A group of children from Kampala will stand at the centre of MetLife Stadium on July 19, and the woman beside them will look entirely at home. That image, equal parts improbable and inevitable, tells you almost everything about Shakira. When the 2026 World Cup final stages the first Super Bowl-style halftime show in the tournament’s history, she will headline it — and she will not arrive alone. She has invited Uganda’s Ghetto Kids to dance with her before the largest audience football can summon .
The children have already appeared in the video for her song ‘Dai Dai’, the official anthem of the 2026 tournament . Now, they will share the stage with her at the biggest moment of the championship.
A Historic First for the World Cup
For the first time in the tournament’s 96-year history, the final match will pause at halftime for a full-scale concert. The show, curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, will run approximately 11 minutes and will be co-headlined by Madonna and BTS alongside Shakira . The spectacle will take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, before a capacity crowd of over 82,000, with hundreds of millions watching globally.
The halftime show is being organised by Global Citizen and will raise funds for the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which aims to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and football for children worldwide . $1 from every World Cup match ticket has been pledged to the initiative.
The Bond That Started in 2010
No artist is more bound to the sound of the World Cup than Shakira, and the bond was forged in a single summer. In 2010, ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)’ became the actual pulse of a tournament, a chant that travelled from Johannesburg stadiums into living rooms where nobody spoke Spanish and everybody knew the words . It is still among the best-selling World Cup songs ever recorded. She built it on an African melody, performed it with the South African band Freshlyground, and handed the moment back to the place that lent it weight.
From the Streets of Katwe to the World Stage
The Ghetto Kids were founded by Dauda Kavuma in the Katwe slums of Kampala, one of the city’s poorest quarters. What began as a makeshift dance collective of street children has grown into a global phenomenon . Over the years, they have appeared in French Montana’s ‘Unforgettable’ music video, reached the finals of Britain’s Got Talent, and performed at events during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar .
“We were huge Shakira fans,” says Ssegirinya Madwanah, known as King, a member of the troupe. “Our manager always told us, ‘Keep at it, maybe one day she’ll notice you.’ And that day came” . When Shakira saw a video of the Ghetto Kids dancing to ‘Dai Dai’, she personally extended the invitation .
A Circle That Quietly Closes
Consider the symmetry of what comes next. The woman who once gave Africa its World Cup anthem is handing a group of African children the spotlight, and the circle she opened in 2010 quietly closes. “It’s a life-changing opportunity,” says Ronnie Ssentongo, the group’s manager. “It’s thanks to events like these that we can fund school fees, healthcare, clothing and everything else the children need” .
For the children, the moment carries as much disbelief as excitement. “We’re a little scared,” King admits. “But we believe everything will go as planned and we’ll be there, no matter what. I didn’t know I would be joining the Ghetto Kids. I also didn’t know that one day I would be alongside Shakira” .
The woman who once gave Africa its World Cup anthem is now handing a group of African children the spotlight. Waka Waka lives on.
