Fans are looping the new anthem as excitement builds for football’s biggest stage.
The new FIFA World Cup anthem is already taking over football edits, fan playlists, and social media timelines worldwide.
Shakira is back on football’s biggest stage, and fans are already treating her latest FIFA anthem like the soundtrack of the summer.
Her newly released track, Dai Dai, officially launched as the anthem for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and quickly exploded across social media, football edits, and fan reaction videos within hours of release.
The song also marks another major collaboration moment for Shakira, this time alongside Burna Boy, whose Afrobeats influence adds a different rhythm and energy to the track.
A Return to Familiar World Cup Territory
For many football fans, Shakira and the FIFA World Cup almost feel culturally linked at this point.
Her 2010 anthem Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) remains one of the most recognizable football songs ever released, still replayed during tournaments, fan montages, and stadium celebrations more than a decade later.
With Dai Dai, Shakira returns to the same emotional formula that made her earlier World Cup tracks so memorable: energy, movement, resilience, and global unity wrapped inside a rhythm built for stadiums and highlight reels.
The difference this time is the stronger Afrobeats influence brought by Burna Boy, which gives the track a more modern global sound compared to her earlier FIFA releases.
Built for Stadium Energy and Social Media
The song feels intentionally designed for movement.
It is upbeat, rhythmic, and structured in a way that almost instantly fits football edits, celebration clips, tunnel walks, and crowd moments. Within hours of release, fan-made reels and TikTok edits had already started circulating heavily online.
Shakira’s signature vocal style carries the emotional lift of the song, while Burna Boy adds a smoother, grounded rhythm that prevents the anthem from feeling overly polished or formulaic.
Fans online have especially praised how naturally Burna Boy fits into the collaboration rather than feeling like a last-minute feature addition.
Fans Are Comparing It to Waka Waka
Inevitably, almost every fan reaction circles back to Waka Waka.
That comparison was unavoidable from the moment the anthem was announced. For many football fans, Waka Waka became more than a tournament song. It became part of football culture itself.
Most reactions online agree on one thing: Dai Dai may not reach the same legendary status as Waka Waka, but it does not necessarily need to.
Instead, fans say the new anthem succeeds by creating a different kind of energy suited to the current football and social media era, where short-form clips, viral edits, and streaming replay value matter just as much as stadium sing-alongs.
Some listeners have already described the song as “stuck in their head after one listen,” while others say it feels tailor-made for World Cup montages and emotional football storytelling.
Another Reminder of Football’s Global Pop Culture Power
The release of Dai Dai also reflects how the FIFA World Cup has evolved far beyond sport itself.
World Cup anthems now function as global entertainment events capable of shaping internet culture, streaming charts, advertising campaigns, and fan identity all at once.
By pairing Shakira’s established football legacy with Burna Boy’s global popularity, FIFA appears to be targeting both nostalgia and a newer international audience simultaneously.
With the 2026 tournament expected to become the biggest FIFA World Cup ever, featuring 48 teams and matches across the US, Canada, and Mexico, the anthem arrives at a moment when excitement around the tournament is already rapidly building.
And if early fan reactions are any indication, Dai Dai is likely to stay in heavy rotation long before the first match even kicks off.
Source: GN
Shakira’s FIFA World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” lands as fans call it an instant replay track,
AFP-ROB KIM
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