(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DAI DAI")
SHAKIRA: (Singing) Ole, ole.
EYDER PERALTA, HOST:
If you're a soccer fan, you may associate past FIFA World Cups with a particular artist.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DAI DAI")
SHAKIRA: (Singing) You knew from the day...
PERALTA: The Colombian superstar Shakira is once again in charge of the official 2026 World Cup theme.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DAI DAI")
SHAKIRA: (Singing) Dai Dai, ikou, dale, allez, let's go. Dai Dai, ikou, dale, allez, let's go.
PERALTA: It's called "Dai Dai," and it's a collaboration with Nigerian singer/songwriter Burna Boy. There's also an official album for the tournament, which will be played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento joins me now for more on the soundtrack. Good morning.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Hi, Eyder. Thanks for having me.
PERALTA: So let's talk about the music for this tournament. Let's begin with Shakira.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: So Shakira released this song with Burna Boy, who's a huge superstar in Nigeria - "Dai Dai." It's very energetic. It's got this great sort of mix of rhythms that Shakira is known for, and it seems like it's doing pretty well. It seems like people are really responding to it.
PERALTA: Another one from this album is by Jelly Roll and Carin Leon.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIGHTER")
JELLY ROLL: (Singing) Chains don't rattle no more. Good Lord, I'm feeling lighter.
CARIN LEON: (Singing in Spanish).
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That one is more of, like, a rock song. It seems like it's falling a little bit flat. It doesn't quite have this sort of energetic crowd feel. And, you know, something that I was really missing - it makes sense that they try to pair Jelly Roll, an American artist, with Carin Leon, who's a huge Mexican superstar. He's about to do a residency at the Sphere. But we don't really get any of the sort of Carin Leon elements. I wish the song had more of the traditional Mexican sound that he plays with. It feels like a kind of one-note rock song to me. What do you think?
PERALTA: I mean, it sounds like a monster truck commercial to me (laughter).
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Exactly. I don't know if it really matches the vibe of a soccer song.
PERALTA: Yeah. So - I mean, when did this tradition of FIFA choosing or commissioning songs begin?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: There's always been a big culture of music around soccer and around the World Cup in particular, but it was in 1990 when FIFA decided to officially commission artists to create songs for the tournament. We know the World Cup happens every four years. In 1990, it was in Italy, and that first official song was called "Un'Estate Italiana," or "To Be Number One" in English.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "UN'ESTATE ITALIANA (TO BE NUMBER ONE)")
EDOARDO BENNATO AND GIANNA NANNINI: (Singing in Italian).
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: There were two versions of it, and we've seen that become sort of a standard - that FIFA will do songs in a couple of different languages to appeal to a mass global audience.
PERALTA: Isabella, what are some of the most popular examples of these songs?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: One of the biggest ones that come to mind is Ricky Martin's "Cup Of Life," or "La Copa de la Vida," for the France World Cup in 1998. That song actually went on to win a Grammy, and it was sort of at the height of the Latin boom explosion that Ricky Martin helped lead in global music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CUP OF LIFE (LA COPA DE LA VIDA)")
RICKY MARTIN: (Singing) The cup of life, this is the one. Now is the time. Don't ever stop.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: There have been other ones throughout the years, you know - "Ole Ola," "We Are One," by Pitbull and J.Lo for the Brazilian World Cup in 2014.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE ARE ONE (OLE OLA)")
PITBULL: (Singing) Put your flags up in the sky, and wave 'em side to side.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: You know, a lot of these songs that sort of get the spirit and the energy of everyone together, chanting a big chorus together in a stadium, the emotional narrative of why soccer is such a huge sport in different parts of the world. But there is one clear winner, I would say.
PERALTA: I mean, and we know what that is, right? Because it also wins for the best sports tournament song ever.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Absolutely. It's obviously "Waka Waka" by Shakira.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WAKA WAKA (THIS TIME FOR AFRICA)")
SHAKIRA: (Singing) Tsamina mina, eh eh. Waka waka, eh eh. Tsamina mina zangalewa. This time for Africa.
PERALTA: I mean, I have seen, like, my kids dance to that. Like, when I was in South Africa years later, and it was still playing.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah. I think it's an incredible song. That was for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and it really took on a life of its own. I think part of the success of that song is that it's something Shakira is naturally already good at and does a lot in her music, which is mixing sounds from different parts of the world, you know? Like, I think, since the very beginning of her career, she was very good at sort of taking elements of Mexican ranchera and taking Brazilian samba. And because she's from the coast of Colombia, there's already a lot of African influences in the music there. So when it came to making "Waka Waka," there are, you know, very energetic and lively sounds that feel very natural with Shakira's sound as it is. So it just - it completely exploded.
PERALTA: So, obviously, we just gave, like, tons of praise to "Waka Waka." Does this year's song measure up?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: You know, I think "Waka Waka's" No. 1, and I don't think anything's ever going to compare.
PERALTA: So the tournament kicks off Thursday here in Mexico City. What can we expect on the music side for the opening ceremony?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: There's going to be a few Mexican artists there - the rock band Mana, mariachi royalty Alejandro Fernandez, the pop star Belinda, the Cumbia group Los Angeles Azules, and there will be a couple of artists from other parts of the world. So the Colombian Reggaeton star J Balvin, the South African singer Tyla and the Venezuelan singer Danny Ocean are among some of the people who will be performing.
PERALTA: You know, I have to say, I find this lineup a little suspect, because Mexico is having a musical moment right now, right? It's been having it for a couple of years. Corridos tumbados have taken the world by storm, and I don't really see any representation of that.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah. You're absolutely right. I mean, Musica Mexicana has had a huge explosion over the last three or four years, and we've seen all of these younger artists who have emerged, you know, Peso Pluma, Grupo Frontera, Fuerza Regida, Yahritza y Su Esencia.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FRAGIL")
YAHRITZA Y SU ESENCIA AND GRUPO FRONTERA: (Singing in Spanish).
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: These are a lot of Mexican American artists who are putting their own contemporary spin on more traditional regional Mexican sounds, and they're really sort of bridging this gap across the border, across identity in their sound. It would have been a huge opportunity to - you know, as we're heading into the World Cup, there's been some tensions about the way that this World Cup is being hosted across North American countries. I think having those artists there could have really helped drive home this theme of unity and solidarity that World Cup anthems are so often built around.
PERALTA: All right. I'm going to put you on the spot. Who's going to win?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Oh, my God. I mean, I have to say Colombia. Like, for personal reasons. I have to root for Colombia, but I don't know. What's your prediction?
PERALTA: I'm not going there.
(LAUGHTER)
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: That's - you're smarter than I am. That was a trick question.
PERALTA: (Laughter) Absolutely. That's NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. Isabella, thank you, and happy World Cup.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FRAGIL")
YAHRITZA Y SU ESENCIA AND GRUPO FRONTERA: (Singing in Spanish). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
