Shakira is back in World Cup mode, which means the tournament has acquired a second countdown: one for the opening match, another for the song that might follow us into every supermarket.
On May 7, she teased Dai Dai with Burna Boy from Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium. Her announcement identifies it as the official FIFA World Cup 2026 song and gives May 14 as the release date. The full track has not arrived yet.
What the Teaser Tells Us
The short clip introduces the collaboration and its football setting. AP’s May 7 report describes Shakira singing in English with a male harmony, rather than the Spanish-led chorus some descriptions have assumed.
It is enough to start the anticipation. It is not enough to confidently describe every verse, identify the finished arrangement or announce how much space Burna Boy receives in the complete song.
Pairing a Colombian pop star with a Nigerian artist makes for an appealing prospect. Whether the result belongs mainly in a nightclub, a stadium or both is something the release can answer. For now, the useful verb is “teases,” not “drops.”
Waka Waka Is a Formidable Reference Point
Shakira’s football association is not just a nostalgic impression. Guinness World Records lists Waka Waka, by Shakira and Freshlyground, as the most-streamed FIFA World Cup song on Spotify, with more than 1.07 billion streams across the versions it counted as of January 13, 2025.
That is a dated record, not a live play counter. It is still a clear indication of how long the 2010 song has lasted beyond its tournament.
A song attached to a World Cup has an unusual assignment. It has to work before fans have memories of the matches, then become entangled with those memories afterward. An effective hook helps, but so do celebrations, disappointments and the friend who insisted on playing it once more.
Comparing every new release with a favourite from years ago is therefore a slightly uneven contest. One has a promotional clip. The other has had time to move into people’s lives and rearrange the furniture.
Burna Boy Has Already Played a Major Football Stage
The collaboration brings together two established performers rather than introducing Burna Boy to stadium-scale football entertainment. UEFA documents his co-headlining appearance with Anitta before the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul, with Alesso as a special guest.
That background makes his involvement easy to understand without pretending we have access to FIFA’s internal marketing calculations. Two artists can be an interesting musical pairing without functioning as a spreadsheet of guaranteed national audiences.
The part worth listening for is how their voices interact. A collaboration can feel like a shared song or like two separate appearances stitched together. We will have a better basis for judging that on May 14.
There Is More Than One World Cup Music Campaign
Dai Dai should not be confused with Coca-Cola’s own tournament anthem. The company released a version of Van Halen’s Jump on March 6, featuring J Balvin, Amber Mark, Steve Vai and Travis Barker.
That alone makes “football has quietly abandoned rock” an awkward verdict. The surrounding music is a mixture of official songs, sponsor campaigns and performances, each with its own purpose. A single tidy succession of anthems misses some of that picture.
It also makes the coming soundtrack more interesting. Listeners do not need to vote one genre out of the stadium before admitting another.
What to Listen for When the Full Song Arrives
Our informal checklist is simple: a hook worth hearing again, a collaboration that feels integrated and enough personality to survive outside a highlights montage. None requires the chorus to appear at an exact second, and none guarantees a future hit.
Those are listening preferences, not a prediction model. We do not yet know which chorus supporters will adopt, what the finished video will look like or whether the track will gather the kind of long-term affection that surrounds Waka Waka.
For now, May 14 is the date to watch. The cat has already prepared for football by sitting directly in front of the screen. Its contribution to the soundtrack remains a sustained request for dinner.
