MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mexico City hosts the opening ceremony of the first 48-team World Cup on Thursday

For Shakira, it will be her fourth World Cup appearance, after “Hips Don't Lie” in 2006, “Waka Waka” in 2010 —the official song of that South African edition— and “La La La” in 2014

Mexico City will be the stage on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Cup, the first contested by 48 teams and the first hosted by three countries: Mexico, the United States and Canada. The event will take place at the Estadio Ciudad de México, the former Azteca, before the opening match between host Mexico and South Africa. The ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. central Mexico time, about 90 minutes before the start of the match, set for 1:00 p.m. (2:30 and 4:00 p.m. in Montevideo and Buenos Aires; 1:30 and 3:00 p.m. in the eastern United States; 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. in Madrid).

According to FIFA, the show will be headlined by Colombia's Shakira and Nigeria's Burna Boy, who will perform “Dai Dai” live for the first time, the tournament's official song, whose title comes from an Italian expression meaning “let's go.” The Mexican lineup brings together nine artists and also includes Colombia's J Balvin, South Africa's Tyla, Mexicans Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules and Maná, and Venezuela's Danny Ocean. Artistic direction is in the hands of Italy's Marco Balich, who oversaw the opening of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

As part of the protocol, Alejandro Fernández will perform Mexico's anthem and Tyla South Africa's, in an evening with a strong Latin American flavor. The Estadio Ciudad de México is hosting a World Cup for the third time, after the 1970 and 1986 editions. The opening match also recalls 2010: that tournament, hosted by South Africa, began precisely with a Mexico-South Africa game that ended 1-1.

The occasion marks the start of the largest World Cup in history, expanding from 32 to 48 teams and from 64 to 104 matches. The opening ceremonies will extend to the other two hosts the following day: on Friday, Canada will debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Toronto's BMO Field, with a show headlined by Michael Bublé and Alanis Morissette, while the United States will face Paraguay at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where Katy Perry and rapper Future will perform.

For Shakira, it will be her fourth World Cup appearance, after “Hips Don't Lie” in 2006, “Waka Waka” in 2010 —the official song of that South African edition— and “La La La” in 2014. The ceremony and the opening match will be broadcast across the region through the rights-holding networks in each country. After 39 days of competition at 16 venues across North America, the tournament will conclude in the New York and New Jersey area.