A little after half past six on the evening of 11 July 2010, Shakira walked onto the pitch at Soccer City in Johannesburg with Freshlyground beside her and sang “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” one last time before the World Cup final. The Cape Argus reported fans dancing in their seats. Sixteen years on, people still search for that song every day, and this page explains where it came from and how to play it legally.

Waka Waka at a glance
Released	Premiered 28 April 2010; on iTunes from 7 May 2010
Artists	Shakira featuring Freshlyground (South Africa)
Writers	Shakira and John Hill, with the Zangalewa writers credited
Label	Epic Records / Sony Music
Sample	“Zangalewa” (1986), Golden Sounds, Cameroon
Tournament	2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa (official song)
Legal listening	Official YouTube video and licensed streaming services

How a Cameroonian army chant became a World Cup anthem

FIFA named the track as the official song of the tournament on 26 April 2010. Shakira co-wrote and co-produced it with John Hill.

The chorus, though, was not new. It comes from “Zangalewa”, the title track of a 1986 album by Golden Sounds, a group formed by members of Cameroon's Presidential Guard. Lead singer Jean Paul Zé Bella said the refrain grew out of a slang used by Cameroonian soldiers during the Second World War, which is why the song had the feel of a marching chant long before it reached a stadium. By the mid-1990s it was a hit across Africa and the diaspora.

When Shakira's version came out, internet users spotted the source quickly. Plagiarism accusations followed.

They did not last. The band's manager, Didier Edo, said a deal had been struck with the producers and that the group “weren't badly done by”. Neither side disclosed the money. Golden Sounds members are now listed among the song's writers. Zé Bella was in retirement on his plantation when he heard the news, and he thanked Shakira publicly. “The reprise of our song ‘Zangalewa' by Shakira has enabled us to come out of the solitude of retirement,” he said at the time.

A separate story, that Dominican musician Wilfrido Vargas was suing for $11 million, also did the rounds in June 2010. Vargas later said he had no plans to sue.

Freshlyground, Soweto and the closing ceremony

South African reaction was mixed at first. Some locals felt an African artist should have fronted the first World Cup on the continent. Musicians also complained about the lack of home acts at the kick-off concert.

Freshlyground gave the song its South African voice. Lead singer Zolani Mahola sang her verse mostly in Xhosa and the band added a bridge, and violinist Kyla-Rose Smith, who appears prominently in the video, defended the arrangement by calling the whole tournament “a huge marketing exercise”.

The live dates told their own story. Shakira and Freshlyground performed at the kick-off concert at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on 10 June 2010, the eve of the opening match, and then again at the closing ceremony on 11 July, after a light show and fireworks and on the same bill as Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Sony said proceeds from the single would support “20 Centres for 2010”, FIFA's official campaign for the tournament.

The numbers behind Waka Waka

By the closing ceremony, Sony was already saying the single had sold one million copies. It went to number one in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Colombia, among others, and was the best-selling single of 2010 in France and Spain.

The official video had passed 4.5 billion YouTube views by June 2026. Downloads were put at around 15 million worldwide as of 2019. It holds the Guinness World Record for the most-streamed World Cup song on Spotify.

America was the exception. It peaked at 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Where can I download Waka Waka legally?

The old version of this page offered an MP3 file. We have removed it because it was not an official release, and we do not host lyrics either.

If you want the song on your phone, the legal routes are simple:

• Shakira's official YouTube channel, home of the music video
• Spotify, where downloads for offline play come with Premium
• Apple Music and the iTunes Store, where you can buy the track
• Boomplay, where the track can be streamed if it is licensed in your region
• Audiomack, if the track is licensed in your region

On each, look for the release under Shakira's verified artist profile. Blog uploads and mirror sites pay nothing to the writers. Given the Golden Sounds story, that matters.

Building a playlist? Our guide to every official World Cup song covers the full list. K'naan's Wavin' Flag is the other track many fans tie to that summer.

Our view

For Nigerian fans, South Africa 2010 sounds better than it played. The Super Eagles took one point from Group B, and the Yakubu miss against South Korea in Durban still stings.

Waka Waka is the happier memory. It is a Colombian pop star singing a Cameroonian soldiers' chant with a South African band, and that mix is why it still works at parties from Lagos to Yaoundé, sixteen years after the final whistle at Soccer City, whatever you think of the decision to hand Africa's first World Cup song to a singer from Barranquilla. Just stream it properly.

This article was most recently revised and updated 20 seconds ago