AAP Soccer

Shakira and Latin flair sparkle at opening ceremony

By AAP Newswire

Jun 12, 2026

Pop star Shakira has led a line-up of Latin singers who helped open the biggest ever World Cup before the opening match between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa.

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The storied Azteca Stadium - officially known at the Mexico City Stadium during the World Cup - staged the party and has been renovated for the expanded tournament, which is being co-hosted with the United States and Canada.

After a series of flops when it comes to World Cup songs over the last three men's tournaments, football's governing body FIFA went back to Colombian Shakira for this year's edition after her 2010 song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" went viral.

This year's song "Dai Dai" - written alongside Nigerian recording artist Burna Boy - was performed in front of a packed Azteca, which is the first arena on the globe to host three men's World Cups.

"Dai, Dai" means "Let's go" in Italian - presumably written before Italy failed to qualify. Several Latin American singers also performed ahead of the first ever football World Cup held in three countries, while the ceremony started with dancers in indigenous dress.

The iconic finals in 1970 and 1986 were held at the Azteca and featured late football greats Pelé and Diego Maradona respectively.

But the early singing and dancing was just part of the ceremony, which was held in two sections. The second part was opened by Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who later handed the World Cup to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

A parade of flags of all the 48 nations, including debutants Jordan, Uzbekistan, Curaçao and Cape Verde, followed. The three host flags came out together, meaning there were cheers instead of possible jeers for the US flag, given geopolitical issues also involving Mexico.

Then it was time for more music, including from Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli.

The last World Cup opening ceremony in North America in 1994 included Diana Ross infamously missing a penalty. There were no such mishaps here although it appeared to start late.

Separate ceremonies will take place on Friday at the first matches in Canada (Toronto) and the US (Inglewood in Los Angeles County). Canadian singers Michael Bublé and Alanis Morissette are set to perform at the first and US pop star Katy Perry at the second.