The second World Cup 2026 opening ceremony in Canada tonight will include two artists with roots in the Arab world.Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna and Moroccan-Canadian performer Nora Fatehi are part of the line-up before co-host Canada plays its first match of the tournament at Toronto’s BMO Field.The duo will share a stage with two of Canada’s biggest pop stars singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette and crooner Michael Buble, as part of the ceremony leading to kick-off. Their performances follow the tournament’s first ceremony in Mexico City, featuring Shakira and Burna Boy, and will be followed by a similar ceremony on Saturday morning (UAE time) when the US plays its first home match against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where Katy Perry will lead the bill.All that star power should not diminish the vitality of Elyanna and Fatehi, both of whom have carved their own places by fusing regional sounds with global styles ranging from pop to hip-hop and even Bollywood tunes.▶Part of that global appeal is why both artists appear on The Official Fifa World Cup 2026 Album. Elyanna features on the World Cup song Illuminate, a collaboration with Canadian singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, while Fatehi appears on Siir Siir, a reference to the Moroccan football chant meaning “go, go”, with Vegedream and DJ Sanjoy, after previously performing Light The Sky with Balqees, Rahma Riad and Manal at the Qatar 2022 closing ceremony.▶Fatehi’s inclusion has a clear local connection. She was born in Toronto to a Moroccan family before building her career in India, where she has become one of Bollywood’s most recognisable dance performers. Her presence links the Canada ceremony to the Toronto's multicultural music scene, the South Asian diaspora and the growing place of Arab and North African artists in Fifa’s music projects.The Canada line-up also includes Reyez, DJ Sanjoy and Vegedream, plus Alessia Cara and William Prince.Elyanna: Arabic pop at the World CupElyanna arrives at the World Cup after a period that has made her one of the most visible young Arab artists working internationally.Born in Nazareth to Palestinian parents, with Chilean heritage through her paternal grandmother, she moved with her family to San Diego as a teenager. It was after that move to the US that she began recording more seriously in Arabic, developing a sound that draws on Arabic pop, RnB, electronica and Levantine influences.Elyanna's World Cup track, Illuminate, is produced by Canadian producer Cirkut, whose credits include Katy Perry’s Roar and Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball. The song was written by Elyanna and regular collaborators, including her mother Abeer Sbiat Marjieh, brother Feras Margieh and Lebanese-Canadian artist and producer Massari.“I am deeply proud to represent my culture, my country, and the Middle East, North Africa, and the Arab world on such a global stage through this song Illuminate,” Elyanna said, adding that the tournament “brings people from all over the world together to celebrate culture and humanity”.▶The video places her inside World Cup history, with montages from past tournaments and footage of football figures including Maradona and Ronaldo.The Fifa appearance follows a run of high-profile performances. Elyanna has played Coachella, appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, joined Coldplay at Glastonbury and performed with the band on Saturday Night Live.Her connection to Coldplay has been central to her recent rise. She collaborated with the British group on We Pray, appeared with them on major stages and opened for their record-breaking four-night run at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2025.Elyanna's debut album Woledto, released in 2024, is a useful primer for her approach, with songs including Ganeni, Al Sham and Ghosn Zeytoun bringing together Arabic-language pop, western production and lyrics informed by Palestinian heritage.Nora Fatehi: Toronto-born and made in BollywoodFatehi’s path to the World Cup stage took an altogether different yet equally eclectic route.Born in Toronto to a Moroccan family, she later moved to India and became known in the Bollywood industry through songs such as the 2018 Hindi track Dilbar, followed by an Arabic version recorded with Moroccan group Fnaire.▶That success gave Fatehi her own kind of global audience, including the South Asian and North African diaspora, Bollywood fans and Arabic pop listeners.Tournament organisers already understood that reach in 2022, when they recruited Fatehi to feature in Light The Sky, an official song from the previous tournament in Qatar, alongside Emirati-Yemeni singer Balqees, Iraqi artist Rahma Riad and Moroccan singer Manal.Canada’s World Cup 2026 opening ceremony will be streamed on Tod by beIN on June 12 at 1.30pm Toronto time / 9.30pm UAE time