Featuring a star-studded opening ceremony Shakira, Burna Boy and J Balvin He kicked off the 2026 World Cup in front of more than 80,000 people at the renovated Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Mexico opened the 48-team tournament against South Africa as protests and social tensions began to rise in the capital.
The opening ceremony of the 2026 World Cup
The event began with a colorful showcase of traditional Mexican culture, featuring folkloric dancers, stunning audio-visual shows and performances.The event set the tone for what is arguably the biggest World Cup in history, hosted jointly by Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The 2026 World Cup begins with a musical note
Music took center stage throughout the evening. Mexican cumbia icon Los Angeles Azules teamed up with pop star Belinda, who delighted fans with their performance, singing their latest song. FIFA World Cup the albumDanny Ocean also wowed the audience with his performance as he contributed to ‘Partidazo’ on the official World Cup 2026 album.Moving on, Colombian stars J Balvin and Ryan Castro energized the crowd with a performance of their greatest hits.Before closing, Balvin treated the audience to his global hit ‘I Like It’, providing a thrilling finale.One of the highlights of the night was when the legendary rock band Mana took the stage. Thousands of fans sang along as the band performed their beloved 1992 classic “Oye Mi Amor,” turning the stadium into a giant chorus.
Shakira headlines the opening ceremony of the World Cup
Finally, the opening ceremony saw global pop queen Shakira perform the highly anticipated ‘Dai Dai’, the official anthem of the tournament.He was joined on stage by Nigerian music sensation Burna Boy, setting the perfect tone for football’s biggest celebration.In addition to playing the soccer anthem, Shakira wowed the crowd with her dance moves at Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium.Before “Dai Dai,” the Colombian superstar wrote and performed “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” on Freshlyground, the official anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Shakira on making World Cup songs
“Football is something that unites people from different cultures and different lifestyles,” he told the AP. “The big responsibility of making a World Cup song is that you have to make a song that expresses people’s feelings, emotions and passions.”“So you have to write that song with the understanding that it has to be global in a way. It has to bring together so many cultures and represent so many in one tune,” Shakira continued. “This, in a way, has helped me work on those songs in the past.”But beyond these conceptual ideas, Shakira also has some specific sonic suggestions.“I think a good World Cup song has to have a definite beat. It has to be rhythmic. It has to make people want to dance. And it has to have an anthem. People want to sing along, sing at the top of their lungs. It has that kind of energy,” he says. — That is essential.
