ISLAMABAD: The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) this week paid tribute to French football star Kylian Mbappe, showcasing his on-field skills in a TikTok video that featured the hit Pakistani song “Blockbuster” as background music.
Mbappe, considered one of the greats of the game, failed to see France to the final of the ongoing Euro Cup 2024 after his side lost to Spain 2-1 in the semifinal of the tournament on Wednesday. France disappointed fans by completing fewer passes than Spain and keeping possession of the ball only 41 percent throughout the game.
On Tuesday, FIFA posted a video on TikTok highlighting Mbappe’s on-field heroics over the years. Pakistani TikTok users were delighted to see the football governing body used the hit Coke Studio song “Blockbuster” from their country as background music for the reel.
The groovy, upbeat song featuring singer Umair Butt, rapper Faris Sharif and a Lahore-based musical group “The Gharwi Group,” has gone viral since it was released last month. The hit song has garnered over 19 million views on YouTube since it was released in May.
“Mbappe’s “BLOCKBUSTER” entry,” FIFA wrote as the caption on the TikTok post, referencing the Pakistani song.
The song’s music producer Zulfiqar Khan or “Xulfi” as he is popularly known in Pakistan, shared the FIFA post on his social media handles.
“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,” Khan wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
“Our voice, our beats transcending boundaries, creating timelines once deemed improbable. Congratulations Pakistan. This is wonderful and this is huge.”
This is not the first time FIFA has used Pakistani songs in its social media posts. Last month, the football body used famed Pakistani folk singer Arif Lohar’s 2023 hit “Aa” to mark football icon Lionel Messi’s 37th birthday in a social media post.
FIFA AND PAKISTAN’S HASSAN ALI
On Sunday, FIFA referenced a viral video of Pakistani cricketer Hasan Ali as it paid tribute to English footballer Bukayo Ayoyinka Temidayo Saka.
A snippet from an interview featuring Ali went viral last year in which he praised Pakistan cricket captain Babar Azam. His sentence, “King karlega [the King will do it]” for Azam went viral, triggering thousands of memes and social media posts.
On Sunday, FIFA posted a photo of Saka on Instagram with the caption: “Saka karlega [Saka will do it]” in a reference to Ali’s famous dialogue.
