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Katy Perry, Future, Lisa, Tyla and More Set to Lead FIFA’s U.S. World Cup Opening Ceremony
Katy Perry, Future, Lisa, Tyla and more will headline FIFA’s U.S. World Cup opening ceremony at SoFi Stadium in June 2026.
The first wave of performers for the U.S. leg of the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening celebrations has now been set, and the list says a lot about the scale FIFA wants this tournament to carry. Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, Lisa, Rema and Tyla will headline the June 12 ceremony at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, where the U.S. opens its campaign against Paraguay.
The announcement arrives as the 2026 World Cup moves toward a format that already looks different from anything FIFA has staged before. Running from June 11 to July 19 across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States, it will be the first tournament co-hosted by multiple countries. It will also be the first time FIFA has mounted separate opening ceremonies in more than one country for the same competition, with celebrations scheduled in Mexico and Toronto on the day before the U.S. event.
Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Toronto’s BMO Field will be marked by a lineup that includes Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Elyanna, Jessie Reyez, Michael Bublé, Nora Fatei, Sanjoy, Vegedream and William Prince. In Mexico, the opening ceremony tied to the June 11 match between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium will feature J Balvin, Tyla, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná, Alejandro Fernández, Belinda and Danny Ocean.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino framed the Los Angeles ceremony as part of the tournament’s broader cultural positioning. “This opening ceremony in Los Angeles represents the extraordinary scale of what the FIFA World Cup 2026 will become,” he said in a statement. “The lineup of artists reflects the cultural diversity of the United States and the vibrancy of its many diasporas, highlighting the nation’s rich influence on music, entertainment and pop culture, while showcasing the power of music to bring people together across the country.” More artists are still expected to be announced.
The music programming around the World Cup has been building for some time. Last summer, Robbie Williams released the first official FIFA anthem, Desire, featuring Laura Pausini, while the singer also co-founded Soccer Aid for UNICEF with Jonathan Wilkes in 2006 and has both played in the charity matches and performed at the event. In July, Coldplay, Doja Cat, J Balvin and Tems performed at the FIFA Club World Cup final halftime show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and Chris Martin had already been confirmed as one of the people helping to choose acts for the first-ever World Cup half-time show this year.
Beyond the stadiums, the tournament is already pushing other parts of the live-events industry to think about how they fit around it. The Night Time Industries Association has suggested that nightclubs could screen matches and operate as fan zones during the competition, a reminder that FIFA’s reach rarely stops at the pitch.
