What’s Your All-Time Favorite World Cup Song? Vote!
Written by djfrosty on November 8, 2022
Fútbol fans around the world are counting down the days until the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off on Nov. 20 in Qatar. To get pumped for the big day, many already have their favorite official World Cup song on repeat.
In 1990, almost sixty years after the first-ever edition of the World Cup, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) began to adopt songs that would become the official soundtrack of the global soccer event, which happens every four years.
Of course, some have become more memorable than others. There’s Ricky Martin‘s “Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida),” which in 1998 was the euphoric official FIFA song for the tournament that took place that year in France. It originally peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998 and re-entered the chart at No. 45 in August 1999. The international smash hit also won a Grammy for best Latin pop performance.
Twelve years later, for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Shakira gifted fútbol fans the ultimate soccer song. She released “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)” in collaboration with Freshlyground. The tournament’s official song was recorded in Spanish and English. With more than 3 billion views on YouTube to date, the track peaked at No. 38 on the Hot 100 chart dated July 3, 2010.
Other World Cup official songs or anthems that made a splash are Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte’s song “Ole Ola (We Are One)” for the 2016 Mundial in Brazil. And don’t forget Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi’s official song titled “Live It Up.”
While we wait for the soccer event to begin, vote for your favorite all-time World Cup song below.