Nigerian music superstar Burna Boy is set to take centre stage on football’s biggest global platform after featuring on the official song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Colombian pop icon Shakira.

Shakira on Thursday unveiled snippets of the new World Cup anthem titled Dai Dai, with the full track scheduled for release on May 14 ahead of the expanded tournament to be jointly hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

Shakira performs during an open concert at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 2, 2026. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

The teaser video, posted on Instagram from the iconic Maracanã Stadium, showed Shakira and Burna Boy performing alongside dancers dressed in the colours of participating nations, signalling another fusion of football and global music culture.

For Nigerian fans, Burna Boy’s involvement marks yet another major international milestone for Afrobeats and underlines Nigeria’s growing cultural influence on the world stage. The Grammy-winning artiste becomes one of the few Nigerians to feature prominently in FIFA World Cup musical projects.

The video also paid tribute to past World Cups by displaying official match balls from the 2006, 2010 and 2014 tournaments — editions closely associated with Shakira’s memorable performances.

Shakira’s 2010 World Cup anthem, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), remains one of the most celebrated football songs in history, especially across Africa, where it became synonymous with the continent’s first-ever hosting of the tournament in South Africa.

The Colombian singer also performed Hips Don’t Lie during ceremonies at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and La La La (Brazil 2014) at the 2014 finals in Brazil.

With Burna Boy now joining the World Cup musical tradition, Nigerian football and entertainment followers will hope the collaboration delivers another global hit capable of matching the enduring popularity of Waka Waka.

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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not be seen at World Cup matches this summer, according to the co-chair of the Miami host committee.

Rodney Barreto told The Athletic ​on Thursday that he received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ‌ICE would steer clear of the World Soccer Showcase.

“ICE is not going to be at the stadium,” Barreto told The Athletic. “This is not going to turn into some ‘round them up’ type of thing. ​That’s not the purpose of this.

“It’ll be a great experience for everybody. I ​think that we’re lucky that we do have a president who loves ⁠sports and has given us the resources to reimburse the cities for their police ​protection.”

Barreto added, “I spoke to Marco and, first of all, he’s going to make sure that ​the passports get processed and people can get here and there is an orderly process so people won’t be held up. It’s going to be a major undertaking by the federal government to do ​that. We feel very comfortable that we’re going to be in good hands.”

The deployment of ​ICE for immigration-enforcement raids has increased since Donald Trump began his second stint as president last year, ‌igniting ⁠a significant political debate in the U.S.

South Florida’s role as a World Cup host market also comes against the backdrop of scenes from the 2024 Copa America championship game, when fans stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., causing a ​number of injuries and ​delaying the start of ⁠the Argentina-Colombia match.

“(The Miami World Cup organizing committee) took the position that we didn’t want to be critical of the planners of ​that event,” Barreto told The Athletic. “It wasn’t our event. But now ​that time ⁠has passed, I would tell you that where the failure was, which was that there were no perimeters.

“People without tickets should have been nowhere near the entrance ways of that stadium. ⁠It ​didn’t take much to overrun an entrance. But listen, ​you learn from all these events, and you learn to do it better and come up with different scenarios ​which mitigate this from happening in the future. So that’s where we’re at.”

South Florida’s role as a World Cup host market also comes against the backdrop of scenes from the 2024 Copa America championship game, when fans stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., causing a ​number of injuries and ​delaying the start of ⁠the Argentina-Colombia match.

“(The Miami World Cup organizing committee) took the position that we didn’t want to be critical of the planners of ​that event,” Barreto told The Athletic. “It wasn’t our event. But now ​that time ⁠has passed, I would tell you that where the failure was, which was that there were no perimeters.

“People without tickets should have been nowhere near the entrance ways of that stadium. ⁠It ​didn’t take much to overrun an entrance.

“But listen, ​you learn from all these events, and you learn to do it better and come up with different scenarios ​which mitigate this from happening in the future. So that’s where we’re at.”

-Reuters

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By Kunle Solaja.

FIFA has officially confirmed that all 48 participating nations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup must submit their final squad lists by June 2, when the official player rosters will also be unveiled.

According to FIFA, national football associations may announce their squads earlier, but the lists will only become official after approval by the world governing body on the stipulated date.

The squad format for the expanded tournament will remain the same as at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, with each country allowed to register up to 26 players.

The registration process will begin with a provisional phase during which teams must submit an internal list containing between 35 and 55 players, including at least four goalkeepers. FIFA stated that these preliminary lists will remain confidential and unpublished until May 11.

After the provisional stage, participating nations will then be required to submit their final squad of between 23 and 26 players, with a minimum of three goalkeepers included.

FIFA also clarified the rules regarding player replacements after the June 2 deadline. Outfield players can only be replaced in cases of serious injury or illness and must be substituted no later than 24 hours before a team’s opening match. Goalkeepers, however, may be replaced at any stage during the competition under similar circumstances.

The governing body further stressed that every player selected must hold the nationality of the country they are representing and remain under the jurisdiction of the respective participating member association.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will be the first edition to feature 48 teams.

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