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The World Cup officially began in 1930, but it was only 60 years later that FIFA began adopting the songs that would become the official anthems of the global soccer tournament, which takes place every four years. We selected the hits that marked the past years.
Regardless of which of them has been the most popular and loudest to date, each of the official anthems not only marked the World Cup, but also changed the careers of the performers who performed them. This was the case with Ricky Martin, who in 1998 recorded a song for the soccer spectacle that took place in France that year, but also Shakira's euphoric "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" which marked this story in 2010 in South Africa.
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However, there were other songs as well.
It is worth noting that songs inspired by the World Cup have been published since 1962, but not all of them have been adopted by FIFA. These, which you will find below in chronological order, are recognized as official FIFA theme songs and anthems.
1990 (Italy)
The official song for the 1990 World Cup in Italy was "Un'estate italiana (To be number one)" performed by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini in Italian and the Giorgio Moroder Project in English. Today it has 2.4 million views on YouTube.
1994 (United States of America)
The 1994 World Cup was held in the United States with the song "Gloryland" as the official anthem that year. The soulful track, driven by saxophone, was performed by rock, R&B and soul musician Daryl Hall and the vocal-instrumental ensemble Sounds of Blackness.
Today it has over 1.4 million views on YouTube.
1998 (France)
FIFA released the official song and official anthem for the 1998 World Cup in France. Youssou N'Dour and Axelle Red's was the official anthem called "La Cour des Grands (Do you mind if I play)", while the official song was Ricky Martin's "Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida)" recorded in English and the Spanish language.
Martin's track - which was a springboard for his career - won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance.
2002 (South Korea and Japan)
For the World Cup held in South Korea and Japan, FIFA named the song "Let's Get Together" performed by various local artists as the official local song of the tournament.
The official song from 2002 was "Boom" by dance artist Anastacia, while the official anthem was "Anthem" by Vangelis. Today she has over 5 million views on YouTube.
2006 (Germany)
The 2006 World Cup in Germany featured Il Divo and Toni Braxton's "The Time of Our Lives" as the official song, while the official anthem was "Zeit dass sich was dreht (Celebrate the Day)" by Herbert Grönemeyer with Amadou & Mariam.
2010 (South Africa)
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa had three official songs that accompanied the tournament: the official song, the official mascot song and the official anthem. The official song was "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)" performed in Spanish and English by Colombian star Shakira.
Her hit was and remains the most popular song from SP ever. With more than 3 billion views on YouTube to date, "Waka Waka" has peaked at number 38 on the Hott 100 chart since July 3, 2010. The official mascot song was "Game On" by Pitbull, TKZee and Dario G and "Sign of a Victory" as the official anthem sung by R.
Kelly and performed by the Soweto Spiritual Singers.
2014 (Brazil)
Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian star Claudia Leitte have teamed up for the trilingual (English, Spanish and Portuguese) official track, the samba-driven "Ole Ola (We Are One)".
The official mascot song was "Tatu Bom de Bola", sung in Portuguese by Arlindo Cruz, and the official anthem was "Dar um Jeito (We'll Find a Way)" by Carlos Santana featuring Wyclef, Avicii and Alexandre Pires.
2018 (Russia)
For the 2018 World Cup held in Russia, FIFA only released the official song titled "Live It Up" by Nicky Jam featuring Will Smith and Era Istrefi, which was performed during the closing ceremony of the tournament.
The song was recorded in Spanish and English.
2022 (Qatar)
For this year, FIFA announced that the official song for the spectacle in Qatar is "Hayya Hayya (Better Together)", performed by Trinidad Cardon, David and Aish.
The official soundtrack will contain several official songs including "Arhbo" by Ozuna and Gimsa, Light the Sky" by the female trio Balqees, Nora Fatehi and Rahma Riad, while the Latin-Arabic combination with a touch of rap "Tukoh Taka" which attracted the most attention performed by Latin star Maluma, American rapper Nicki Minaj and Lebanese artist Myriam Fares.
