The soundtrack for the 2026 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup has drawn global attention, with artists such as Shakira, Burna Boy, Davido, and Rema participating in a star-studded 18-track project linked to the tournament.
Clearly, answers to such questions are rarely straightforward. In most instances, ownership is not held by a single party, but is instead fragmented across multiple stakeholders. Artists, producers, music publishers, and record labels typically retain different layers of copyright, while FIFA and its partners operate through licensing agreements to acquire limited usage rights. The unified soundtrack perceived by the public is, from a legal perspective, an intricate web of contracts and split intellectual property rights.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Soundtrack and Its Global Collaborations
The 2026 FIFA World Cup soundtrack reflects the global nature of modern football culture. Bringing together artists from Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the United States, it creates a highly commercialized music project closely tied to one of the world’s most-watched sporting events.
Contributors involved include Shakira, Burna Boy, Davido, Rema, Ayra Starr, Tyla, 21 Savage, The Rolling Stones, and IShowSpeed.
It is precisely collaborations of this scale that render ownership questions far more complex from an intellectual property standpoint.
Who Really Owns the Rights to World Cup Music?
In music law, ownership is not a singular concept; rather, it is divided into multiple tiers of rights, each controlled by different parties pursuant to contractual agreements.
Master recordings are typically owned by record labels or commissioning parties, unless artists directly negotiate for ownership. Meanwhile, songwriting and composition rights are allocated among songwriters, producers, and composers according to agreed-upon percentages.
FIFA itself generally does not own the full rights to these musical works outright. Instead, it obtains limited license rights enabling it to utilize the songs for broadcasting, marketing campaigns, digital platforms, and event branding.
This means that the unified soundtrack experienced by the public is, in legal reality, a network of fragmented rights bound by multiple contracts.
Legal Risks Behind Global Sports Music
Mega sporting events like the FIFA World Cup sit at the intersection of entertainment, branding, and intellectual property law. This creates recurring legal risks that are often overlooked in the excitement surrounding a release.
A major issue is the lack of clear ownership allocation among collaborators, particularly when songs involve multiple international artists and producers. Without precise contractual agreements, royalty disputes can arise long after a song achieves commercial success.
Sample clearance is another common pitfall. Contemporary global music productions frequently blend multiple genres—such as Afrobeats, Latin pop, and hip-hop; the more eclectic the style, the greater the likelihood of involving unauthorized sampling or borrowed musical elements.
In addition, there is the issue of synchronization licensing. Brands and broadcasters using World Cup songs in advertisements or promotional campaigns must obtain proper legal licenses or face copyright infringement claims.
These issues rarely surface at the time of release; rather, they tend to emerge after the music has already gained commercial value.
The "Waka Waka" Precedent and Its Enduring Historical Relevance
Copyright disputes surrounding World Cup music are nothing new. A well-known example is Shakira’s "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
The track later sparked controversy when it was revealed that its chorus drew inspiration from "Zamina mina (Zangaléwa)" by the Cameroonian group Golden Sounds. Although the matter was ultimately settled and credits were adjusted, it exposed a long-standing issue in global music production: the lack of immediate legal clarity regarding cultural borrowing.
That case remains relevant today, as the landscape of global collaboration has grown more complex rather than less.
Why African Artists Face Greater Risks in Global Deals
African artists have become a central force in global music projects, a shift reflected in the 2026 FIFA World Cup soundtrack.
However, rising prominence often coincides with escalating contractual risks. In many instances, the excitement of gaining global exposure leads parties to overlook the need for sufficiently meticulous negotiations on specific rights, including critical issues such as master ownership, publishing revenue splits, and long-term royalty structures.
From an intellectual property perspective, having high visibility without control can prove disadvantageous in the long run if agreements are not carefully structured from the outset.
How World Cup Music Projects Differ from Standard Music Releases
Music projects associated with the FIFA World Cup are not ordinary album releases; they represent a commercial ecosystem linked to one of the world’s most valuable sports brands.
Every track has the potential to be used across broadcasts, advertisements, sponsorship campaigns, and digital marketing activities. This means that each song functions as both a creative product and a licensable asset.
Because of this dual nature, legal clarity becomes paramount. Every usage right, territorial restriction, and license authorization must be explicitly defined prior to release, rather than patched up after commercial success has been achieved.
Conclusion
The 2026 FIFA World Cup soundtrack does not have a single owner. Ownership is distributed across multiple stakeholders, including artists, producers, publishers, record labels, and FIFA’s licensing partners. The unified global album perceived by the public is, in legal reality, a carefully negotiated structure of fragmented rights.
The real question is not merely who owns what, but whether all parties fully understood the contracts behind the music before it became a global asset. Because in intellectual property law, while celebrations eventually end, contracts endure
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