Uganda’s Ghetto Kids will dance with Shakira at World Cup final halftime show

AfricaUganda’s Ghetto Kids will dance with Shakira at World Cup final halftime showFrom growing up in poverty in the streets of Kampala, the group will jet to the U.S. to perform at the World Cup final in New Jersey.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleShakira invites Ugandan dance troupe 'Ghetto Kids' to perform at the World Cup halftime show02:12Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 27, 2026, 5:45 PM EDTBy Mithil Aggarwal and Raf SanchezTheir unlikely journey started dancing barefoot on a dusty street in 2014.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Now the Ghetto Kids — a Ugandan dance troupe whose joyful, hard-to-believe moves have earned millions of followers on social media — will be bringing that energy to the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.Shakira announced last week that the group, made up of orphaned or vulnerable children, will be joining her for the final July 19. The children have already appeared in the video for her song “Dai Dai”, the official anthem of the tournament that kicks off next month.“I’ve already invited the Ghetto Kids from Uganda,” Shakira said in a video on social media, adding that she wanted the performance to feel “unforgettable.”“We are so excited,” members of the dance group told NBC News in a video interview this week, wearing matching green and purple jerseys.Tiyoma Keysha, 11, added: “We feel so excited, I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve got.”Based in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the group is made up of 60 children ages 4 to 16, all of whom grew up in poverty. Decades of armed conflict and extreme poverty have left nearly 1.7 million children orphaned in Uganda.Long before the invitation from Shakira, the Ghetto Kids were dancing to her songs. They have previously performed to her track “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” the 2010 World Cup anthem that honored the first time the tou...