On Dec. 15, it was announced that Ozuna will perform during the FIFA World Cup 2022 Closing Ceremony. The event will take place on Dec. 18 at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, at 8 a.m. ET.
The official closing ceremony takes place approximately two hours before the final kickoff between Argentina and the defending champ nation of France. Though we don’t have further details of Ozuna’s performance, we can presume he will sing “Arhbo,” which is part of the FIFA World Cup 2022’s official soundtrack.
On “Arhbo,” which translates to “welcome,” Ozuna collaborated with the Congolese-French rapper, singer, and songwriter Gims. The rhythmic track was produced by RedOne. Consequently, “Arhbo” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Airplay dated Dec. 17. Per Billboard, this marks Gims’ first No. 1 and first entry on the chart. It also gives Ozuna his 36th top-10 hit.
Though Ozuna has yet to post about the news or tease the performance, Gims recently posted an Instagram story with the Puerto Rican rapper. FIFA has yet to announce the exact details, but other artists speculated to make an appearance include the Nigerian-American artist Davido to perform “Hayya Hayya (Better Together),” and the Indian actress and musician Nora Fatehi is rumored to perform “Light the Sky.”
“I think ‘Bienvenidos’, ‘welcome home’ says it all,” Ozuna previously said about the track. “Whatever journey everyone was on, it brought them here, to this moment, and for that moment they are home.” He continued, “They say that ‘home is where the heart is’, right? El hogar está donde está el corazón. For all the people who are coming, and all the people who, with all their hearts, want to come, we are saying, ‘bienvenidos,’ welcome home!”
Ozuna’s not the only Latine star who has been involved in Qatar-related events. We’ve seen Los Tucanes de Tijuana’s vocalist sing “La Chona” with fans in Qatar, as well as Maluma’s performance at the FIFA Fan Festival (and his unprecedented encounter with the press upon arrival).