Every four years, FIFA hands the world a gift — a World Cup anthem that gets lodged in your brain whether you want it there or not. We've had Waka Waka. We've had La La La. We've had Live It Up. These were bops. These were bangers. These were songs that made grown adults shimmy in airport terminals without a second thought.
And then there's the 2026 official anthem.
Look — we respect Jelly Roll as an artist. The man has a story. The man has tattoos. The man has feelings. But the 2026 World Cup song landed with the cultural thud of a participation trophy. Social media's reaction ranged from "...oh" to "is this a Ford commercial?" It has the sonic energy of someone who has never watched football trying to write a football song after reading the Wikipedia article for "football."
Jelly Roll's 2026 World Cup anthem has the energy of a motivational poster someone printed at a Walgreens at 11pm."
FIFA, we love you, but what were we doing here?
Somewhere in a recording studio, Shakira heard the official anthem, raised one eyebrow, and quietly announced a 13-city North American tour. Coincidence? We think not.
The Queen Has Arrived to Set Things Right
Let's get something straight: Shakira is not just a pop star showing up to cash in on World Cup foot traffic. Shakira is the World Cup. She gave us Waka Waka in 2010 — still the most-watched World Cup music video of all time. She gave us La La La in 2014. Her DNA is woven into the sport's soundtrack in a way that no single committee decision can undo.
So while the official 2026 anthem sits quietly on Spotify with stream numbers that make publicists send passive-aggressive emails, Shakira is packing arenas up and down the continent on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. She's landing in World Cup host cities during and shortly after the tournament, giving fans the chance to combine two once-in-a-generation experiences: watching the world's greatest sporting event and seeing one of the greatest performers alive do her thing.
This is, genuinely, the crossover event of the summer.
Your Wallet Will Thank You Too
World Cup fever has sent ticket prices into the stratosphere. Group stage seats are regularly going for $500 to $1,500 or more on the secondary market, for the nose bleeds right now; and knockout round tickets? Don't even ask. Meanwhile, Shakira tickets are currently available at prices that'll make you feel like you found a $20 bill in an old jacket.
You could spend your summer savings on a single World Cup match, or you could catch Shakira performing Hips Don't Lie, Whenever Wherever, and Waka Waka live — in a city that's simultaneously hosting the World Cup — for a fraction of the price. The math is not complicated. The hips certainly don't lie about the value.
She's Coming to a World Cup City Near You
What makes this tour truly special is that Shakira isn't just touring North America — she's targeting World Cup host markets specifically. From Los Angeles to Miami, from Dallas to the New York metro area, she's playing in or right next to the cities where the world's eyes will already be focused this summer. That means if you're planning a World Cup trip, you may already be headed to one of her tour stops.
The full run covers both coasts and the heartland: Los Angeles and Palm Desert in Southern California, San Jose in the Bay Area, Dallas and Atlanta through the South, Miami in Florida, then up the East Coast through Baltimore, Boston, Newark, Brooklyn, Belmont Park, NY, and wrapping up in Atlantic City, NJ. Every single stop is either a World Cup host city or sitting right in its orbit.
Find the show closest to you and grab your tickets below — prices are live and moving, but they're still far friendlier than anything you'll find on the World Cup secondary market right now.
The Bottom Line
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to North America, and it's going to be extraordinary. But the memories we'll actually tell stories about twenty years from now won't be "remember that official anthem?" They'll be: "Remember when Shakira played Waka Waka live, and the whole arena lost their minds, and it was the World Cup summer, and everything was perfect?"
That's the moment. That's the ticket worth buying. And right now, while World Cup prices are making people check their retirement accounts, Shakira tickets are still reasonably priced and widely available.
Don't sleep on this. The hips, as always, know things we don't.