The FIFA World Cup isn’t just about impossible goals, emotional penalty shootouts, and entire nations collectively screaming at televisions. It’s also about the music.
Every few years, the tournament gifts the world a new anthem that either becomes an instant classic… or vanishes into the football void forever.
And now, the queen of World Cup domination herself, Shakira, is returning to the global stage with her brand-new 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem Dai Dai featuring Burna Boy. The track officially drops on May 14, 2026 and will serve as the primary anthem for the massive 48-team tournament kicking off in Mexico City on June 11.
Which immediately raises one massive question: Can Dai Dai possibly outdo Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)?
Because let’s be honest — Waka Waka wasn’t just a song. It was a global event. You couldn’t escape it in 2010. It blasted through radios, school events, shopping malls, MP3 players, YouTube compilations, and probably half the planet’s ringtone libraries.
And somehow, Shakira looks exactly the same now as she did back then. Science should probably study this.
But while excitement for the 2026 World Cup is building, FIFA itself has also spent the last few years drowning in controversy.
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FIFA’s 2026 World Cup Has Already Sparked Backlash
For many fans, the biggest issue has been the jaw-dropping ticket prices attached to the tournament.
According to reporting from The Guardian, tickets for the July 13 semi-final at AT&T Stadium in Dallas can reportedly climb as high as $11,130. Other ticket categories were listed between $2,700 and $4,300 — and those aren’t even resale or scalper prices.
Naturally, football fans online were furious.
Gianni Infantino defended the pricing strategy by saying:
“We have to look at the market. We are in a market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world, so we have to apply market rates.”
That explanation did not exactly calm people down.
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The organization also faced heavy criticism back in December 2025 after FIFA introduced its first-ever “peace prize” and awarded it to Donald Trump during the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C..
The move immediately sparked backlash, mockery, and eventually an official ethics complaint, with critics questioning both the timing and legitimacy of the award. Many online even speculated the prize was allegedly created specifically for Trump, though FIFA denied wrongdoing.
So yes — between the ticket chaos, endless discourse, and FIFA controversies, not everyone will be experiencing the World Cup from inside a stadium this time around.
But if attending in person is financially impossible, you can at least relive the glory through the songs that completely defined previous tournaments.
And honestly? Some of these anthems are more memorable than the matches themselves.
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5. “El Mundial” — Buenos Aires Musical Symphony (1978)
The oldest entry on this list also happens to be one of the most fascinating.
El Mundial from the Argentina-based Buenos Aires Musical Symphony captured the theatrical, almost cinematic energy of early World Cup culture before flashy pop spectacles became the norm.
Compared to modern tournament anthems filled with EDM drops and TikTok-ready hooks, El Mundial feels grander and more orchestral — like football being presented as a massive international drama instead of a social media event.
4. “Dreamers” — Jungkook (2022)
When Jungkook performed Dreamers for the Qatar World Cup, the internet practically exploded.
The performance instantly became one of the tournament’s biggest pop culture moments, blending football spectacle with K-pop global domination. Fans flooded social media with clips, fancams, reaction videos, and edits within minutes.
The song currently sits at around 445 million views, proving just how massive Jungkook’s international reach really is.
More importantly, Dreamers succeeded where many modern World Cup songs struggle: it actually felt emotionally connected to the event. It was uplifting, energetic, and polished enough to become bigger than the tournament itself.
Also, let’s be real — no fanbase promotes a song harder than BTS fans.
3. “We Are One (Ole Ola)” — Pitbull (2014)
Say what you want about Pitbull, but the man understands how to create a global party anthem.
We Are One (Ole Ola), created for the Brazil World Cup alongside Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, was pure chaos in the best way possible. The song was loud, colorful, ridiculously catchy, and impossible to avoid during the summer of 2014. With over 1 billion views, it remains one of the most commercially successful World Cup songs ever released.
And somehow, hearing “Ole Ola” still instantly transports people back to packed bars, dramatic Neymar headlines, and endlessly replayed tournament montages.
Was it subtle? Absolutely not.
Was it effective? Completely.
2. “The Cup of Life” — Ricky Martin (1998)
Before there was Waka Waka, there was Ricky Martin screaming “Go go go! Ale ale ale!” into international history.
The Cup of Life remains one of the greatest sports anthems ever created because it perfectly captured the explosive energy of football fandom.
The song felt massive. Urgent. Triumphant. It sounded like an entire stadium jumping in unison.
And perhaps most importantly, it helped launch Ricky Martin into full-blown worldwide superstardom. The performance at the World Cup became such a phenomenon that it directly fed into the late-90s Latin pop explosion that soon dominated global music charts.
Even today, the song still works instantly. Put it on at any sports event and people immediately start yelling the chorus like it’s embedded into human DNA.
1. “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” — Shakira featuring Freshlyground (2010)
Was there ever really any doubt?
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira featuring Freshlyground didn’t just become the biggest World Cup song ever — it became one of the defining pop culture songs of the 2010s.
At the time of writing, the music video has reached a staggering 4.5 billion views.
The song somehow managed to balance infectious pop hooks, dance rhythms, football imagery, and emotional optimism into one perfect storm of catchiness. Kids loved it. Adults loved it. Schools played it endlessly. Sporting events reused it for years.
You could hear the opening beat from another room and instantly know exactly what song was playing.
That’s anthem power.
Can “Dai Dai” Actually Beat “Waka Waka”?
That’s the impossible challenge now facing Shakira’s newest World Cup era.
On paper, Dai Dai already has the ingredients for another global smash: Shakira’s proven World Cup legacy, Burna Boy’s international popularity, and the expanded scale of the 2026 tournament itself.
But beating Waka Waka feels almost mythological at this point.
That song wasn’t just tied to football — it became attached to memories. Summers. Childhoods. Friendships. School dances. Vuvuzelas. Entire eras of people’s lives.
Still, if there’s literally anyone capable of competing with Shakira’s past self, it’s probably… Shakira herself.