A celebration for every goal: Which are the songs lighting up Qatar 2022

The FIFA World Cup is undoubtedly the greatest show on Earth, with the 32 participating teams delivering unprecedented emotions and a huge sense of belonging to the sets of fans who are watching the competition both at home and on-site.

Qatar 2022 has been touted to be the “greatest ever edition” of the FIFA World Cup by FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, with the first-ever edition of the tournament held in the Middle East offering superb conditions for all stakeholders, including players and fans alike.

The state-of-the-art stadiums, tailor-made for a unique experience, also help, as well as some details that really hit the hearts of the fans, every time their favourites take the pitch to try and write history.

For the first time ever, FIFA has decided to enhance that experience and bring the teams closer to home, with a tweak after every goal scored, which definitely brought more spice to the table, creating the perfect setting for fans and players.

Every goal is a unique rush of adrenaline, a moment of joy that reverberates throughout the whole world, from the fisted clench of the player who scores, to the smiles and tears that tppear on the fans’ faces.

But any moment is better with music, right? Songs have played an increasingly bigger part at the FIFA World Cup, starting from the official anthem of the competition, with superb songs that have resisted the test of time, like “Notte Magiche” for the 1990 FIFA World Cup or “Waka Waka” at South Africa 2010, to unofficial anthems that have been widely regarded as the go-to song whenever a team plays, like “Sweet Caroline” for England.

Therefore, FIFA took the decision of allowing every team to celebrate their goals with their own special tune, as each side submitted to organisers up to two songs to be played over the stadium PA whenever they score. Each entry was closely inspected and vetted by FIFA, with all passing the test with flying colours.

Probably the most known song picked by three teams – England, Poland and Switzerland – is Gala’s “Freed from Desire”, the anthem of choice when everybody thinks about football.

An Eurodance song written and recorded by Italian singer and songwriter Gala in 1996 became an instant hit in the last decade, with some viral compilations being brought forward by a rework of British fans.

It was brought to a cult-like status after Northern Ireland qualified for the UEFA EURO 2016 and the lyrics were rewritten by the fans, “Will Grigg’s On Fire” being sung time and time again and even replaced with whatever striker is on-form for British teams like England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland.

“Mi Gran Noche” was heard seven times after Spain delivered the biggest win of the first round of the group phase, 7-0, against Costa Rica. Rapahel’s hit was created in 1967, is one of the most recognizable and popular songs from Spain and a true classic that follows closely “La Furia Roja” throughout the tournaments that they take part in.

There are other throwbacks, too, as Wales chose Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400”, a foot-tapping earworm that became the go-to anthem for plenty of teams throughout football in the world, while France went back to the basics and emulated their 1998 FIFA World Cup triumph, with British rock band, Blur, and its “Song 2”, a pure rock anthem that embraces the whole stadium whenever it is played.

Other countries like Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Portugal or the Republic of Korea have gone to their roots.

While the latter resorted to one of their most popular K-Pop bands, BTS, with “IDOL” blaring through the speakers whenever they score a goal, Brazil, renowned for their feel-good attitude, chose “Esquentado O Couro” from the Escola de Samba – or Samba School in English. A South American song, “Samba do Janeiro”, the old-school dance tune by Bellini, was also chosen by the Netherlands, while Lionel Messi’s penalty against Saudi Arabia was followed by “Luz Delito” from Argentinian rapper WOS, as the USA chose “Feel so Good”, a song by rapper Mase.

One of Canada’s options is Drake’s appearance on Meek Mill’s “Going Bad,” but it is Germany who has selected Canadian rockers Nickelback (“When We Stand Together”) as their celebratory tune.