FIFA celebrates Kylian Mbappe’s ‘blockbuster’ entry with Pakistan song

PARIS (Agencies): Pakistan music is once again making waves in the football world as FIFA turned to the viral hit “Blockbuster” to celebrate France’s football star Kylian Mbappe’s entry onto the football field. With an old folk music ring to it, “Blockbuster” is a Punjabi song which was composed and written by Pakistani artists Zulfikar Jabbar Khan also known as Xulfi, Umair Butt, Faris Shafi, and Shamroz Butt. Faris, who is also a famous Pakistani rapper, provided the vocals for the song along with Umair and an all-female group called Gharwi Group, consisting of Abida, Rooha Rawal, Sajida Bibi, and Saba Hassan. FIFA recently posted a reel on its official TikTok account showing highlights of Mbappe, 25, celebrating on the field, with the viral song playing in the background. The post was captioned: “Mbappe’s ‘BLOCKBUSTER’ entry”. The song, released as part of Coke Studio Pakistan’s season 15 on May 25, has gained traction from millions of Pakistanis and it is making waves internationally as well. Xulfi took to his Instagram after he came across Fifa’s post and wrote: “From Coke Studio Pakistan to FIFA’s global stage ––– our ‘Blockbuster’ just made an appearance with Mbappe on FIFA’s official TikTok page! This feels surreal. “Our voice, our beats transcending boundaries, creating timelines that were once deemed improbable. Congratulations Pakistan This is wonderful and this is huge.” The song became popular thanks to the great dance number and its one-take music video. The song also made its place among trending songs on Spotify India where listeners took to Instagram to comment on the international success of the song. One Indian listener said: “It seems as if I have arrived at the border while scrolling.” This move by FIFA comes weeks after it used famous Pakistani folk singer Arif Lohar’s 2023 song “Aa” to wish Argentine football legend Lionel Messi on his birthday.