World Cup Songs: 32 Countries, 32 Anthems For Qatar 2022

Australia: Down Under (Men At Work)

Success for Australia’s football team may be extremely limited, but their fans are among the most devoted in the world. Seeing them break out into Men At Work’s Down Under is a truly awesome spectacle, and we’re sure they’ll be busting their lungs bawling it once again in Qatar 2022.

Belgium: Warrior (Oscar And The Wolf)

One of the first World Cup songs selected by a national football governing body for Qatar 2022, Warrior is a rousing anthem delivered by Oscar And The Wolf singer Max Colombie, who wrote it about his travails with mental health. Belgium, one of the most admired teams of the past 20 years, have yet to reach their full potential: whether Warrior will finally push them to the World Cup in Qatar remains to be seen.

Brazil: Eu Soul Brasiliero (fan chant)

Brazil’s musical culture practically guarantees songs as beautiful as the game the national team plays so well. MC Kekel, a Brazilian singer, is responsible for Mlk É Luz, Al Rihla, the song for the Qatar World Cup’s official ball, made by Adidas. It’s a joyous piece of Latin EDM delivered in Portuguese. For those who prefer songs the fans chant, try Eu Sou Brasiliero (I Am Brazilian), originally used in a beer commercial in the 90s but adopted by fans ever since: the country’s legendary striker, Ronaldo, has been heard singing it.

Cameroon: Unknown Makossa

Cameroon, long a provider of dazzling, heart-lifting football, have a secret weapon. Before a match, they break out into song on the way to the pitch. It could be intimidating to opponents – the temptation to join in must be irresistible. Little wonder that their manager is the fittingly named Liverpool, Galatasaray and West Ham defender Rigobert Song. Check out this musical miracle:

Canada: Canada’s World Cup Song – Qatar 2022 (unofficial fan song)

Let’s not knock fans’ efforts at coming up with World Cup songs. They’ve driven teams to glory, though any lyric that starts with “Sweatpants, hey hey hey” may not be the most likely candidate for the term “anthem”. Still, this tribute to Canada’s Qatar 2022 qualifiers – the country’s first team to make it to the tournament proper since 1986 – will raise a smile. And a glass, probably.

Costa Rica: Vamos Los Ticos

Costa Rica had a hard route to the finals in 2022, including away losses to Canada and the US, but they finally made it through by vanquishing New Zealand in June. So we’ll be hearing Vamos Los Ticos at Qatar 2022, and if it doesn’t bring a Central American party vibe to the Middle East, nothing could.

Croatia: Jedna Je Croatia (Stole, Hiljson Mandela I Sestre Palic)

A fan song from Croatia by Stole and Hiljson Mandela I Sestre Palić, Jedna Je Croatia is a passionate slice of pure modern pop with a strong rap and a great female vocal chorus. You can feel the glory in the song… but will Qatar 2022 witness glory for Croatia? FIFA rank them 12th in the world at the time of writing, so they’re in with an outside chance.

Denmark: Skulder Ver Skulder (Lars Ankerstjerne with the Danish national football team)

The country whose supporters chant “We are red, we are white, we are Danish Dynamite” has a fan culture that’s among the most distinctive and hilarious in world football. They wear hats which have hands that clap when you pull a string, and they sway like they are on a boat while singing about, well, being on a boat. Their fans are called roligans – rolig means “calm” in Danish, and they are seen as anti-hooligans. In Qatar 2022, they’ll join in singing with team captain Simon Kjær’s official World Cup song, Skulder Ver Skulder (Shoulder To Shoulder), created with Danish rapper and singer Lars Ankerstjerne, with other team members offering very vocal support.

Ecuador: Yo Te Dare

Ecuador might be outsiders, but its thirst for football is unquenchable. Yo Te Dare is a song delivered by fans of Liga Deportiva Universitaria, Quito’s most successful team, especially when the team scores. It’s got a real sense of glory and tradition, but how many times we’ll hear it during Qatar 2022 is in the lap of the gods.

England: World In Motion (New Order with the English national team)

It was either this or Three Lions, which has been re-written for 2022. But we prefer the supple groove of World In Motion – one of a select few World Cup songs featuring actual players that doesn’t make you want to tear up your ticket. Created by New Order and the England squad in 1990, it still moved hearts and balls all over England.

France: Ramenez La Coupe À La Maison (Vegedream)

There aren’t many stirring patriotic football songs that cross national borders to find success, but Ramenez La Coupe À La Maison (Bring The Cup Back Home) sure did. Vegedream, a French R&B artist, released it a few days after France’s men’s team won the 2018 World Cup – nice timing – and two weeks later it hit No.1 in his homeland. But it was not done. Strong enough to be enjoyed by a non-Francophone audience, the song rose again in 2021 through social media to chart in 14 countries, going platinum in Sweden, Denmark and Spain. We have not heard the last of it: expect it to become a favourite among World Cup songs for Qatar 2022.

Germany: Schland (Uwu Lena)

This one’s a bit crazy, but deserves notice among the best World Cup songs. Pop singer Lena, from Hanover, took the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest title with Satellite, a hit across continental Europe. It was so catchy, it tempted a student band from Münster, Uwu Lena, to cover it as Schland O Schland, so named because “schland” is short for Deutschland. A bizarre video, with one bearded member donning wig and a dress in an affectionate “tribute” to Lena, helped make it a favourite among German football fans. The band’s name is a combination of “Lena”, German football legend “Uwe Seeler” and the dreaded vuvuzela, the honking instrument that was ubiquitous at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Like the best football songs, it is not continually triumphant, but it’s still moving.

Ghana: Oseiye (All Stars)

Ghana has such a vibrant musical culture, there are literally dozens of songs that pay tribute to its ball-taming heroes, the Black Stars. We’ve gone for Oseiye, an official song for the team from the 2000s. If a joyous tune like this can’t lift your squad, what could?

Iran: Iran Iran (Arash)

Arash is an Iranian-Swedish singer who’s made it a speciality to delver football songs – he’s mad for the beautiful game. Iran Iran was his 2008 tribute to Iranian football, full of thunderous drums and moody and suitably mystical horn parts. And what a chant! It has since accompanied, unofficially, Iran’s forays into the World Cup group games in 2014, 2018 and now Qatar 2022. They’ve got the song; they’ve got the will. Have they got the skills?

Japan: Campione Nippon (Samurai Blue)

Campione Nippon is a bit of an oldie, but it’s a classic 1993 pop-house song with all the brittle synth patches and underpowered drum machine sounds you’d expect, plus keyboards that aim to sound like those heard on Crystal Waters’ Gypsy Woman, but not quite getting there. There are no ringers: the Samurai Blue team are singing – if it were session men, it’d be more tuneful. Not as aspirational as Japanese fans’ moving versions of Aida, but we rank it as the second coolest World Cup song after World In Motion…

Mexico: Cielito Lindo (traditional song)

World Cup songs can come from any source. Mexican fans are famed for Cielto Lindo, a folk song which dates back at least as far as 1882. Even if you don’t know the title, you’ll know the chorus, which has been chanted on packed terraces worldwide as “We all agree… [insert name of team/player here] are magic!”

Morocco: Cherifian Anthem (Moroccan national anthem)

Sometimes only a country’s national anthem expresses the passion needed to place it among the best World Cup songs. Here are fans of Morocco singing the Cherifian Anthem as only they can…

Netherlands: Holland Is De Kampioen (Zware Jongens)

You have had it easy so far: here is a genuine stomping pub chant guaranteed to drive you nuts if you are not Dutch and full of lager. Credited to Zware Jongens – which translates as “Heavy Boys” – Holland Is De Kampioen took its place among the most memorable World Cup songs in 2008, and has rattled around in tired and emotional orange-coloured brains ever since. Is Holland De Kampuioen? Not yet in the World Cup, though they’ve come second three times. Close, but no cigar…

Poland: Football Football (Maryla Rodowicz)

Maryla Rodowicz is 20 albums and half a century into her career as a singer and actress, having risen to fame when Poland was behind the Iron Curtain. In 1974 she recorded Futbol, a tribute to the game that takes your mind off your troubles and gives you something else to fret about! In 1974 she made an appearance singing the song at the World Cup opening ceremony in Munich. Often called Football Football, the record is not modern, it’s not fashionable, but it keeps reappearing as one of her nation’s favourite World Cup songs, and it has somehow retained its innocent delight in the game. Rodowicz remains a star and will no doubt be asked to sing Football Football again on Polish TV during Qatar 2022.

Portugal: Vai Portugal! (Kika)

Some say Portugal’s chances at Qatar 2022 are slim. They say Ronaldo is too old to make the vital difference. Then again, many pundits didn’t think they’d win Euro 2016. Kika’s Vai Portugal!, released for the 2014 World Cup, will probably help. This entirely perky, stompingly upbeat, almost mindlessly happy tribute to Portugal’s passion for football is guaranteed to make you feel better, win or lose.

Qatar: Hayya Hayya (Better Together) (Trinidad Cardona, Davido and Aisha)

We are handing over to FIFA for Qatar’s World Cup song, because the hosts are welcoming the world, and the official anthem for the 2022 World Cup makes that perfectly clear: Hayya Hayya means “better together”. Performed by American-Mexican-African vocalist Trinidad Cardona, Nigerian-American singer Davido and Qatari singer Aisha, it’s a message of unity. Let’s hope that message gets across to the ultras when one of football’s heavyweights fails to reach the knockout stages! With a touch of Arabic mystery, a cool reggae skank rhythm and a chorus worthy of a pop anthem, FIFA and Qatar have played a blinder here, delivering one of the best World Cup songs of the 21st century.

Saudi Arabia: A Kind Of Magic (Tamtam, Danna Paola and Felukah)

Sounds kinda familiar… Yup, this entry among the best World Cup songs is Queen’s anthem made over by Saudi Arabia’s Tamtam in an international collaboration with Mexican singer Danna Paola and Egyptian rapper Felukah. It’s decent dance-pop, too, with a synth sound straight out of 90s dancehall but given a swoony Arabian melody to play with, plus the inevitable tribal drums. Part of Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of Qatar 2022. We’ll drink (alcohol-free) to that.

Senegal: Gainde (Les Lions) (Black M, featuring Youssou N’Dour)

The Lions Of Teranga are going to Qatar 2022 full of confidence as the champions of African football. Their fans will bring the party, hoping the squad will become the first side from the continent to claim the World Cup. There is no shortage of top World Cup songs to help them on their way, few more touching than Black M’s Gainde (Les Lions), which features the legendary founder of mbalax music, Youssou N’Dour. It sounded great at the last World Cup, and it won’t be any less fitting for this one.

Serbia: Bože Pravde (Serbian national anthem)

There are other Serbian patriotic songs, there are songs about sport, there are Serbian hip-hop artists, such as Rasta, who are making music ready for the world cup. But Bože Pravde, the Serbian national anthem, is taken so seriously that Adem Ljajic, one of the best No.10s in Europe during the 2010s, was banned from selection for not singing it. It’s been the country’s national anthem since 2006, and you can bet the team will deliver it with full-throated passion before every game.

South Korea: Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment) (BTS)

South Korea may rule 21st-century pop, but ruling football is yet to come. Here we have Earth-conquering boy band BTS delivering a tribute to booting a ball around, on Yet To Come (the Hyundai Version, because they are very much linked to the car company). Hard to imagine it replacing You’re Not Singing Anymore on a wind-smashed January afternoon at Oldham’s Boundary Park, but full marks for enthusiasm.

Spain: Toke (Chanel Terrero) / El Mundial (Placido Domingo)

Spain’s FIFA World Cup 2022 song is Chanel Terrero’s Toke, a steady, rousing stomper from the Havana-born chanteuse. But as fans with long memories and emotional vulnerabilities, we are still shivering from the impact of Placido Domingo’s official song for the 1982 tournament in Spain, El Mundial, which throws in every Spanish musical trope imaginable, as if Hemingway penned it at a bullfight.

Switzerland: Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond/Swedish national team)

As a small mountainous country, the Swiss make efficient use of resources, such as nurturing crops in tiny strips by major roads and airports because of a lack of arable land. And they’re not interested in wasting time writing World Cup songs when the classic Sweet Caroline will do nicely. In fact, their players broke into Neil Diamond’s ditty at a celebratory meal when they qualified with a 4-0 win over Bulgaria in November 2021. Sweet indeed.

Tunisia: Let’s Go La Tunisie

If you want to see spontaneous and joyous fan chanting, turn to Tunisia. For something more organised, try Ze Gacha and Lamjed’s Let’s Go La Tunisie, a buoyant slice of dance music with an emphatic rap and the sort of rough edges that makes it feel like something true fans would have put together. Didn’t they used to call this kind of groove hip-house?

Uruguay: Cielo De Un Solo Color (No Te Va Gustar)

Sometimes an unofficial song becomes an unstoppable part of a country’s World Cup efforts, and this magnificent ballad from Uruguayan indie-rockers No Te Va Gustar became the soundtrack to their country’s passionate play at Russia 2018. La Celeste’s team is formidable this time around, too: ranked 14th in the world, they are outsiders for sure, but on top form. Who’s to say Qatar 2022 couldn’t see them emulate their world-beating performances in 1930 and 1950?

USA: We Love Ya/I Will Follow Him

US soccer fans are an organised bunch: many devotees join the American Outlaws, a supporters’ organisation similar to English cricket’s Barmy Army. Their website has lyrics for chants, and one of the best is We Love Ya, based on Peggy March’s 1963 US smash hit, I Will Follow Him. Starting life as an instrumental called Chariot, by French composer Franck Pourcel, the tune was given English-language lyrics by Norman Gimbel, and Petula Clark was the first to record it as I Will Follow Him. The song grew more famous as the finale to 1993’s Whoopi Goldberg comedy Sister Act.

Wales: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

Welsh football fans have other, more directly patriotic songs to deliver, such as Men Of Harlech and Yma O Hyd, and fans of other teams have also adopted Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. But we reckon no supporters can invest the song with as much glee as those of the Dragons. Iechyd da!

Looking for more? Check out the best football songs of all time.