Burna Boy shares how Ed Sheeran helped him face World Cup final pressure

Grammy-winning singer Burna Boy has shared that British pop star Ed Sheeran helped him get ready for the pressure of performing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. He called Sheeran one of the most thoughtful people he has worked with.

Burna Boy also mentioned that Sheeran was the first to reach out to him about working with Colombian superstar Shakira on the official 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem, Dai Dai.

He talked about this during an interview with Capital FM, which was shared on Instagram on Friday.

According to the ‘Last Last’ singer, Sheeran gave him a heads-up about what it takes to perform on such a big stage. "He’s actually the first one to call me about this because he’s the one that had my number before everyone. He hit me up about it and said, ‘Yeah, we should do the World Cup song with Shakira,’ and I said, ‘I’d love to work with Shakira, let’s do it,'" Burna Boy said.

The Afrofusion star explained that Sheeran understood how intense large performances can be for him. He wanted to make sure Burna Boy was ready. "He had to give me the heads up like, ‘Yo, you’re gonna have to perform at the finals and all of that,’ because he knows me.

"He knows how I get down. He knows the stress part is a bit crazy for me, so he gave me a heads-up. He was like, ‘Yo, it’s gonna be real stressful,'" he said.

Burna Boy praised the Shape of You singer for his character and professionalism. He said their friendship goes beyond music. "He’s just a very sensible and lovable guy. He’s someone I’ve taken to personally from the beginning. Ed is very smart, man. He always knows what he’s doing," he added.

This comes weeks after Shakira explained why she wanted Burna Boy on Dai Dai, the official anthem of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. She spoke in an interview that aired on July 8 on Capital Evening Show with Jimmy Hill.

The Colombian singer said she needed a strong male voice to match the song’s Afrobeats vibe. "Once I had the song, I felt that I really needed a male vocal, a male voice in the song because the World Cup carries a big male energy. I was like, ‘Who can give me that very masculine voice that I want in this Afrobeat setting?'" she said.

Shakira also shared that she has long admired Burna Boy and was determined to have him on the track. She waited about 20 days for him to send his verse. "It took a while. I was waiting for 20 days for him to send something. I thought maybe he wasn’t going to do it.

"But then he sent his magic and it was just absolutely perfect. His voice works so well on this song. I couldn’t imagine anybody else on it.

"I was so obsessed about having Burna on this track. I’m so glad that I got him," she said.

Dai Dai, co-written by Ed Sheeran and producer Alexander Castillo, is the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Burna Boy and Shakira first performed the anthem during the tournament’s opening ceremony on June 11, 2026, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. They later reunited for the first FIFA World Cup final halftime show on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, alongside Uganda’s Ghetto Kids dance group.

This collaboration adds another World Cup anthem to Shakira's list, following her hit Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) in 2010. Burna Boy’s involvement shows how Afrobeats is growing on the global music scene.