Colombian pop star Shakira on Wednesday gave dance lessons to the children of South Africa's biggest black township. She taught the dance moves of the World Cup song and afterwards, called for the tournament's legacy to be education for all.

The Grammy-award winning musician will perform at a concert on Thursday, the eve of the World Cup tournament's opening, along with other artists like the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys. This is the first time the tournament will be held in the Afrcian continent.

Shakira, who is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), went to Soweto's Isu'lihle Primary School as part of her philanthropic duties to campaign the need to educate the young.

"It's (World Cup) a great opportunity to bring all the attention to issues as important as education," Shakira told reporters while touring the school.

"Seventy-two million kids around the world (are) not able to attend school, of which 32 million are African. So this is our chance to make this World Cup's lasting legacy education for all."

Shakira will sing the official World Cup theme "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", along with a local music group called Freshly Ground, at the concert.