You Can’t Define the Sound of the World Cup–But You Can Be A Part of It
My first World Cup memory wasn’t of an awe-inspiring goal, a nerve-wracking penalty shoot-out or an ill-timed red card. No. My first memory was of Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin performing “The Cup of Life” during the closing ceremony of the 1998 FIFA World Cup-singing as the crowd echoed the iconic lyrics “allez, allez, allez” ( “go, go, go” in French).
Soccer anthems unite fans
You see, despite being Colombian, I didn’t grow up in a family of avid soccer fans. (Did you know the World Cup ranks second only to Christmas as the biggest holiday for Latinos?¹ Well, not my family) My mother loved music and dancing. My father loved tennis. I love all three, so my gateway into the beautiful game growing up was its music. But not just any music-soccer anthems. Every four years, these anthems unite fútbol fans big and small as we raise our flags, tug proudly at our jerseys, and cheer on our national teams on soccer’s biggest global stage: the FIFA World Cup. And in a tournament featuring 48 teams from around the world, anthems are often asked to do the impossible-to reflect a mix of cultures, languages, and identities in a single song.
Music is a part of World Cup engagement strategies
It’s a tall order, yet history has managed to give us some very memorable FIFA anthems, including the biggest of them all, Shakira and Freshlyground’s “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This juggernaut of a hit not only has more than 4 billion views on YouTube, it also holds the Guinness World Record as the most-streamed World Cup song.² Since then, FIFA has released anthem after anthem hoping to replicate the magic- with mixed results. In 2021, the organization even launched its FIFA Sound strategy³ to further bridge the gap between soccer aficionados and music fans, resulting in the release of a full official soundtrack for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Of course, FIFA isn’t the only one looking to capitalize on how music fuels World Cup fandom. Brands have long been looking to be a part of the action. For the 2014 World Cup, FIFA chose “We Are One (Ole Ola)” as its official anthem, performed by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and Claudia Leitte. That same year, Shakira once again made a splash with her own unofficial World Cup anthem, “La La La” ft. Carlinhos Brown, released in partnership with Activia to support the World Food Programme’s School Meals Initiative. The music video was so successful it was crowned the most shared ad globally, at the time.⁴
Similarly, since at least 2010, Coca-Cola has released promotional anthems as part of its World Cup strategy. In fact, it recently released “Jump,” performed by J Balvin, Amber Mark, Travis Barker, and Steve Vai, as part of its 2026 World Cup campaign.
Lean in where audiences are listening
Yet despite efforts by FIFA and brands to define the sound of the tournament, no one entity can predict which song-or songs-will become synonymous with a World Cup. Because fans-not brands-decide what resonates. For advertisers, that’s both the opportunity and the challenge heading into this year’s tournament.
As the United States prepares to host the world alongside Canada and Mexico, fans are already pressing play on their favorite soccer anthems. When Jelly Roll and Carín León released “Lighter” on March 20-the first single from the 2026 FIFA World Cup soundtrack-the song quickly gained traction on Pandora, amassing 1.7M streams in a month.⁵
And fans aren’t just listening to new releases-they’re revisiting beloved classics. From the start of the year through early April, we saw a surge across these iconic World Cup anthems:⁵
- +1,142% increase in streams for Ricky Martin’s “La Copa de la Vida” (Spanish version)
- +147% increase in streams for “La La La” by Shakira ft. Carlinhos Brown
- +116% increase in streams for “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” by Shakira ft. Freshlyground
- +111% increase in streams for Ricky Martin’s “The Cup of Life” (English version)
While many brands focus on creating a defining song or partnership to capture World Cup fever, they often overlook a simpler truth: You don’t have to own the moment to be part of it. The opportunity isn’t to compose the soundtrack of the 2026 World Cup-it’s to show up consistently where fans are already streaming it.
Author
Carolina Moreno
Senior Manager, Sales Marketing,
SiriusXM Media
Sources
1.Telemundo Media, THE FUTURE IS FÚTBOL 2022
3. https://www.sportico.com/leagues/soccer/2021/fifa-launches-new-entertainmenty-fifa-sound-1234620196/ or https://www.billboard.com/music/features/world-cup-anthems-shakira-ricky-martin-1236176538/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWaka%20Waka%E2%80%9D%20had%20all%20the,in%20her%20Latin%20fan%20base.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-269B-1264
4. Pandora Internal Metrics, January – April 2026