{"id":699284,"date":"2026-06-12T07:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/699284\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T07:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:28:14","slug":"shakira-andrea-bocelli-and-salma-hayek-kick-start-the-world-cup-at-opening-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/699284\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakira, Andrea Bocelli and Salma Hayek kick-start the World Cup at opening ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Shakira, Man\u00e1, Andrea Bocelli and a surprise appearance by Salma Hayek lit up the World Cup opening ceremony ahead of Mexico\u2019s 2-0 victory<\/a> over South Africa on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Shakira performed \u201cDai Dai,\u201d the tournament\u2019s official song, with Burna Boy. The Colombian star had a hit with \u201cWaka Waka (This Time For Africa)\u201d from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and now seeks to score again.<\/p>\n

A good World Cup song, Shakira earlier told The Associated Press<\/a>, \u201cneeds to definitely have rhythm. It has to be rhythmic. It has to make people want to dance. And it has to be an anthem as well. It has to make people want to sing along in unison, sing out loud at the top of their lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shakira has performed at previous World Cups, too: 2006 in Germany, 2010 in South Africa, and 2014 in Brazil.<\/p>\n

In addition, she will perform at the first halftime show of a World Cup final<\/a> on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey with Madonna and BTS. Mexico, the United States and Canada are co-hosting the 48-team tournament.<\/p>\n

A welcome for all<\/p>\n

Lila Downs welcomed fans and players in Spanish, English, and the indigenous languages Mixtec and Nahuatl.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of the world, welcome to Mexico,\u201d said Downs, who wore a white indigenous huipil with a lilac edge. \u201cMexico welcomes you with smiles from our heart, we are a nation of diversity, heritage and pride in ancestral lands where movement and ritual spirit endure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Downs, who is a singer-songwriter, was born in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca. Her mother is Mixtec, and her father was American of Scottish descent. But her heart is green, white and red when it comes to the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great honor for me to represent my beautiful and diverse country,\u201d Downs said in an interview with The AP. \u201cOf course I\u2019m going to root for Mexico\u2019s team, Viva Mexico!\u201d<\/p>\n

Man\u00e1 thrills fans<\/p>\n

Man\u00e1 electrified the stadium with \u201cOye Mi Amor\u201d surrounded by pre-Hispanic dancers who moved their head plumes to the rhythm of rock while tens of thousands of fans chanted.<\/p>\n

The band, founded in 1986, has sold more than 40 million records.<\/p>\n

Shortly before their performance, they announced that they will be touring in Latin America, including stops in Bogot\u00e1, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City.<\/p>\n

From Iztapalapa to the World Cup<\/p>\n

The Mexican cumbia group Los \u00c1ngeles Azules performed \u201cPor Ella\u201d with Belinda, one of the most danceable songs of FIFA\u2019s official World Cup album.<\/p>\n

The band, founded in the mid-70s by the Mej\u00eda Avante brothers, is originally from the district of Iztapalapa, a working-class area of Mexico City, so their battle cry is \u201cFrom Iztapalapa to the world!\u201d<\/p>\n

J Balvin had a dynamic performance \u2014 he started driving a cardboard car with \u201cQue Calor\u201d and then he was accompanied by Ryan Castro for \u201cUna A La Vez\u201d before ending with \u201cI Like It,\u201d a hit he originally released with Cardi B and Bad Bunny.<\/p>\n

The Colombian star has experience on world stages. In 2020, he participated in the Super Bowl halftime as a guest of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.<\/p>\n

Danny Ocean performed \u201cPartidazo\u201d \u2014 his collaboration for the FIFA album. Ocean was surrounded by dancers wearing a modern take on the traditional dresses of the Mexican state of Jalisco, modified to have hoodies on top.<\/p>\n

Two Labubus could be seen wearing soccer jerseys after the presentation of Los \u00c1ngeles Azules and Belinda. One brown Labubu wore a jersey with the number 10 and the legend \u201cThe Monsters\u201d and the other wore a shirt with the logo of the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Hollywood power at the ceremony<\/p>\n

Actress and producer Salma Hayek, a big soccer fan, gave a brief welcome speech during the first protocol parade of a World Cup in which the 48 flags of the participating countries could be seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cMexicans are very honored that this is where the first match of this wonderful soccer tradition that unites us all begins,\u201d Hayek, who is originally from the Mexican state of Veracruz, said in Spanish. \u201cLong live Mexico and long live soccer!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayek has been appointed an ambassador for the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Opera and K-pop united<\/p>\n

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli<\/a> and South Korean star EJAE performed \u201cDNA,\u201d the tournament\u2019s official anthem, with French DJ and producer David Guetta at the flag parade.<\/p>\n

Bocelli has just performed for more than 130,000 fans in April at Mexico City\u2019s Z\u00f3calo. EJAE is famous for being the voice of the character Rumi in the film \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d and for being one of the composers of the Oscar-winning song<\/a> \u201cGolden\u201d from the animated film.<\/p>\n

South Africa and Mexico national anthems<\/p>\n

Tyla and Alejandro Fernandez were the designated performers for the national anthems of South Africa and Mexico, respectively, before kickoff.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Tyla won the first Grammy for best African music performance<\/a> and, in doing so, became the youngest African artist to win a Grammy.<\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s life has been dedicated to regional Mexican music. The so-called \u201cPotrillo\u201d is the son of the late star Vicente Fernandez. On FIFA\u2019s album\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez performs \u201cMi M\u00e9xico Lindo.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Maria Sherman and Mallika Sen contributed to this report from New York<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Shakira, Man\u00e1, Andrea Bocelli and a surprise appearance by Salma Hayek lit up the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[302612,166624,5897,289311,28295,236,14271,136859,164834,88,7183,62709,3140,302609,13847,26,3925,216,302610,27317,58126,403,99,302611],"class_list":["post-699284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-alejandro-fernandez","tag-andrea-bocelli","tag-bad-bunny","tag-burna-boy","tag-cardi-b","tag-celebrities","tag-central-america","tag-danny-ocean","tag-david-guetta","tag-entertainment","tag-fifa","tag-j-balvin","tag-latin-america","tag-lila-downs","tag-madonna","tag-mexico","tag-mexico-city","tag-music","tag-ryan-castro","tag-salma-hayek","tag-shakira","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-vicente-fernandez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}