakira’s performance tonight came two decades after her 2006 stint when she delivered Hips Don’t Lie with Wyclef Jean for the closing ceremony in Germany.
In 2014, she also took centre stage at the 2014 FIFA World Cup closing ceremony in Brazil, where she belted out her chart-topper “La La La (Brazil 2014)” alongside Carlinhos Brown while two months expecting.
While she was keeping her pregnancy under wraps at the time, she revealed to People that her supporters know her far too well and could instantly detect that she was expecting her second son.
“Then in 2014, I was pregnant with Sasha, with my little one, and all of my fans, they saw me perform, and they’re like, ‘Shakira’s pregnant.’ And I was like a month pregnant – I was like two months maximum, but they know me so well.”
