Social Media Reacts to Dai Dai: Is the 2026 World Cup Anthem Already the Most Divisive in FIFA History?
Shakira is back. Burna Boy is involved. The music video has Messi, Mbappe and Haaland in it. And the internet still cannot make up its mind about whether it actually likes the song.
Every four years, the same conversation starts again. Someone releases a song, FIFA puts the logo on it, and the internet immediately divides into two camps: the people who think it captures something real about the tournament, and the people who think nothing will ever touch the last one. In 2026, that conversation is happening faster and louder than it ever has before, and the song in the middle of it is called Dai Dai.
Shakira and Burna Boy dropped it two weeks ago. The music video came out Saturday. People are still arguing about it.
What the Song Actually Is
Dai Dai runs just under four minutes and pulls from several directions at once, mixing Shakira's Latin pop instincts with Burna Boy's Afrobeats energy alongside reggaetón and dance-pop elements. Lyrically, it takes the motivational angle that most World Cup anthems lean on, built around overcoming hardship and belonging on the biggest stage.
The track opens with Shakira in English, moves between English and Spanish throughout, and carries phrases in Italian, French and Japanese. The chorus chant, the part designed to live in stadiums, belongs to Burna Boy.
The song shouts out football legends by name, including Maradona, Maldini, Romário, Ronaldo, Beckham, Kaká and Messi, a decision that split people further. Some found it moving. Others called it a checklist.
The critical reception has been cautiously positive. The National described it as having a wonderful groove that makes you want to dance, with a melody that sticks after several listens, but raised the question of whether it makes you want to sing along the way a true terrace anthem does. Their conclusion was that Dai Dai is built more for the social media algorithm than for the stands, and that as tournaments become bigger multimedia events, maybe that is what a World Cup anthem is supposed to sound like now.Â
Why the Internet Cannot Agree
The reaction online tells a different story depending on where you look. On YouTube, comments ran in Dai Dai's favour, with fans calling it genuinely healing for their ears and praising Shakira for a worthy follow-up to her 2010 work.
On Reddit's r/soccer, the mood was more complicated. Some users praised the energy and said they would wait for the full experience before judging. Others went straight for the Waka Waka comparison, a contest Dai Dai was always going to face and one that no song released in 2026 was ever going to win easily.Â
The Waka Waka problem is real. This marks the second time Shakira has headlined an official World Cup anthem, which means the benchmark for comparison is her own work, and Waka Waka has had 16 years to become one of the most recognisable football songs ever made. Going up against your own legacy is a specific kind of difficult.