What the song is about
The song has one instruction in it, repeated: give everything you have. "Dai dai" is Italian, a colloquial imperative formed from the verb dare, and it functions in speech the way "come on" or "go on" does in English — the thing shouted from a touchline. Shakira has described it as urging someone to give their best.
The hook makes the multilingual intent explicit by stacking the same instruction in four more languages:
"Dai, dai, 行こう (ikou), dale, allez, let's go"
Beyond the exhortation, the lyric's subject is perseverance — the idea of hardship converted into strength, summarised in the line "What broke you once made you strong". The verses name footballers across eras and nations, including Pelé, Maradona, Maldini, Romário, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappé and Salah, which serves the same purpose as the language-switching: no single country owns the song.
How it came to be made
"Dai Dai" was released on 15 May 2026 as the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States. It was premiered live at the tournament's opening ceremony on 11 June 2026 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The writing credit is a large one: Shakira and Burna Boy wrote it with Alexander "A.C." Castillo Vasquez, Benny Adam, Jon Bellion and Ed Sheeran. Shakira and Castillo produced. It was issued through Ace Entertainment and Sony Music Latin rather than as part of any album.
Royalties from the song support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. Shakira, who has run an education foundation in Colombia since the 1990s, framed the arrangement in those terms: "I've spent my life doing two things: making songs and building schools. At the FIFA World Cup, those two paths come together."
This is her third World Cup song, after "Hips Don't Lie" was performed at the 2006 final and "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" served as the 2010 anthem.
What it did on the charts
The single reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated 1 August 2026, jumping from 42 after the tournament began. That peak made it the highest-charting World Cup song in the history of the Hot 100, surpassing her own "Waka Waka".
In the United Kingdom it peaked at number two and held that position for two consecutive weeks. It spent four consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Global 200, and topped the charts in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia and Argentina, among others.
Certifications include double platinum from the RIAA in the Latin field, platinum in France and platinum in Spain.
How it is put together
The song's structure is dictated by its function. A World Cup anthem has to work in a stadium containing supporters of two countries who share no language, so the writing prioritises a chant over a verse: the hook is short, rhythmic and made of imperatives that survive translation.
The language-switching is the mechanism rather than a flourish. English, Spanish, Italian, French and Japanese all appear, and the transitions fall on the beat so the change of language reads as a change of voice rather than a change of section.
The music video
The video was released on 23 May 2026, directed by Hannah Lux Davis and filmed in Miami. It opens with footballers declaring "We are ready", and includes Shakira atop Mexico City's Angel of Independence, desert dance sequences and animated flyovers of Mexico City and Manhattan. Cameo appearances include Messi, Mbappé, Haaland, Harry Kane, Rodri, Vinícius Júnior, Takefusa Kubo, Santiago Giménez, Luis Díaz, Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala and Christian Pulisic, alongside the Ghetto Kids of Uganda.
Directed by Hannah Lux Davis and filmed in Miami, released 23 May 2026, with cameos from Messi, Mbappé, Haaland and Harry Kane among others.
The lyrics
The lyric is best read as a piece of functional writing rather than a personal one. Its job is to be shouted by a crowd, which is why the most repeated words are the shortest ones and why the proper nouns are footballers rather than places. The one line that carries a conventional lyric idea — "What broke you once made you strong" — is the exception that gives the chant something to be about.