Colombian pop star Shakira and Nigeria’s Afrobeat star, Burna Boy and other stars opened the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a performance at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City ahead of the opening fixture between El Tri and Bafana Bafana of South Africa that ended 2-0 in favour of the hosts.
The 49-year-old ex-girlfriend of former Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué, performed “Dai Dai,” the official anthem for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, alongside Burna Boy. The original song was officially released a month ago.
The song translates to ‘Come on, Come on’ in English, and was written by Shakira and Burna Boy together with Benny Adam, Jon Bellion, Ed Sheeran and Alexander Castillo, who produced the song with Shakira.
Thousands of fans arrived at the legendary Azteca stadium in Mexico City with a real sense of excitement and anticipation to watch the World Cup on their home turf for the first time in 40 years.
It’s been a complicated build-up, from the renovations of the airport and Azteca stadium, to protests around the event, and the cartel violence seen in Mexico only months ago.
On Thursday, those issues appeared to have been pushed to the side as football takes centre stage in Mexico.
Javier Pérez came with his family for the opener and told the BBC that the excitement now outweighs any hassles experienced up to this point.
“We were lucky to get hospitality tickets and it’s a unique experience. I have never been to a World Cup before so to bring my family is wonderful,” he said.
“I just want Mexico to get off on the right foot, win today and score a load of goals! And then we’ll see how far we can go!”
Mexico is co-hosting the 2026 tournament alongside the US and Canada, with those North American teams hosting their own opening ceremonies today.
Fans in the stadium were treated to musical performances.
Apart from Shakira and Burna Boy, there were other artists like Colombia’s J Balvin, Latin music star Danny Ocean and Fher Olvera.
Mexican singer Fernández, who is the son of veteran crooner Vicente Fernández, sang the Mexican national anthem head of the match. And Grammy-winning South African star Tyla performed her national anthem.
Tyla, whose hits include Water and the FIFA song Game Time, will return to the World Cup stage this Friday to take part in the US opening ceremony in Los Angeles alongside Katy Perry, Future, Lisa and Anitta.
Performers in the historic stadium wore indigenous clothing, while others were dressed in all gold and held giant golden footballs above their heads.
