Songfacts®:

• "Dai Dai" is the official song of the FIFA World Cup 2026, released on May 15, 2026. It marks Shakira's second time recording an official FIFA World Cup anthem, having previously delivered the iconic "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)" for the 2010 tournament in South Africa. The collaboration with Nigerian singer-songwriter Burna Boy brings together two of the most globally resonant voices in contemporary music.
• "Dai Dai" is an Italian exclamation, literally meaning "come on, come on," a conjugation of the Italian verb dare (to give), interpreted as an invitation to "give it everything you've got." Italians use it constantly in everyday life: in traffic when the light turns green, cheering on a toddler learning to walk, and especially when urging a football team on the attack. Shakira likely chose the phrase using the same formula that made "Waka Waka" a classic: a punchy, rhythmically repeated word that is effortlessly easy to remember and scream, even if you don't speak a word of the language.
• There is a notable irony in the choice of title: Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 tournament, having been eliminated in the playoffs against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and had also missed the 2018 and 2022 editions. The songwriting team most likely selected Italian for its massive historic presence at the tournament and for purely phonetic reasons.
• "Dai Dai" is written as a multilingual chant built for mass participation, weaving together:
  
  "Dai, dai" (Italian: come on, come on)
  "Iku" (Japanese: let's go)
  "Dale" (Spanish: go ahead)
  "Allez" (French: go)
  "Let's go" (English: let's go, again, just in case anyone missed it)
  
  The effect is a linguistic crowd-control system; a five-language siren designed to produce instant unity in stadiums that are otherwise divided by geography, jerseys, and occasional mild booing.
• "Dai Dai" tells a story of resilience, momentum, and pride for those who have fought their way through qualifying to reach the world's biggest stage. One key passage reflects on moving forward from the past:
  
  We've taken all that our hearts can hold
  We can't hold on to the past no more
  
  The lyric doubles as a personal reference by Shakira to her 2022 breakup with Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué after 11 years together.
• Shakira and Burna Boy wrote "Dai Dai" with Benny Adam, Jon Bellion, Ed Sheeran and Alexander Castillo. Shakira and Alexander Castillo produced the song. Their other collaborations include "Me Enamoré" and "Soltera."
• The song premiered at Global Citizen NOW in New York as part of the launch of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which aims to raise $100 million to support education and sport initiatives for children worldwide. Shakira donated her royalties from the song to the fund, which is in character: she's often linked her music to social causes.
• The video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis and filmed in Miami, Florida. The clip opens with cameos from some of the world's biggest footballers, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Harry Kane, Christian Pulisic and Erling Haaland.
  
  The video also highlights the Ghetto Kids Uganda, a life-changing non-profit organization that empowers vulnerable and orphaned children through dance and music. Additionally, there is an animated sequence depicting Shakira standing atop Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument, a nod to one of the three host nations and a suitably grand, mythological image for a World Cup anthem.
• Shakira and Burna Boy performed "Dai Dai" for the first time on June 11, 2026 at the World Cup opening ceremony, held at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. They reprised it for the halftime show at the final on July 19 in New Jersey. That was the first World Cup final that had a halftime show; Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS and Coldplay were also part of it.
• "Dai Dai" became the highest-charting official FIFA World Cup song when it climbed to #17 on the Hot 100 chart dated August 1, 2026, comfortably surpassing "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," which reached #38 in 2010.