A Brief History of FIFA World Cup Anthems: From 1962 Chile to Shakira's 'Waka Waka'
FIFA's tradition of official pop anthems is far younger than most fans assume. It wasn't until Italy 1990 that then-president João Havelange approved Giorgio Moroder's "Un'estate italiana" as the first officially sanctioned World Cup pop song, released in Italian, Spanish and English versions for different markets. Ironically, the tournament's more lasting pop-culture moment came from something FIFA didn't commission at all: the BBC's own choice of Luciano Pavarotti's aria "Nessun Dorma," whose pre-final performance alongside Plácido Domingo and José Carreras drew an estimated global audience of 800 million.
Before FIFA's official anthem era
Before Moroder's 1990 track, FIFA had already commissioned Ennio Morricone to score "El Mundial" for Argentina 1978 — the first commissioned World Cup theme in tournament history, though it never carried the "official FIFA pop song" designation.
The tradition runs even further back, to Uruguay's inaugural 1930 World Cup, when organizers adopted Omar Odriozola's four-year-old composition "Uruguayos Campeones" as the basis for a local celebratory march — a grassroots musical identity with no FIFA involvement.
Chile 1962 marked another turning point. Local musician Jorge Rojas led his band Los Ramblers in writing "El Rock del Mundial," a track specifically composed for the tournament that blended rock with referee whistle sounds. It remains the best-selling single in Chilean history. FIFA's own official weekly revisited the song in 2014, noting that "the combination of hand-clap rhythm and referee whistles made it an instant favorite," and crediting the Chilean track as the moment World Cup pop songs were first "put into practice."
The official era: Ricky Martin, Shakira and FIFA Sound
After 1990, FIFA began actively partnering with the pop world. Ricky Martin brought Latin flair to France 1998 with "La Copa de la Vida," while Anastacia's "Boom" soundtracked the 2002 Korea/Japan tournament. The highest-streaming World Cup song in FIFA history remains Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," recorded with South African band Freshlyground for South Africa 2010, which topped charts worldwide.
In 2021, FIFA partnered with Universal Music Group to launch FIFA Sound, a label-like music division that embeds A&R staff to scout football-themed songs from across UMG's roster. The official album for the 2026 World Cup, Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Album, features 18 tracks and has already surpassed 300 million streams globally.