Shakira and nine acts open the 2026 World Cup at Estadio Azteca

Shakira will headline the World Cup opening ceremony at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, performing the official tournament song Dai Dai alongside Burna Boy in its first live outing. The full lineup is nine acts: Shakira and Burna Boy, J Balvin, Tyla, Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs, Los Angeles Azules, and Maná.

FIFA assembled a bill with no North American or European chart presence — Burna Boy for West African Afrobeats, Tyla for South African pop, J Balvin for Colombian urban pop, Danny Ocean for Venezuelan pop, and four strands of Mexican music: regional norteño (Alejandro Fernández), pop (Belinda), rock (Maná), cumbia (Los Angeles Azules), and Oaxacan folk fusion (Lila Downs). The ceremony places Latin America at the center of a tournament hosted across three nations: Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

Dai Dai arrived ahead of the tournament with an official video directed by Hannah Lux Davis, featuring Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Christian Pulisic, and Vinícius Jr alongside the two artists. The opening ceremony gives the track its live debut — meaning the first full performance of the official World Cup song happens before the first ball is kicked, in front of a stadium that hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals.

The lineup is culturally coherent within its region, but the ceremony reaches a global television audience that extends well beyond Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. In markets where none of these acts have significant radio or streaming presence — parts of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East — the opening night will land as a spectacle rather than a setlist of familiar names. Tyla is the act most likely to cross into those markets on recent recognition; Shakira’s global profile does the rest.

Shakira’s role in the tournament extends past the opener. She is confirmed to co-headline the Final halftime show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey alongside Madonna and BTS — a bill that makes the July Final its own cultural event before the match begins. The two performances give her an unusual presence across the entire arc of the tournament, from its first official moment at the Azteca to its closing night in New Jersey.

The opening ceremony begins on June 11 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, starting at approximately 11:30 local time before the tournament’s first match, Mexico against South Africa. The competition runs through the Final at MetLife Stadium on July 19.

Tags: wc26, pop, 2026 FIFA World Cup