On June 22, Shakira was spotted at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group J match between Argentina and Austria with her two sons, Milan and Sasha. A simple clip of the trio enjoying the match together has gone viral on social media, and some Shakira fans are actually calling out her ex-boyfriend, Gerard Piqué, because of it.
Shakira and her longtime boyfriend were together for 11 years before they split up in 2022. Given that Gerard is a retired professional soccer player, some Shakira fans found it pretty wild that Milan, 13, and Sasha, 11, attended the soccer match with their mom instead of their dad. Especially because Shakira is currently on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.
Some fans implied that Gerard isn’t doing enough.
Imagínate que tu papá sea un Futbolista que estuvo en 3 Copas del mundo y ahora esta retirado y sin absolutamente nada que hacer y quien te cumpla el sueño de llevarte al Estadio a ver a uno de tus equipos favoritos sea tu mamá que se encuentra en medio de la gira más exitosa… pic.twitter.com/gnDc8JZIbA
— José Antonio 💎💎💎💎💎 (@Shakifanatico) June 23, 2026
In their eyes, Shakira is very obviously busy — she’s on tour right now. And still, she’s prioritizing spending time with her kids. But where is Gerard?
On X, one Shakira fan wrote, “Imagine that your dad is a soccer player who was in 3 World Cups and now is retired and with absolutely nothing to do, and the one who fulfills your dream of taking you to the stadium to see one of your favorite teams is your mom, who is in the middle of the most successful tour of her life.”
And when you put it like that, it does sound pretty questionable (and like a pretty good example of moms feeling like they need to “do it all”).
In response, another fan praised Shakira for focusing on her kids in spite of everything else she has going on. “Motherhood looks so good on her, and she’s out here showing them what a real hard worker looks like while filling stadiums worldwide,” they wrote.
To these fans, the clip shows the obvious difference between Shakira and her ex-boyfriend.
“Dad lived the dream, but mom is out here making sure the next (generation) gets to experience it,” another person wrote in the comments.
But some people thought these fans were jumping to conclusions. After all, we don’t know exactly what was going on behind the scenes. And we do know that Milan and Sasha spend most of their time living with their mom in Miami, where her family also lives. Prior to the separation, they lived in Barcelona, which is Gerard’s hometown.
Some critics also pushed back on the idea that Gerard has “nothing to do.” In his defense, one person wrote, “Just because he doesn’t have a public life doesn’t mean he’s idle.”
Someone else who jumped to Gerard’s defense said they “don’t know what kind of father he is” and “don’t know if he’s absent or present,” but they don’t want to assume he’s uninvolved because of one viral video. “Not all divorced dads are bad fathers,” they explained. “Not all dads in marriage are the best fathers.” So, it’s hard to know exactly what’s going on after just watching one clip.
Shakira and Gerard have both talked about prioritizing their children.
In 2023, during an interview with Spanish publication El Pais, Gerard said he was thinking about “what’s best for their kids” after their separation. “It’s about protecting them,” he said at the time. “That’s the job of all parents with their kids. That’s what I’m focused on and that’s my role as a father.”
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Shakira told The Times that the split was “the darkest moment” for her and caused her “so much pain.” But at the same time, she “will always have that gratitude in (her) heart for the father of (her) kids.”
She said, “My kids are my priority. And my career. Strangely enough, I’m in love with my career like I’ve never been in my life.”
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