Shakira opens up about her lifelong love for soccer as she prepares to make World Cup halftime show history along with Madonna and BTS

Shakira is heading back to the biggest stage in football. The Colombian superstar has officially unveiled "Dai Dai," her official anthem for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a collaboration with Nigerian artist Burna Boy that fuses Afrobeats, reggaetón, and dance-pop into a message aimed squarely at dreamers everywhere. And that's just the start. She's also set to co-headline the first-ever World Cup final halftime show at MetLife Stadium on July 19, alongside Madonna and BTS.The last time Shakira stepped into this role, it became one of the defining sporting moments of a generation. "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" for the 2010 South Africa World Cup didn't just peak at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. It spent 42 weeks at No. 1 on Latin Digital Song Sales, a record that still holds her name. That's the weight she carries into 2026."Dai Dai" isn't chasing that legacy, though. It's doing something different. All royalties from the song go directly to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which channels resources and football infrastructure to children in underserved communities worldwide. The commercial calculation has been removed entirely. What remains is the message.And the message is pointed. "It's a message for every child who's been told that their dream is too big," Shakira told People. "And to remind us that every champion started out as a kid who perhaps went through hardship and struggles, but there was someone that believed in them, and that's why they didn't give up."That kind of framing could easily tip into sentiment, but the song earns it. Burna Boy brings weight to the collaboration. His roots in Afrobeats give the track cultural depth that stretches the World Cup's usual sonic geography, and the combination makes "Dai Dai" feel less like a commissioned anthem and more like a genuine artistic statement.As for the halftime show itself, the lineup of Shakira, Madonna, and BTS is unprecedented for this tournament. No World Cup final has ever had a halftime performance of this scale. Shakira, for her part, appears well aware of the moment. "I think this one is going to be all about bringing people together in this very sensitive moment in time, socially and politically," she said.Her connection to football, she's made clear, runs deeper than any campaign. "I have this connection with it that seems unbreakable."