FIFA opener: Anitta, Future, Katy Perry

FIFA is turning the 2026 World Cup opening into a three-city entertainment rollout, not one single curtain-raiser. The Los Angeles show is the flashiest piece so far — Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema and Tyla are set to perform on Friday, June 12, before the United States plays Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium. But the real news is bigger than the lineup. FIFA is breaking with the usual one-host, one-ceremony model and spreading the opening across Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. ### What actually got announced? FIFA announced the U.S. opening ceremony lineup on May 8. The performers are Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema and Tyla, and the event is tied to the first World Cup match on U.S. soil — the U.S. men’s team against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood. FIFA is calling it an “all-star” Los Angeles launch for the American leg of the tournament. (inside.fifa.com) ### Why Los Angeles? Because Los Angeles gets the U.S. team’s opening game, and FIFA clearly wants the entertainment capital framing. FIFA’s official materials keep leaning on that idea — LA as the place where football, music and spectacle can merge cleanly. The stadium itself is scheduled to host eight matches in the tournament, so this is not a one-night cameo stop. (inside.fifa.com) ### Why are people saying “the opener” if Mexico starts first? That’s the confusing part. The tournament itself begins on Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Mexico City, where Mexico will play South Africa. So Los Angeles is not the first match of the World Cup. It is the opening ceremony for the United States portion of the tournament — one of three country-specific launch events. (inside.fifa.com) ### So there are really three opening ceremonies? Yes — and that is the format change that matters most. FIFA says 2026 will have separate opening ceremonies across the three host countries: Mexico, the United States and Canada. That fits the scale of this tournament better than the old single-stadium version, because 2026 is spread across 16 host cities in three countries. (fifa.com) ### Why stack the LA bill with this mix of artists? Basically, FIFA is programming for reach. The lineup pulls from U.S. pop and rap, Brazilian pop-funk, K-pop, Afrobeats and South African pop. That mirrors the audience FIFA wants for a North American World Cup that is supposed to feel global from the first minute, not just American with some international guests around the edges. That last point is an inference from the lineup and FIFA’s framing, but it fits the strategy pretty neatly. (inside.fifa.com) ### What else is different about this World Cup? Almost everything is bigger. The 2026 tournament will be the first men’s World Cup with 48 teams, not 32, and it will run to 104 matches across Canada, Mexico and the United States before ending on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium. A three-part opening ceremony is basically the ceremonial version of that expansion. (inside.fifa.com) ### Does this mean FIFA is leaning harder into show business? Yes — but that has been building for a while. FIFA has already been using major entertainment packages around the 2026 cycle, including the Final Draw show. The LA announcement just makes the strategy impossible to miss: this World Cup is being sold as a month-long sports event and a continent-wide culture event at the same time. (fifa.com) ### Bottom line The celebrity names are the hook, but the structural change is the real story. FIFA is redesigning the World Cup opening to match a tournament that is larger, more distributed and much more entertainment-driven than any version before it. (inside.fifa.com) (fifa.com)