Shakira at FIFA World Cup: How many times has she performed? Inside her 20-year reign

As one Twitter comment read, Shakira is to the World Cup what Michael Bublé is to Christmas. Well, it’s true, after she rewired the global prefrontal cortex with Waka Waka back in 2010, setting such a benchmark that no other World Cup anthem could quite compete, she has once again returned to the biggest stage in football.

At FIFA World Cup 2026 in Mexico, she performed Dai Dai alongside Burna Boy at the opening ceremony, and, as expected, the reaction online has been nothing short of glowing.

Speaking about what makes a World Cup song work, Shakira once told The Associated Press: “It needs to definitely have rhythm. It has to be rhythmic. It has to make people want to dance. And it has to be an anthem as well. It has to make people want to sing along in unison, sing out loud at the top of their lungs.”

And perhaps that explains why she remains so central to the World Cup conversation. Even when eagle-eyed fans think they’ve caught a missed step, it rarely lands as a mistake in the usual sense. It’s Shakira, and in her world, even missteps seem to move in rhythm. One viewer wrote, “She messed up the choreography, and the way she pulls it together!” Another added, “She really is the face of it.”

And here’s why that reputation has stuck:

Shakira’s association with the World Cup

Her World Cup journey began in 2006 with 'Hips Don’t Lie' during Germany’s tournament festivities, at the closing ceremony in Berlin, introducing her to global football audiences on a massive stage. In 2010, she gifted the world with Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” a track that became one of the defining anthems of the modern World Cup era. She followed that in 2014 with “La La La (Brazil 2014),” extending her streak and reinforcing her connection to FIFA’s biggest event.

Now, in 2026, she marks her fourth World Cup appearance overall, and her second time performing at an opening ceremony, cementing a run that spans two decades of tournament soundtracks.

And the story doesn’t end there. Shakira is also set to perform on July 19 for the halftime show, co-headlining alongside BTS and Madonna.