Is a viral video that shows Shakira's 2026 World Cup opening song performance authentic? No, that's not true: An online detection tool identified elements of the video as AI-generated. Shakira does not appear in the 10-minute video posted on social media. The real footage of Shakira performing the opening song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with singer Burna Boy does not match any part of the video circulating on social media.
The claim appeared a June 11, 2026, video posted on X account @RutoJames7113 (archived here). It opened:
Shakira's performance today was nothing short of legendary. The aura, the moves, the vocals, she turned the opening ceremony into her own concert. Simply epic.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @RutoJames7113 on X.)
The footage posted on X does not match the actual footage from Shakira's 2026 World Cup opening song performance. Video of her duet performance of the song "Dai Dai" with Nigerian singer Burna Boy at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Group A match between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City Stadium on June 11, 2026, was posted on the FIFA YouTube channel (archived here). Here is a screenshot of Shakira performing:
(Image source: video posted by @FIFA and Shakira on YouTube.)
This does not match the footage posted on X, seen below:
Shakira's performance today was nothing short of legendary. The aura, the moves, the vocals, she turned the opening ceremony into her own concert. Simply epic. pic.twitter.com/0APAJaKzfQ
-- Ruto James (@RutoJames7113) June 11, 2026
There are several signs in the song that it is not the official Shakira FIFA World Cup opening song. In the video posted on X there is a list of countries that are sung about that are not participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to the official FIFA website (archived here). Here are countries in the order they are mentioned in the song that are not competing:
- Italy
- Nigeria
- Poland
- Ukraine
- Denmark
- Serbia
- Chile
- Peru
- Costa Rica
- Cameroon
- United Arab Emirates
- China
- India
- Ireland
The video in the post contains a Google Gemini watermark. When Gemini, Google's AI assistant, was asked whether a 25-second clip, from 4:31-4:54 in the video, contained Google AI, the chat answered, "The visuals of this video were edited or generated with Google AI, as SynthID was detected in the visual content between the 0:10 and 0:25 marks. No SynthID watermark was found in the audio." Google developed SynthID, an invisible watermark that can identify content generated by the company's AI (archived here). Here is a screenshot of the Gemini answer:
(Image source: Google Gemini.)
The video contains several instances of apparent AI-generated content. The transitions between acts are seamless, with no people moving around the field as would be expected during a live performance. The figures performing on the field have abnormal body parts, including a clip at 4:22 showing elongated arms and hardly any discernible hands.
(Image source: post by @RutoJames7113 on X.)
Beginning at 4:39 in the video, a wave appears on the field along with a large coral reef that grows out of the ground, only to disappear five seconds later. This screenshot shows the reef appearing:
(Image source: post by @RutoJames7113 on X.)
