The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup kicks off Sunday in Qatar – and many fans have noticed that for the first time since 1990, there is no official song.
Previous FIFA World Cup tournaments were hyped with anthemic bangers like “La Copa de la Vida (The Cup of Life)” by Ricky Martin in 1998, “Waka Waka” by Shakira ft. Freshlyground in 2010 and “We Are One (Ole Ola)” by Pitbull ft. Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte in 2014.
Some have been less memorable: In 1994, when the World Cup was hosted by the U.S., the official song was “Gloryland” by Daryl Hall and Sounds of Blackness. The 2006 song was “The Time of Our Lives” by Il Divo ft. Toni Braxton.
This time, FIFA chose instead to create an Official Soundtrack, described in a release as “a multi-song collection, featuring international artists across a variety of musical genres delivering smash hits.”
Among the songs that have been rolled out are “Hayya Hayya (Better Together)" by Trinidad Cardona with Davido and Aisha, “Arhbo” by Ozuna ft. GIMS and “Tukoh Taka” by Nicki Minaj, Maluma, and Myriam Fares. Canada’s Nora Fatehi is joined by Balqees, Rahma Riad and Manal on “Light the Sky.”
Some of the past official songs have been performed at the opening ceremony.
With only three days to go, FIFA has not announced the line-up of performers. (The show airs on TSN and CTV at 9 a.m. on Nov. 20).
In a Nov. 12 tweet, Big Hit Entertainment said BTS member Jung Kook “is part of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Soundtrack & will perform at the World Cup opening ceremony.”
Some artists have been reluctant to align themselves with FIFA World Cup 2022 due to its host country, which has an atrocious record of discrimination and human rights abuses.
Dua Lipa took to social media to deny reports that she was part of the line-up of performers at the opening ceremony. “I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform,” the pop star wrote in an Instagram Story. “I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.”
Spain’s Marca reported this week that Shakira dropped out, even though there was never confirmation that she was scheduled to perform. The singer has not yet commented on social media.
(Contrary to reports, Rod Stewart was never part of the opening ceremony – he has said that he turned down a lucrative offer to perform in Qatar more than a year ago.)
As in the past, many people are embracing unofficial World Cup songs recorded for various sponsors of the tournament – like Hyundai’s version of “Yet to Come” by BTS and Budweiser’s “The World Is Yours To Take” by Lil Baby.
Leading the way with unofficial anthems for the FIFA World Cup has been tournament sponsor Coca-Cola. It released a version of Queen’s 1986 track “A Kind of Magic” by Danna Paola, Felukah and Tamtam for this year’s World Cup – and, in previous years, has signed up artists like Jason Derulo and Maluma.
In 2010, Coca-Cola used “Wavin’ Flag” by Somali-Canadian artist K’Naan as its promotional anthem. Co-written and co-produced by Bruno Mars, the song had already been a hit in Canada twice (when K’Naan released it in 2009 and again when it was recorded by Young Artists for Haiti as a fundraiser for earthquake relief) but became a global success thanks to Coke.
In Canada, TSN and CTV – which will broadcast and stream matches from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18 – chose “Come Together” by homegrown rock duo Crown Lands to soundtrack coverage.
These are the biggest FIFA World Cup official songs:
“La Copa de la Vida (Cup of Life)” - Ricky Martin (France 1998)
Released in March 1998 as the second single from Martin’s fourth studio album Vuelve, it is widely considered to be the best World Cup song.
“Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” - Shakira ft. Freshlyground (South Africa 2010)
The song, which borrows from the Cameroonian song “Zamina mina (Zangaléwa),” was released in May 2020 and quickly became a global hit – it peaked at No. 11 in Canada. The music video has racked up a whopping 3.2 billion views on YouTube.
“We Are One (Ole Ola)” - Pitbull ft. Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte (Brazil 2014)
When this song, which counts Sia and Canada’s Henry “Circuit” Walter among its writers, was released in 2014, it was criticized for lacking a Brazilian vibe. A new version, with added percussion, was released. It peaked at No. 51 in Canada.
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