A group of young Ugandan dancers from the slums of Kampala have been invited to perform alongside pop star Shakira at the 2026 World Cup final, an opportunity they hope will bring them new visibility and help them transform their future.
Issued on: 14/06/2026 - 12:11
3 min Reading time
"We were huge Shakira fans," says Ssegirinya Madwanah, better known as King, a member of the Ghetto Kids dance troupe. "Our manager always told us, 'Keep at it, maybe one day she’ll notice you.' And that day came." In May, Shakira saw a video of the Ghetto Kids performing to Dai Dai, the official theme song to the 2026 World Cup that she recorded with Nigerian singer Burna Boy, and invited them to perform with her in the halftime show of the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July. The dancers were ecstatic. "We jumped around all over the place. Everyone was smiling. We couldn’t believe it. We danced all night," King recalls. Ronnie Ssentongo, a former Ghetto Kids dancer who now manages the group’s social media, says the invitation came as a total surprise. "We weren’t expecting a reaction like this. We’re excited to see where this opportunity takes us."
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