Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
song written and composed by John Hill, Golden Sounds and Shakira, originally recorded by Shakira in 2010
"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" is a song by Colombian singer Shakira, featuring the South African band Freshlyground. Co-written by Shakira and John Hill, it was released on 7 May 2010 by Epic Records as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which was held in South Africa. Released in English and Spanish (with the title "Waka Waka (Esto es África)"), the song interpolates the original Cameroonian makossa song "Zamina mina (Zangaléwa)" by Golden Sounds and the lyrics encourage the players to aim for goals like soldiers on a battlefield.
It received generally favourable reviews from critics. However, the selection of Shakira to sing the song generated controversy after numerous South Africans expressed disappointment in FIFA's decision, arguing that a native artist should have been assigned the role. "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" peaked at number one on the record charts of numerous countries worldwide and was the most successful song of 2010 in seven countries. In the United States, it peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over one million units in the country. The single attained multiplatinum certifications in several countries, including diamond certifications in Brazil, France, Germany and Sweden. As of 2019, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" had sold 15 million downloads worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling digital singles of all time. The success earned the song a Guinness World Record, certified as the most streamed FIFA World Cup song on Spotify.
The public source identifies “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” as song written and composed by John Hill, Golden Sounds and Shakira, originally recorded by Shakira in 2010. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Waka, Time and Africa.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q155894. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2010 and 2019.
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This entry incorporates text from “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.