The beautiful game is less than two months away with Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. With it comes millions of fans flocking to three host nations cheering for their country to win the ultimate prize.
Mexico has released their World Cup song,”Por Ella,” by Los Angeles Azules & Bella. The Mexican Cumbia group’s song features rich horn instrumentation with traditional Latin music making it lively and energetic.
And with the World Cup always comes an official song or even album to commemorate the event and hype fans up for what’s to come. In regards to this year’s music, FIFA said in a news release:
“The Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Album brings together music and football to celebrate the global culture surrounding the world’s biggest sporting event. Created for the most inclusive FIFA World Cup™ in history, hosted across Canada, Mexico and the United States, the album features songs from artists across continents and genres, reflecting the diversity and passion of the global game. Over the coming months, more songs will be revealed, bringing together global stars and emerging artists in a musical journey inspired by football and its worldwide community.”
Except that America’s official World Cup song, “Lighter” by Jelly Roll featuring Carin León, sounds like a truck commercial and is less global-sounding. It is the not a great song choice to represent America, because it doesn’t scream soccer on the biggest stage given its country-rock production and the religious undertones, according to an article in The Conversation.
Fans were having a field day reacting to the song and there were countless memes posted about it. Adding fuel to the fire is the news coming out of the United States with Trump’s immigration policies, which have banned people from some countries that have qualified for the World Cup from entering the US. ICE Agents have been deployed to stadiums and some were even working TSA recently.
The World Cup song is supposed to have a unifying message celebrating the beautiful game through culture, sport, and music. This year’s song out of the US, however, failed on all fronts.
Look at past World Cup songs: 2010 ushered in Shakira‘s ever-popular “Waka Waka” and K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag.” These are both memorable and iconic in their own right and still hold up. 2014 brought MAGIC’s “This Is Our Time,” Magic System’s “Magic In The Air,” and David Correy & Aloe Blacc’s “The World Is Ours.”
Jelly Roll has recently gained a lot of momentum musically, but there’s a plethora of other American artists that may deserve the prestigious honor of creating the Official World Cup song. The modern musical landscape is incredibly diverse, and the World Cup songs should reflect on that diversity and share it with the world’s biggest stage. Take, for instance, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl 60 Half-Time Show. Fans loved it, it showed Latin representation on a massive stage, and he delivered a spectacular show that will go down as one of the best in Super Bowl history.
Other artists that we think could have created America’s World Cup song are Kendrick Lamar or Black Thought. Both are legendary rappers and MCs who could bring their artistry bar for bar reflecting the tournament, fans, and community.
This is just one song on the album though; we’re curious to see what the rest of the countries have in store for their songs on the album.
