Shakira and Burna Boy’s ‘Dai Dai’ Voted Greatest FIFA World Cup Anthem of All Time, Beating ‘Waka Waka’ and Davido’s ‘Hayya Hayya’

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has produced more than just football milestones. According to a major fan poll conducted by Billboard, ‘Dai Dai’ — the official tournament anthem from Colombian pop icon Shakira and Grammy-winning Afrobeats star Burna Boy — has been voted the greatest FIFA World Cup song of all time, edging out a field of globally recognised tracks that have soundtracked the tournament for decades.

‘Dai Dai’ claimed first place with 31.28% of the total vote, narrowly ahead of Shakira’s own ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)’, recorded with Freshlyground for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, which finished second on 26.65%. Ricky Martin’s 1998 anthem ‘Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida)’ secured third place with 24.73% of votes. Combined, the top three tracks accounted for more than 82% of all votes cast, turning the poll into a three-way contest between the most enduring anthems in the tournament’s musical history.

The remainder of the top ten saw a significant drop in vote share. Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte’s ‘Ole Ola (We Are One)’ from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil placed fourth with 8.01%, while Il Divo and Toni Braxton’s ‘The Time of Our Lives’, the official song of Germany 2006, rounded out the top five with 3.96%. Trinidad Cardona, Davido and Aisha’s Qatar 2022 anthem ‘Hayya Hayya (Better Together)’ finished sixth on 1.88%, followed by Anastacia’s ‘Boom’ from 2002 with 1.63% and Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini’s Italia ’90 classic ‘Un’estate Italiana’ with 1.42%. Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi’s Russia 2018 entry ‘Live It Up’ received 0.26%, with Daryl Hall’s ‘Gloryland’ from USA 1994 finishing last on 0.18%.

Released as the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ‘Dai Dai’ blends Latin influences with Afrobeats, reflecting the international character of the tournament. Within two weeks of its release, the song’s official video surpassed 100 million views on YouTube and accumulated more than 41 million streams on Spotify — figures that point to the track’s broad cross-regional appeal.

For Shakira, the result reinforces a standing in World Cup music culture that is without parallel. ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)’ has continued to generate hundreds of millions of streams in the fifteen years since the 2010 tournament and remains a recognisable fixture at football events worldwide. Returning to the World Cup stage in 2026 alongside Burna Boy and securing the top position in a poll that included her own landmark 2010 track represents a significant addition to that legacy.

For Burna Boy, whose career has been central to the rise of Afrobeats as a global genre, the recognition carries considerable weight. The result also reflects a broader shift in the profile of African music on the world stage, a trend that has gathered momentum throughout the 2020s. The 2026 FIFA World Cup official album features four Afrobeats artists in total, underscoring the genre’s growing presence at the sport’s most-watched event.

Beyond the poll results, Shakira and Burna Boy were scheduled to perform ‘Dai Dai’ live at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Opening Ceremony at the historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday, June 11, 2026 — approximately 90 minutes before the tournament’s opening match between Mexico and South Africa. The ceremony marks one of the most high-profile live debuts for a World Cup anthem in recent tournament history.