World Cup Closing Ceremony 2014: Recapping Best Moments from Maracana

While most people in attendance at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro were there to see Germany take on Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final, the fans were also treated to quite a show at the tournament's closing ceremony.

Before the match began, Brazil led a tremendous ceremony to signify the end of what has been an excellent month-long event. This performance included a number of stars as well as other dancers, singers and big props to make this a memorable moment.

The biggest star in attendance was Shakira, the Colombian performer who rocked the arena with her singing, dancing and even drumming:

Shakira sang "La La La (Brazil 2014)" with Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown, which has become an anthem for the 2014 World Cup. This led to a memorable performance not only for those watching but for the singer herself:

Amazingly, this is the third consecutive World Cup in which Shakira has performed. She sang "Waka Waka" at the 2010 event in South Africa after her hit "Hips Don't Lie" thrilled fans at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Based on the success of this past show, you can imagine the singer will be on the shortlist for performers in 2018.

Of course, Shakira was not the only one on stage on Sunday. The trio of Alexandre Pires, Carlos Santana and Wyclef Jean combined to sing the World Cup official anthem, “We Will Find A Way,” as captured by NDTV:

Ivete Sangalo then added some local flavor as the Brazilian singer performed to the home crowd.

These shows added to the ensemble dancing that was used to entertain the fans, as shown by Univision:

With this much excitement heading into the scheduled battle between Germany and Argentina, it was hard not to enjoy yourself.

The Germans ended up coming away with the World Cup title on a 1-0 victory in extra time. The match remained scoreless throughout regulation and appeared ready to go into penalty kicks, but a goal by Mario Goetze in the 113th minute ended up deciding the competition.

This drama helped ensure that this was a day that not many will forget.

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