Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known professionally as Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter Born in Barranquilla. She rose to global prominence in the late 1990s and achieved multi-decade crossover success across Latin pop, rock, and dance genres. She is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, known for songs including 'Hips Don't Lie', 'Whenever, Wherever', and 'Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)', the latter written as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. She has won multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards and has been a vocal advocate on education and child development through her Fundación Pies Descalzos in Colombia.

Shakira performed at the Mexico City opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on 11 June, one of three simultaneous host-nation ceremonies across Mexico City, Toronto, and Los Angeles marking the tournament's launch.

Her selection carries symbolic weight: Shakira performed 'Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)' as the official 2010 World Cup anthem, making her presence at the 2026 edition a callback to that tournament — which was also South Africa's last World Cup appearance before 2026. Her Colombian identity and Spanish-language dominance made her a fitting choice for the Mexico City leg of the three-city ceremony, resonating with Latin American audiences hosting a World Cup for the first time in 40 years.