Shakira’s World Cup Spell: Why Dai Dai Is Trending but Waka Waka Still Owns Football’s Global Soundtrack

When Shakira stepped onto the stage at the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the moment carried more than the usual excitement of a global sporting spectacle. It was not just another superstar performance. It was the return of an artist whose voice, rhythm, and stage presence have become deeply linked with World Cup memory.

The Colombian singer headlined the ceremony alongside Nigerian Afrobeats star Burna Boy, delivering the first live performance of Dai Dai, the official anthem of the 2026 tournament. Inside the renovated 80,000-capacity stadium, dancers moved around a giant World Cup trophy model, fireworks lit the historic venue, and the crowd roared as Shakira and Burna Boy brought the song to life.

Yet almost as soon as Dai Dai began trending, another song came roaring back into the conversation: Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).

Released for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Waka Waka has become more than a sports anthem. For many fans, it is the sound of football’s most joyful modern era — a song that still evokes stadiums, flags, celebration, and a rare sense of global unity. That is why Shakira’s 2026 return has created both excitement and debate. Dai Dai may be the anthem of the present tournament, but Waka Waka remains the benchmark every World Cup song is forced to face.

A High-Energy Return at the 2026 World Cup Opening Ceremony

The 2026 FIFA World Cup opened on Thursday at the Estadio Azteca ahead of the Group A match between Mexico and South Africa. The tournament itself marks a major expansion in football history, featuring 48 teams and 104 games across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. It is scheduled to culminate with the final in New Jersey on July 19.

Against that enormous backdrop, the opening ceremony aimed to match the scale of the tournament. Shakira and Burna Boy were the central musical highlight, performing Dai Dai before thousands of spectators. Their performance combined Latin pop energy, Afrobeats influence, colorful choreography, and big-stage World Cup symbolism.

J Balvin and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli were also among the performers before kickoff, adding to the international feel of the ceremony. The atmosphere inside the stadium was celebratory, with fans responding loudly to the music and spectacle.

“It’s already a party in Mexico,” Ingrid Orozco, a 40-year-old supporter, told AFP.

“It’s amazing,” said Gustavo Ramírez, 19.

For Shakira, the night represented another major chapter in her unusually long relationship with the World Cup. Few global artists have been as closely associated with FIFA’s musical identity. From Waka Waka in 2010 to La La La (Brazil 2014) and now Dai Dai, her presence has helped shape how millions of fans remember football tournaments beyond the matches themselves.

Why Dai Dai Immediately Sparked Comparison

The reaction to Dai Dai was enthusiastic, but it also revealed the challenge of following a cultural giant. Fans praised the performance, the staging, and Shakira’s return, yet many quickly argued that no new World Cup song could match the emotional force of Waka Waka.

One user wrote, “Dai Dai is beautiful, but; it’s never a Waka Waka. World Cup = Waka Waka. It officially became the World Cup’s national anthem.”

Another added, “Great performance. But my heart is still stuck in 2010, when Waka Waka became the soundtrack of a World Cup.”

Someone else posted, “Waka Waka is still far better than Dai Dai. Who else agrees?”

Another post read, “Dai Dai is perfect, but we all know the heart beats WAY harder with Waka Waka, right?”

Many fans reduced the debate to one simple verdict: “Waka Waka is unbeatable.”

The comparisons are not surprising. World Cup anthems are judged differently from ordinary pop songs. They are not only evaluated by melody, production, or performance. They are judged by memory. A successful World Cup song becomes attached to goals, flags, celebrations, friendships, late-night matches, and the emotional rhythm of an entire tournament.

That is why Waka Waka remains so difficult to surpass. It does not live only as a song. It lives as a global memory.

The Cultural Power of Waka Waka

Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) arrived in 2010 as the official anthem of the South Africa World Cup. Over time, it became one of the most recognizable football songs ever released. Its success was not accidental. The track combined Shakira’s global pop appeal with a celebratory rhythm that felt accessible across languages and cultures.

More than a decade later, its impact is still measurable. The official music video for Waka Waka has crossed 4.5 billion views on YouTube, a remarkable figure for a sports anthem. By comparison, Dai Dai has amassed 126 million views, an impressive number but still far from the scale of Shakira’s 2010 phenomenon.

The gap in views reflects more than time. It shows how deeply Waka Waka embedded itself into popular culture. It became a song played at schools, football grounds, parties, public screenings, fan zones, and social media edits long after the 2010 tournament ended.

That kind of staying power is rare. Most official tournament songs fade after the closing ceremony. Waka Waka did the opposite: it became more powerful because people kept returning to it.

Shakira’s Unique Place in World Cup Music

The debate around Dai Dai also highlights something important: Shakira is competing mostly with herself.

One user captured this point clearly, writing, “First came Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) in 2010 and then came La La La (Brazil 2014) in 2014, which completely took over the internet during the Brazil World Cup. While Most artists struggle to create one iconic sports anthem, Shakira created multiple. That’s why her return feels bigger than just music news.”

That observation explains why Shakira’s World Cup appearances generate such intense reaction. For many artists, landing one global sports anthem would be a career-defining achievement. Shakira has done it repeatedly, making her return to the tournament feel like a major cultural event rather than a routine entertainment announcement.

Her music works especially well in the World Cup context because it blends performance, rhythm, movement, and global familiarity. She is not simply singing for a stadium; she is performing for a worldwide audience watching across continents. Her stage style — energetic, visual, dance-driven, and immediately recognizable — fits the World Cup’s need for spectacle.

With Dai Dai, the addition of Burna Boy also broadens the anthem’s cultural reach. Burna Boy brings Afrobeats and Afro-fusion influence into the song, connecting the track to one of the most globally influential music movements of the past decade. The collaboration gives the 2026 anthem a contemporary international sound, linking Latin pop and African musical energy in a way that fits the tournament’s global ambitions.

The Celebration Inside the Stadium, Chaos Outside the Fan Zone

While the Azteca Stadium ceremony created a festive atmosphere, scenes in central Mexico City showed the logistical pressure surrounding a World Cup of this scale. Thousands of fans pushed and shoved as they attempted to enter the official World Cup fan zone shortly before the 1800 GMT kickoff.

Access to the fan zone in Zocala plaza was affected by metal barriers that had been erected in recent days to prevent protesting teachers from reaching the area. A city official shouted through a megaphone, “Stop pushing and shoving, there are children here, you’re like animals!”

Some fans threw water bottles, hurled insults at police, and chanted in support of the Mexican team.

“It’s crazy,” said Javier Maciel, a 25-year-old fan. “There could have been better organization.”

The local government later announced on social media that the site was “full” and suggested fans go to other plazas.

These scenes underline the enormous public demand surrounding the tournament. The World Cup is not only a stadium event. It transforms cities, streets, public squares, transport systems, and security operations. Music, especially a high-profile anthem like Dai Dai, helps build the celebratory identity of the tournament, but the wider event also depends heavily on crowd management and public organization.

Why New Anthems Struggle Against Nostalgia

The biggest challenge facing Dai Dai is not quality. It is nostalgia.

Every World Cup anthem enters a crowded emotional field. Fans do not judge the song alone; they judge what it reminds them of. For older fans, Waka Waka may recall the sound of the 2010 tournament, South Africa’s historic hosting moment, the energy of global football culture, and a period when social media was beginning to amplify sporting memories in new ways.

That emotional weight is difficult for any new song to match immediately.

Dai Dai is still young. It is connected to a tournament that has only just begun. Its long-term impact will depend on how fans use it during the competition: whether it becomes the soundtrack to viral moments, unforgettable goals, national celebrations, or shared viewing experiences.

In other words, Dai Dai cannot become a classic overnight. World Cup anthems earn that status through repetition, emotion, and collective memory.

What Dai Dai Means for the 2026 Tournament

Despite the comparisons, Dai Dai has already achieved something important: it has put music at the center of the 2026 World Cup conversation. The song has generated debate, nostalgia, praise, and global attention. That is exactly what a tournament anthem is supposed to do.

It also reflects the changing sound of global pop culture. By pairing Shakira with Burna Boy, the anthem connects two major musical worlds: Latin pop and Afrobeats. That combination mirrors the international character of the World Cup itself, where national identities meet in a shared global arena.

For FIFA and tournament organizers, this kind of anthem is valuable because it extends the event beyond football fans. Casual viewers, music audiences, social media users, and pop culture followers all become part of the conversation.

For Shakira, the song reinforces her position as the defining musical figure of modern World Cup culture. Even the criticism proves her influence. Fans are not comparing Dai Dai to a random old anthem; they are comparing it to one of Shakira’s own masterpieces.

Conclusion: Dai Dai Has the Moment, but Waka Waka Has the Myth

Shakira’s 2026 World Cup performance with Burna Boy was a major opening-ceremony highlight, full of color, movement, and global star power. Dai Dai is already gaining traction across platforms and has placed Shakira once again at the center of football’s cultural stage.

But the debate around the song shows just how powerful Waka Waka remains. More than a decade after its release, it still defines what many fans expect from a World Cup anthem. Its 4.5 billion YouTube views, emotional durability, and global recognition make it less of a song and more of a sporting memory.

That does not mean Dai Dai has failed. It means it has entered a legacy few songs could ever outrun. The 2026 anthem belongs to the present tournament, but Waka Waka still belongs to World Cup history.

And for Shakira, that may be the greatest achievement of all: she has returned to the World Cup not only as a performer of a new anthem, but as the artist whose own past continues to define the standard.