Burna Boy has been confirmed as the halftime headliner for the 2026 NFL Paris Game, adding another major global stage to one of the busiest schedules in African music.
The Grammy-winning Nigerian superstar will perform at Stade de France on October 25, 2026, when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the New Orleans Saints in the NFL’s first regular-season game in France.
His latest booking comes during a year that has already seen Burna Boy take on some of the biggest stages in global sport.
Top among these is the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony alongside Shakira, where they debuted ‘Dai Dai‘ , the tournament’s official song.
Burna Boy returns to Stade de France
The NFL Paris halftime show will bring Burna Boy back to a venue where he already made history.
In April 2025, he became the first African artist to headline Stade de France, selling out the iconic Paris stadium during his Love, Damini tour.
Now he returns just 18 months later, this time performing during an NFL regular-season game in front of a global television audience.
“Paris gave me one of the biggest nights of my career, and to walk back into Stade de France for a moment like this means everything,” Burna Boy said.
“The NFL is bringing something to France that has never happened here before, and I get to stand in the middle of it representing African music.”
NFL senior director of global game presentation, music and entertainment Tim Tubito said the choice reflected Paris’s connection with African music.
“Burna Boy has already made history in this stadium,” Tubito said. “Bringing him back gives us the chance to create something genuinely memorable.”
NFL expands its international footprint
The NFL Paris Game forms part of the league’s biggest international programme yet.
The 2026 season features a record-breaking nine international games across four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums, according to the NFL’s International Games programme.
Burna Boy joins an international halftime lineup featuring the Jonas Brothers in Melbourne, Ricky Martin and Pedro Sampaio in Rio de Janeiro, Ayra Starr in London, Cage The Elephant in Munich and The Warning in Mexico City.
For the Nigerian star, however, the Paris booking is another marker of how far his career has travelled.
Why Burna Boy’s 2026 schedule stands out
Burna Boy has spent 2026 moving between African, European and North American stages, combining major sporting events with festivals and high-profile live performances.
His World Cup involvement gave him perhaps his biggest global platform of the year.
His collaboration with Shakira on ‘Dai Dai‘ placed an Afrobeats star at the centre of football’s biggest tournament.
The NFL booking now extends that run into American football.
It also reinforces Burna Boy’s growing role as a bridge between African music and global mainstream entertainment.
His commercial reach has continued to grow alongside the live appearances.
In September (2026), he became the first Nigerian and Sub-Saharan African artist to surpass four billion YouTube views, adding another milestone to an already record-setting career.
For Burna Boy, the NFL Paris Game is therefore more than another performance date.
It is the latest stop in a packed international schedule that has kept him at the centre of some of 2026’s biggest music and sporting moments.
