Before Colombia's baseball team took the field at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Pipe Bueno walked out to sing for roughly 18,000 fans, most of them wearing Puerto Rican jerseys. The Medellín-raised singer and songwriter performed the Colombian national anthem as part of the pre-game ceremony ahead of Colombia's opening game at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, the international tournament organized by Major League Baseball that puts the sport's best national programs on the same global stage every four years.

Group A of the 2026 edition was hosted entirely in San Juan, where Puerto Rico welcomed Colombia, Cuba, Canada, and Panama at Hiram Bithorn Stadium from March 6 through March 11. Colombia has been building toward this appearance for years. The national team rampaged through the 2025 WBC qualifier with a perfect 3-0 record and arrived in Puerto Rico with a roster that included MLB-caliber pitching talent. In two prior World Baseball Classic appearances, Colombia had yet to advance out of the group stage, making 2026 the clearest opportunity yet for the program to break through. World Baseball Softball Confederation + 2

Pipe Bueno Carries the Anthem Before Colombia's Biggest Baseball Stage

The opening night crowd was loud enough to hear from the stadium parking lot, and the atmosphere inside reflected Puerto Rico's deep connection to the game, with former MLB stars Carlos Delgado, Pudge Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Beltrán, and Edgar Martínez taking part in first-pitch ceremonies. Pipe Bueno's performance preceded all of it. The singer, born Andrés Felipe Giraldo Bueno in Cali and raised in Medellín, has been a prominent figure in Colombian popular music since his breakout single "Recostada en la Cama" pushed him to national fame. He has since collaborated with Maluma, Wisin, and J Álvarez, expanding his reach well beyond the música popular and vallenato circuits where he built his name. MLBTheCityCeleb

"It's an honor to represent Colombia at an international event like the World Baseball Classic," Bueno said. "Singing our national anthem at a moment that brings so many Colombians together around sports fills me with great pride."

Colombia faced Puerto Rico in the pool's opening game on March 6 at 7:00 PM local time, with 18,793 fans in attendance. Puerto Rico won 5-0 behind a dominant fifth inning that produced all five of its runs. Seth Lugo, who described himself as "Quarter-Rican," held Colombia to three hits across four scoreless innings. Despite the result, the Colombian squad stayed competitive through the tournament, and the national anthem performance gave the debut a ceremony that matched the weight of the occasion.

A Season of High-Profile Stages for Pipe Bueno

The San Juan performance was not an isolated moment. In late January, Pipe Bueno performed at halftime of the international friendly between Inter Miami CF and Atlético Nacional at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot in Medellín. The halftime show took place as the match paused with Atlético Nacional holding a 1-0 lead, before Inter Miami mounted a second-half comeback to win 2-1. Lionel Messi, who was central to the comeback, left the pitch in the 75th minute to a standing ovation from the Medellín crowd. The venue was close to capacity, and the event attracted significant attention across Latin American sports media. Diario Deportivo DiezColombiaOne

The WBC anthem followed a stretch of activity in Pipe Bueno's recording career as well. He recently released "Ya Te Superé," described by his team as a track about heartbreak and personal forward movement, and in late March he and longtime collaborator Luis Alfonso dropped "A.M.O.R," a romance-driven single built around the flirtatious back-and-forth that has defined a significant portion of his catalog. In September 2025, he completed his first U.S. tour, with stops in Miami, New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. Wikipedia

The national anthem at a tournament watched by fans across Latin America and the Colombian diaspora in the United States put Bueno in front of an audience that does not always follow música popular. For an artist whose fanbase has grown steadily through live performance and streaming, the platform in San Juan represents the kind of visibility that rarely comes through radio or touring alone.