The 2026 World Cup theme song, explained: Shakira, Burna Boy and the whole FIFA Sound album

For the first World Cup hosted across three countries — the United States, Mexico and Canada — FIFA decided one song could not carry it. Instead of a single anthem, the FIFA Sound project rolled out a seven-track official album through the months leading to the June 11 kick-off, the same multi-song model used in 2022 rather than the one-song approach of 2018. The result is the most genre-spanning World Cup soundtrack ever assembled: Latin pop, Afrobeats, reggaetón, regional Mexican, country, cumbia, K-pop and Arabic pop, each tied to a different host market.

The lead official song is "Dai Dai" by Shakira and Burna Boy, released on May 15, 2026. It is a landmark moment for Shakira: after "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" in 2010 and "La La La (Brasil 2014)", she becomes the first artist ever to perform on three official World Cup songs. The track was co-written with Ed Sheeran and Jon Bellion, and it fuses Burna Boy's Afrobeats with dance-pop and reggaetón. The title is Italian slang — roughly "come on" or "let's go" — the shout you hear from the terraces.

The "Dai Dai" music video leans all the way into football. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Rodri appear in cameos, and the lyrics name-check the legends of the game — Maradona, Maldini, Romário, Cristiano Ronaldo, Beckham, Kaká and Messi. Shakira opens with the line "You knew from the day you were born / That here in this place you belong," and Burna Boy answers with "Go follow your desire / Where there's a will, there's a way." The clip passed 14 million views on its opening weekend. Shakira is also set to co-headline the World Cup final halftime show alongside Madonna and BTS. You can watch the official video and find the full lyrics through the official upload.

Around "Dai Dai", the album is built to touch every host region. "Lighter" pairs US country star Jelly Roll with Mexican regional superstar Carín León — the literal sound of the host nations meeting in the middle. "Por Ella" hands the beat to cumbia royalty Los Ángeles Azules with pop star Belinda. "Echo" reunites reggaetón pioneer Daddy Yankee with Jamaican dancehall artist Shenseea. "Illuminate" is the boldest swing of the set, fusing Canadian R&B from Jessie Reyez with the Arabic pop of Elyanna. And "Goals" — the late-May closer — puts K-pop's LISA, Brazil's Anitta and Nigeria's Rema on a single global dancefloor record. The full tracklist, with release dates and video links, is below.

There is one more piece most fans miss: the actual sound of the tournament. "The Official FIFA World Cup 26™ Theme" is an instrumental composed by Zachary Aaron Golden — the walk-out music, the stadium build-ups and the broadcast montages you will hear on repeat from June. FIFA commissioned producers in all 16 host cities to re-cut it with a local flavour, so the theme you hear before kick-off in Mexico City will not sound identical to the one in Toronto or Miami.

The soundtrack sets the mood — but the trophy is decided on the pitch. Our statistical model simulates all 104 matches 10,000 times to rank every nation's real title chances. See where your team lands in the full AI verdict and the match simulator before the music stops and the games begin.