Tate McRae, a 23-year-old Canadian singer, walked toward the center of the field in Inglewood, California, with the official ball in her hands. No one in the stands expected to see her there, but minutes later her name was already trending worldwide.
As Spain came back to beat Belgium 2-1 in the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals —with Mikel Merino’s decisive goal in the 88th minute—, thousands of social media users were asking the same thing: who is she? The answer: one of the most listened-to pop artists of the moment, an Adidas ambassador and former finalist on So You Think You Can Dance.
La Roja advanced to the semifinals to face France, but for a few hours, soccer shared the spotlight with pop. 🇪🇸🎤