Every four years, the FIFA World Cup attracts billions of viewers and a new race begins to create its defining soundtrack. Official anthems compete with unofficial tracks for the chance to become the next legendary World Cup anthem. Now, generative AI has made that competition more crowded than ever. But what does it take to create a World Cup anthem that stands the test of time?
The history of the World Cup anthem
The FIFA World Cup tournament has been held since 1930. The tradition of a World Cup song dates back to 1962, when the tournament was held in Chile. It began with “El Rock del Mundial” which translates to “World Cup rock” and continued with “World Cup Willie” in 1966.
Unofficial World Cup anthems
Worlc Cup songs have taken different directions through the years. Shakiras “Waka Waka” remains one of the most popular official World Cup songs ever. Ironically, the Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan’s unofficial World Cup song “Wavin’ Flag” became one of the most popular World Cup songs ever, in the same year. Other popular unofficial World Cup songs include “Carnaval de Paris” by Dario G from 1998, “Ramenez la coupe à la maison” by Vegedream from 2018 and more recently IShowSpeed’s “World Cup” from 2022.
The trend has grown with each tournament. In 2026, the streaming giant Deezer reported that over 270 tracks titled “World Cup 2026” had been uploaded to the platform before the tournament had even started.
For artists, releasing unofficial World Cup songs makes it possible to capitalize on the global hype while also maintaining musical freedom. And for artists like K’naan, a timeless World Cup song can become a gateway for new fans and a lasting source of income.
The influx of AI songs
What is new for this year’s tournament is the influx of AI-generated songs. Over 70% of all World Cup songs uploaded to Deezer were AI-generated.
The most famous example stands in the form of “Imbattables” which is an AI-generated unofficial anthem for the French national team. The song has racked up over 5 million streams by the time of writing.
Another example is the “artist” Cupra Nation which has released six songs for different nations competing in the World Cup. The most successful one named “Brasil” has been streamed over 1 million times.
An AI-generated song and music video titled “We Are One (If You Can Pay),” created by YouTuber demonflyingfox to mock the expensive ticket prices, has already racked up over 700,000 views in just over two weeks.
These examples show how AI has made it easier than ever to mass produced tournament-themed songs and upload them to streaming platforms.
The creation of FIFA Sound
Music has long played an important role in FIFA‘s cultural identity. In 2021, FIFA Sound was created in collaboration with Universal Music, the world’s largest music company. It was a way for FIFA to make music a bigger part of its brand. For this year’s tournament, a compilation album of the different World Cup songs was created. The album features major names such as Future, Tyla, Shakira and Burna Boy. On Spotify, FIFA Sound is credited as the artist and now has several monthly listeners.
In 2022, FIFA introduced the possibility for each nation to choose their own song while scoring a goal. The song is then played over the PA system at the arena. Even though many countries choose traditional dance anthems, some countries including Spain, Iraq and Sweden chose their official World Cup anthem.
Conclusion
The race to create a long-lasting World Cup anthem is not only in the hands of FIFA. For every World Cup, the number of unofficial World Cup songs rises. In addition to this, generative AI tools have made it significantly easier for anyone to create songs and upload them to streaming services. What the future holds for World Cup anthems remains uncertain, but the number of songs will almost certainly continue to grow.