Waka Waka Created for South Africa, Biggest FIFA Football Song Ever

South Africa is a rainbow nation that loves football above all, and some of its stadiums are most significant. The most popular stadiums include Soccer City based in Gauteng, Ellis Park used for soccer and rugby, as well as the Cape Town Stadium. Several of the stadiums enjoyed significant upgrades before the country hosted the FIFA Football Championship.

The 2010 World Cup Highlight

The world cup in South Africa was a major success and one of the most memorable moments apart from significant victories was the hip-swinging dance and massive hit song performed by Shakira. The song recorded with the South African group Freshly Ground became the most successful anthem ever of World Cups. Whether the song by Shakira managed to sum up the energy of Africa perfectly or just mesmerised and hypnotised the world is not bright, but it remains the biggest hit of all.

Waka Waka

Waka Waka is about the energy and vibrancy of Africa, and it brought in more than $10 million for the youth initiative called 20 Centres for 2010. Sang by the Colombian singer, Waka Waka – This time for Africa was released in May 2010 and was produced and composed by John Hill and Shakira. It remained on the Australian, Spain, Germany, United States, Italy and Switzerland charts for many weeks and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 38. The video became a massive hit on YouTube and was watched by over 2.1 billion this year in February. It is hugely favoured by sports superstars such as Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.

Official 2010 World Cup Song

In 2010 it was announced that Shakira would perform the Waka Waka at both the final match hosted at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on the 11th of July 2010 as well as the kick-off celebration concert of the FIFA World Cup on the 10th of June. That took place at the Orlando Stadium. On the 28th of April 2010 the song Waka Waka premiered, while it became available via digital download on the 7th of May via the iTunes Store.

Lyrics of Waka Waka Time for Africa Song

The chorus was borrowed from the 1986 song Zangalewa, a significant hit across Africa. The words compare soccer participants to soldiers, and on the battlefield, the song encourages them to be brave, fight and achieve their goals. South African musicians were displeased that Shakira was selected to sing the song. For this reason, Freshly Ground from the country was asked to be part of the opening song of the World Cup. During the 2014 World Cup, the Brazilian fans strongly disliked We Are One. Demanding that Waka Waka returned as the official FIFA World Cup song, as many Tweeted VoltaWakaWaka, which means ReturnWakaWaka. Certified sales of the Waka Waka song reached 1.950,000 in the United States, 600,00 in the United Kingdom, 360,000 in Switzerland and 240,000 in Spain.