The story of Shakira and Piqué: from love at the World Cup in South Africa to separation

The love story between Piqué and Shakira ends 0:44

(CNN Spanish) --

Together they formed one of the most famous couples in the world, but after more than 12 years of relationship and two children in common, the Colombian singer Shakira and the Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué announced their separation at the beginning of June this 2022.

They confirmed it through a statement in which they asked for "respect for our privacy" for the "well-being" of their children, after the constant rumors that circulated for days about a possible break between the singer of "Hips Don't Lie", 45 years old, and the FC Barcelona defender, 35.

• Shakira speaks for the first time about her separation from Piqué: The relationship she had with him has been vulgarized by the media

Almost four months after the media break, Shakira broke the silence and spoke publicly about her separation from Piqué in an interview with ELLE magazine in Spain, in which she highlighted the mistreatment of information that, according to her, has been carried out by the press on the subject.

"I have paparazzi camping in front of my house, 24/7. And there is no place where I can hide from them with my children, except in my own house," said the Colombian singer.

Here, a look at the history of this famous couple:

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Shakira and soccer player Gerard Piqué during the final between Spain and Canada during day seven of the 2019 David Cup at La Caja Mágica on November 24, 2019 in Madrid, Spain.

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

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Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué and Colombian singer Shakira watch Rafael Nadal of Spain and Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during their men's singles quarterfinal match at the US Open 2019 at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on 4 September 2019. (Photo by DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)

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Gerard Piqué of FC Barcelona and Shakira pose with the trophy after FC Barcelona won the Copa del Rey final match against Athletic Club at Camp Nou on May 30, 2015 in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

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Piqué, Shakira and her son Milan talk before the Spanish league soccer match FC Barcelona vs Eibar at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 18, 2014. (LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)

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Piqué and Shakira attend the 2014 FIBA ​​Basketball World Championship quarterfinal match between Slovenia and the USA at Palau Sant Jordi stadium in Barcelona on September 9, 2014. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

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Shakira hugs Piqué as she holds her son Milan after performing during a closing ceremony before the final soccer match between Germany and Argentina for the FIFA World Cup at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, 2014. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Piqué and Shakira attend a EuroLeague basketball playoff game between Regal FC Barcelona and Panathinaikos at Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona on April 25, 2013. (JOSEP LAGO/ AFP via Getty Images)

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Shakira kisses Piqué during the La Liga match between Barcelona and Osasuna at Camp Nou stadium on April 23, 2011 in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

(Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

The soccer World Cup that united them

Shakira and Piqué met in 2010, months before the World Cup in South Africa, where she was the interpreter of "Waka Waka", the official song of the World Cup that year, and he was one of the star players of the Spanish team. .

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Although Piqué appeared in the song's music video, it was not during the recordings that they were seen for the first time since, according to the singer herself in an interview in El Hormiguero, she filmed from Los Angeles and he from Spain.

It was in Madrid where they met for the first time.

Shakira was in the Spanish capital to perform at the Rock in Rio festival. "I was going to sing at Rock in Rio and then I was going to South Africa and he was also about to go to South Africa. And well, it was the first time we met "said the singer.

• Spanish regional court rules in favor of Shakira for improper tax surcharges

Piqué told the Catalan newspaper

in 2020 that he met Shakira in Madrid, before going to South Africa: "The first day I told her that we would meet in the final; I am always brave. She sang the World Cup anthem at the ceremony and I took it for granted that we would play that game. And we got to the World Cup and we started by losing the first game. But hey, in the end we won."

Several months later, in March 2011, the Colombian singer made their relationship official through her Twitter account, in which she published for the first time a photo in which she posed next to her boyfriend Piqué.

"She introduced Les to my sunshine," the tweet read. 

Four years later, in the midst of the preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Shakira released the song "Dare (La, La, La)", another World Cup hit in whose video the soccer player appears.

In the song "23", from 2017, Shakira sings: "

."

Piqué, with blue eyes, was 23 years old when he met Shakira.

Perhaps the most famous mention of Piqué in Shakira's music is in "La Bicicleta", a Latin American hit in which the singer collaborates with Carlos Vives.

The woman from Barranquilla says: "

."

How many children do Shakira and Piqué have?

After a year of officially starting their courtship, the couple celebrated the arrival of their first child.

Milan, who is currently 9 years old, was born in Barcelona in January 2013, according to a statement on the Colombian singer's website.

Milan was born on January 22 of that year in a hospital in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

The name chosen by his famous parents means dear, gracious and loving in Slavic.

The Colombian, who along with Piqué has been a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), took advantage of the curiosity of many to meet the newborn to promote her campaign to help underprivileged children at that time.

Shakira confirmed her second pregnancy a year and a half later, in August 2014, to the Mexican edition of

magazine .

On January 29, 2015, Sasha, her second child, was also born in Barcelona.

Shakira honors Piqué and his children in Barcelona 1:41

The separation

In 2017, the couple had silenced rumors of their separation: in September of that year, the defender published a photo of his partner and their two children on an Instagram Story with the message "Sunday. Family time."

In March 2022, after FC Barcelona's win over Real Madrid in the Spanish soccer classic, Shakira published a spicy post on her social networks.

Until that moment everything seemed to work well in the couple. 

But after a few days of intense rumors in the entertainment press about an alleged infidelity on the part of the FC Barcelona footballer, Shakira and Piqué finally announced their separation after 12 years of relationship.

• Shakira and Gerard Piqué confirm that they are separating

“We are sorry to confirm that we have parted ways.

For the well-being of our children, who are our highest priority, we request respect for (our) privacy.

Thank you for your understanding," the joint statement said.

Since then, both Shakira and Piqué have tried to reach an agreement and thus avoid going to trial for the custody of their two children.

The last few months have been difficult for the Colombian singer, who spoke publicly for the first time almost four months after announcing her separation from the soccer player in an interview with ELLE magazine in Spain, in which she said that this is "the darkest stage of my life".

And it is that to the media rupture is added the case for alleged tax fraud that he faces against the Spanish justice, the health problems of his father (one of his greatest emotional supports) and the hard time that his children are experiencing due to the separation of Pique.

"It's been hard not only for me, but for my kids as well. Unbelievably hard. I have paparazi camped out in front of my house, 24/7. And there's nowhere I can hide from them with my kids, except in my own house. You know, we can't take a walk in the park like a normal family or go for ice cream or do any activity without the photographers following us," Shakira told ELLE Spain.

Without giving details of why they ended, Shakira also said that, regardless of how things turned out with him, Piqué would continue to be the father of his children and that they will look for the best for them in the matter of custody.

But Shakira's artistic creation has not stopped and in the months after their separation, the Colombian has released three hit songs in which she talks about her breakup with Piqué.

The first was her together with Rauw Alejandro, Te Felicito, which she launched in August 2022;

months later she, together with the urban singer Ozuna, published Monotonía, a bachata in which she said she talks about the couple's day-to-day problems;

and in January 2023, together with the Argentine producer Bizarrap, she launched Session No. 53, in which she rains references and criticisms of the former soccer player.

Gerard Pique Shakira