At the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Sunday, BTS member Jungkook performed this year’s official world cup anthem, Dreamers, with Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi. The performance, which preceded the first match in the sporting event, was the first time the anthem was performed live. This also made Jung Kook the first ever Asian to perform an official World cup anthem.
The opening ceremony took place at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor near Doha, Before taking the stage, Jungkook played a medley of famous World Cup anthems like Cup of Life by Ricky Martin, Waka Waka by Shakira, and Waving Flag by K'naan. The ceremony started with a monologue from popular American actor Morgan Freeman. The actor hosted the event with Qatari YouTuber Ghanim al Muftah.
After the performance, many fans took to social media platforms to praise the singer. “Jungkook is ready for world domination,” wrote a fan on Twitter. Another user tweeted, “But lowkey really proud on Jungkook, he absolutely killed it (sic).”
According to reports, the song was released at 7.30 pm IST on Sunday, a few hours before the live performance. Sources state that after the song’s release, it climbed to the top of many iTunes charts in several countries. Within 13 hours of its release, the track had reached number one in nearly 102 regions including Germany, Italy, the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, and Australia.
After the performance, the singer also went live on VLive to thank his fans for their support. Jungkook also showed a Dreamers cake he had received, during the live stream. “Was my performance okay? Honestly, I couldn’t do the monitoring. I couldn’t hear my voice as well in the rehearsal,” He asked his fans.
Other BTS members including Jimin, V, Suga, RM, and J-Hope took to their Instagram handles to share stories of the performance. Suga commented on Jungkook’s event performance, “Jungkook is all grown up now…”