Shakira Mebarak Opens World Cup 2026 Ceremony in Mexico City
Shakira Mebarak opened the FIFA World Cup 2026 ceremony on June 11, 2026, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City with Burna Boy, performing “Dai Dai” as the tournament began in front of 48 participating countries. The performance spread quickly online, but not every viewer saw the same show live: Fox did not carry Shakira’s set as it happened.
Estadio Azteca on June 11
Shakira interpreted her official World Cup song with Burna Boy during the opening ceremony, a fourth turn for her in the role of singer for FIFA competition anthems. The ceremony ran as the 2026 World Cup started on June 11 and will run through July 19 across Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
That combination of scale and placement gave the performance a wider reach than a standard halftime slot. Telemundo carried the opening ceremony performances live, including Shakira and Burna Boy, while viewers on Fox had a different feed and a later look at the moment.
Backstage with Antonio Mebarak
A backstage video showed Shakira and her dancers being guided off the stadium floor after she stopped to dance with her brother, Antonio Mebarak. The clip gave the clearest on-the-ground counterpoint to the online confusion, because it placed her away from the live performance and back inside the ceremony flow.
Shakira has nine half-siblings through her father, and Antonio Mebarak is an agent inmobiliario. A user commenting on the backstage video wrote, “Dos barranquilleros disfrutando la pista de baile en el Azteca... ¡¡¡SHAKIRA AUTÉNTICA! ! !” Another replied, “Jajajaja ¡la amo! Siempre tan ella” — reactions that fed the same conversation about whether the woman on stage had been Shakira or a double.
July 19 at MetLife Stadium
The debate sits inside a larger FIFA schedule that already has Shakira lined up for another high-profile appearance. She is scheduled to co-host the first FIFA halftime show on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with Madonna and BTS. For viewers tracking the World Cup like a live entertainment package, the practical takeaway is simple: the opening ceremony was the first chapter, not the last.
