Photo. Most of the time it is the music that stays with us longest.
A New World Cup, New Songs, New Memories. Soon the world will gather again for another football World Cup. The next World Cup will take place from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, July 19, 2026. The tournament will be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, featuring 48 teams and 104 matches over 39 days. New stadiums will fill with noise, new heroes will appear, and somewhere a new song will begin playing before kick-off, a song that might follow us for years after the tournament ends.
Hearing Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira still takes me back to South Africa in 2010. The sound of drums, dancing crowds, and people from every corner of the world celebrating together made football feel bigger than sport itself.
Years before that, Ricky Martin gave the world La Copa de la Vida, a song that felt impossible not to sing along to. Stadiums turned into giant festivals, and suddenly football had its own global soundtrack.
Then came Brazil in 2014. Jennifer Lopez joined Pitbull and Claudia Leitte for We Are One (Ole Ola). The song carried the colour and movement of Brazil with intense samba rhythms, beach energy, and the feeling that for one month the world could dance together. It was joyful, loud, and made even neutral fans feel part of the celebration.
Some football songs were not even official anthems. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes became legendary because fans made it their own. One simple chant connected thousands of voices into one heartbeat.
And in England, Three Lions became more than a song. It became hope itself, the dream that football might finally “come home.”
My personal favourite has always been Ireland’s football songs from the Jack Charlton era, especially “Jack’s Heroes” by The Pogues & The Dubliners, and “Put 'Em Under Pressure” and “Joxer Goes to Stuttgart”, often remembered alongside the spirit of “Jack’s Heroes.”
Those songs never sounded polished or commercial. They sounded real. You could hear pubs full of singing supporters, nervous excitement before kick-off, and ordinary people believing their team could do something extraordinary.
“Jack’s Heroes” is the song that really captured Ireland’s greatest football dream. It is one of the most loved football songs in Irish history. Released during the 1990 World Cup in Italy, it became the soundtrack to Ireland’s unforgettable adventure in Italy under manager Jack Charlton.
As the sing along on the chorus:
Too-ra-loo, too-ra-loo
Too-ra-loo, too-ra-loo
And we'll follow Jack's heroes, whatever they do
What made the song special was its warmth and honesty. It did not feel like a corporate football anthem written in a studio far from the game. It felt like Ireland itself, it`s hopeful, emotional, funny, and proud.
The song celebrated ordinary players becoming national heroes. Ireland was not expected to compete with football’s biggest nations, but under Jack Charlton the team played with courage and belief. As the country watched the World Cup together, streets filled with flags, pubs overflowed with singing fans, and football became part of everyday life.
Listening to “Jack’s Heroes” today still feels nostalgic. You can almost picture crowded Dublin pubs, old televisions glowing in living rooms, and entire families singing together after dramatic matches.
For many Irish people, the song represents more than football. It reminds them of a rare moment when the whole country felt united behind one dream. That is why it still survives decades later, not because of charts or marketing, but because it captured a real emotion that people never wanted to lose.
That is why football songs matter. They are not just background music to tournaments. They become part of our memories as the voices, the streets, the summer nights, and the feeling that football can unite millions of strangers for a few unforgettable weeks.
“We Are the Champions” by Queen may not have been written for football, but it became one of the greatest sports anthems ever created. The Sound of Victory. The song is powerful because it captures the emotion that comes after struggle — the feeling of surviving pressure, setbacks, and doubt before finally reaching victory.
When Freddie Mercury sings: “We are the champions, my friends…”, it feels personal, almost like a conversation between players and supporters who suffered together to reach the top. That is why the song became deeply connected to football and the World Cup. After finals, trophy ceremonies, and unforgettable victories, stadium speakers often play it while fans sing with scarves in the air and tears in their eyes.
Like many great World Cup songs, it became more than music. It became part of the memories: packed stadiums, painted faces, summer nights, and the feeling that for one month, the whole world was connected through the game.
These songs matter because they capture emotion better than words. They remind us where we were, who we celebrated with, and how football can unite strangers for one unforgettable moment.
A great World Cup song does not just belong to a tournament. It becomes part of people’s lives forever.
Stein Morten Lund, May 2026
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