I’m in the 2026 World Cup spirit! The tournament itself starts on Thursday, but as I often do before the big kickoff, I’ve been scrolling around to build up some excitement before the real drama begins.
This year, I’m captivated by two recent releases. The first is the official World Cup album, where the Number One track, “Dai Dai” by Shakira and Burna Boy, is fighting for digital dominance against IShowSpeed’s viral hit, “Champion.” The second is the recently released five-episode Netflix series “Brazil 70: The Three Stars”, a thrilling account of the greatest World Cup tournament ever played.
Shakira, Burna Boy, IShowSpeed, and Fan Power
Before this tournament, only one World Cup song had truly impressed me: Shakira’s “Waka Waka,” which heavily borrowed from the throbbing 1986 Cameroonian hit single “Zangalewa.” Released for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, “Waka Waka” has generated over 4.5 billion views on YouTube. Until now, no other FIFA song had come close to matching that excitement.
But 2026 is different. FIFA completely changed its format for the official soundtrack. Instead of relying on a single official song, they dropped a massive 18-track album featuring 36 global artists.
The artists represent the co-hosts (Canada, Mexico, and the USA) and fresh, cross-continental collaborations, bringing together iconic superstars and rising voices. Six African artists, including four Nigerian Afrobeats superstars—Burna Boy, Davido, Rema, and Ayra Starr—command a massive presence in the lineup.
Shakira and Burna Boy’s “Dai Dai” (which translates to “Let’s Go” in Italian) has easily outclassed the competition, generating more than 90 million views in just two weeks on YouTube. This stands in sharp contrast to the 17 million views chalked up by its closest rival, “Goals”—performed by LISA, Anitta, and Rema.
The most remarkable part of this story is how pure fan power forced IShowSpeed’s “Champion” into the official tournament lineup. Despite being completely uncommissioned, the track racked up over six million YouTube views within 24 hours of its release, soaring to 27 million views in just five days. With fans loudly declaring it the best track of the tournament, FIFA ultimately had no choice but to officially add it to the 18-track album.
‘’Dai Dai” sounds and feels much better crafted than “Champion”. It opens with some of football’s biggest superstars—such as Mbappé, Harry Kane, Vinicius Junior, Haaland, Alphonso Davies, Rodrigo Hernandez, and Messi—declaring their readiness to delight fans. They are joined by Uganda’s Ghetto Kids, who dynamically announce their own eagerness for the tournament to start.
Shakira then takes centre stage with her dancers in front of a giant African baobab tree, launching into her iconic, mesmerising hip movements to the infectious African rhythms that have captivated the world. Her performance is exquisitely supported by Burna Boy’s rich, gritty, and deeply expressive baritone voice.
“Champion” starts with IShowSpeed naming and showing the flags and fervent fans of the 48 countries participating in the tournament. What follows is a highly energetic, crowd-frenzied display of love for the game—with IShowSpeed commanding huge crowds of fans in multiple settings as they sing the highly infectious chorus:
“Oh, eh-oh, eh-oh-eh-oh (Let’s go)
Let’s go, we the champions (Ha)
Oh, eh-oh, eh-oh-eh-oh (Ayy, it is the World Cup time)
Let’s go, we the champions (It is the World Cup time)”.
Kadie and I agree that “Champion” feels and looks more like a traditional football song—with its high energy and huge, frenzied crowd—than “Dai Dai.” However, “Dai Dai” is more melodious and rhythmic, and it may ultimately have more staying power.
The magical Brazil 70
Brazil 70: The Three Stars is a riveting, five-episode series running for a total of about five and half hours. It’s a must-watch for those who want to relive the extraordinarily thrilling football, the doubts, the ghosts of past disappointments, the politics, dressing room conflicts, and fan passion that made the 1970 World Cup the greatest ever tournament.
It’s truly amazing how the producers weave complex background events into the series to tell a coherent story that keeps the actual football at the centre of the plot. We learn about the highly repressive military dictatorship in Brazil and the government’s attempts to influence team selection, drawing Pelé into a risky diplomatic tussle. The series highlights the sharp differences between Pelé—who showed little sensitivity to politics—and his more politically committed teammates, who warned him that the military regime was using his fame to legitimise its rule.
The episodes also dive deep into Pelé’s family life, his status as the undisputed king of football, and the sheer importance of the game in Brazil. Crucially, we see his intense anxiety about the physical toll of the tournament, having seen his previous two World Cup campaigns cut short by brutal injuries.
The first coach, João Saldanha—a declared communist and chain smoker—was sacked just a few months before the tournament because of his pushback against the military dictatorship. He famously told the president that since he didn’t interfere in cabinet selections, the president shouldn’t interfere in his team selection either.
Returning to journalism, Saldanha covered every Brazil match in Mexico from the press box, occasionally making scathing comments about the team’s form whenever chances were missed or the defence was breached—yet he always remained fiercely supportive of Brazil.
I found it intriguing that he was given such a prominent role in the series—constantly commenting on the matches, criticising the regime, and even having direct, off-pitch exchanges with Pelé and the new coach, Mário Zagallo, between matches. It felt palpably strange to see a fired coach interacting with his successors in the middle of a tournament. The filmmakers used these tense encounters as the perfect lens to capture the intersection of Brazil’s brilliant football, intense media scrutiny, and high-stakes political tension.
The series offers a thrilling chance to rewatch three of the most iconic moments in football history:
The Save: Gordon Banks’ impossible stop for England. Pelé and every spectator were utterly convinced his powerful header was going into the net—a breathtaking moment in a legendary match England would ultimately lose by a single goal.
The Dummy: Pelé’s mesmerising feint against Uruguay—arguably the greatest football trick of all time, he completely rounded the goalkeeper without ever touching the ball, only to narrowly miss the far post.
The Perfect Goal: the icing on the cake—Carlos Alberto’s final, thumping strike against Italy. The ball flowed through the feet of seven different Brazilian players, starting deep in their own half, before Pelé casually delivered a cheeky, blind pass into Alberto’s path without even raising his head. It’s regarded as the best team goal in football.
I find the Brazil versus Uruguay segment deeply captivating, filled with real moments of doubt, superstition, and high drama as Brazil struggled to stay calm and let its superior talent dispose of its rivals. Twenty years earlier, Uruguay had beaten Brazil on home soil in the final match of the 1950 tournament at the iconic Maracanã Stadium—a national trauma known as the Maracanazo. The series provides an incredible account of the psychological tensions the Brazilian team and the nation experienced during their 1970 campaign—something I wasn’t fully aware of when I followed the tournament that year. This episode is the longest in the five-part series, underscoring its importance in Brazil’s football folklore.
The fear of history repeating itself deeply haunted both the players and the coach. Some members of the squad suffered from nightmares and sleepless nights; Pelé was even caught sleepwalking in the hotel. Félix, the goalkeeper, was crushed by the psychological weight of Moacyr Barbosa—the goalkeeper blamed for the tragic 1950 defeat—feeling as though Barbosa’s legacy haunted him like a ghost. Meanwhile, Zagallo was gripped by a superstitious panic when a heavy wind destroyed a good-luck totem in his room.
Players debated endlessly about how to exorcise the 1950 ghost. The series brilliantly captures this paranoia during the match. When Uruguay launches a counterattack and scores the opening goal, the show uses a striking visual metaphor: Félix frantically looks sideways as the ghost of Barbosa appears standing right behind him. However, Brazil ultimately managed to steady themselves, winning the match comfortably by three goals to one.
The filmmakers did an absolutely masterful job with the casting and choreography. The actors not only look eerily like the real legends, but they recreate the iconic on-pitch moments with such precision that, after a while, I truly felt like I was watching the real Pelé, Tostão, Rivelino, Gérson, Jairzinho (the only player in history to score in every World Cup match), Clodoaldo, and Paulo César. Combined with the explosive behind-the-scenes drama and dressing room conflicts, it makes for an unforgettable series. I will definitely watch it again.
