Nora Fatehi to Perform 'Siir Siir' at World Cup Opener
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- Nora Fatehi will perform her official FIFA song "Siir Siir" at Canada's World Cup opening ceremony in Toronto on Friday, a track she says is inspired by a popular Moroccan football chant meaning "go, go."
- Fatehi, a Canadian-born artist of Moroccan descent who left Toronto at 22 for a Bollywood career, says returning to perform on her "home turf" over a decade later is "a story of resilience" and feels "surreal."
- The track "Siir Siir," created alongside Vegedream and Sanjoy, blends Moroccan Darija, Arabic, French, and English, with its video shot on the streets of Morocco to mirror football's journey from neighborhood games to world arenas.
- The inspiration struck Fatehi while watching thousands chant "siir siir" at the Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Morocco earlier this year; she says she'll be backing Morocco in the World Cup as "a team that went through hell and back to be where they're at right now."
- The official FIFA World Cup soundtrack spans 18 songs across multiple genres, featuring Shakira and Burna Boy on "Dai Dai" (an Italian phrase meaning "let's go"), plus Stormzy, The Rolling Stones, and US rapper Future.
- DJ Ewan McVicar released "Keep It Tribal" — a blend of electronic music and traditional Scottish pipes — after Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour asked him "when are we getting a tune?" following their first men's tournament qualification in 28 years.
- Fatehi predicts Morocco will "do something great" in Group C, saying opponents Haiti, Scotland, and Brazil "may slightly be intimidated by the Moroccan team."
Why it matters: Fatehi isn't just a neutral performer — she's an explicit partisan for Morocco, lending a global Bollywood star's voice to an underdog African team at a tournament where the official 18-song FIFA soundtrack spans six languages and five continents. The homecoming gives Canada's opening ceremony a Canadian-born, Moroccan-rooted, India-made headliner, turning the performance into a living argument for the "multiculturalism" she says she wanted to represent.
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