Burna Boy and Shakira Release FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem

FIFA has confirmed the release of “Dai Dai,” the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Song, bringing Shakira and Burna Boy together for a global anthem tied to football, culture, and child education.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Shakira (@shakira)

The track, released through Sony Music Latin and now available on major streaming platforms, gives the 2026 tournament a soundtrack built around Latin pop, Afrobeat,s and multilingual global appeal.

For Africa, Burna Boy’s presence is the headline beneath the headline: Afrobeats is no longer chasing the world stage. It is helping score it.

FIFA said royalties from “Dai Dai” will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, an initiative aiming to raise USD 100 million by the end of the tournament to expand access to quality education and football opportunities for children worldwide.

Shakira’s royalties from the song are being donated to the fund, while Sony Music will match the first USD 250,000 raised.

That turns the anthem into more than a tournament promotion. It connects the World Cup’s commercial reach to a social-impact agenda, with children positioned at the center of the message.

Burna Boy’s role also marks another major crossover moment for Nigerian music. From stadium tours to Grammy stages and now FIFA’s official World Cup platform, his rise mirrors the wider movement of Afrobeats from African nightlife into the machinery of global entertainment.

Shakira returns to World Cup music with a deep history. Her “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” became one of the defining cultural moments of the 2010 tournament in South Africa. 

This time, the African link is not just thematic. It is carried by one of the continent’s biggest contemporary artists.

The song arrives as FIFA expands the entertainment scale around the 2026 final. Shakira is also set to co-headline the first FIFA World Cup final halftime show alongside Madonna and BTS on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium, with the performance curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and produced by Global Citizen in partnership with Live Nation and Done + Dusted.

FIFA said the halftime show will support the same education fund. More than USD 30 million has already been raised, and USD 1 from every World Cup match ticket sold will be directed toward social projects worldwide.

For African creatives, the symbolism is sharp. A Nigerian artist is not being added as decoration to a global campaign.

He is part of the official sound of a 48-team World Cup designed for the largest football audience in history.

The next test will be impact. If “Dai Dai” becomes a global stadium chant, Burna Boy’s contribution could further hardwire African sound into football’s commercial and emotional identity.