The wait is finally over, and the World Cup is Finally here. We know everyone’s excited to get into the spirit and don their best football shirt, rep their country’s flag out of their car window and get down to the pub or nearest beer garden with a big screen to watch the match. What nobody really gives much thought about though is the World Cup anthem, and let’s be honest it’s probably because it usually isn’t that good and is always a bit cheesy.
However as tradition stands, every World Cup Fifa chooses a song to be the official theme tune for the tournament, along with a few others that individual countries put forward as their national song for the World Cup. Anyone remember England’s 2010 World Cup song “Shout” by Dizzee Rascal featuring James Corden? Probably not, or maybe you do for it being Britain’s weirdest pairing on a track ever.
This year, the official World Cup anthem comes courtesy of Latin American artist Nicky Jam and features Will Smith, Diplo and Eastern European singer Era Istrefi with their Spanish infused reggaeton song “Live It Up”. Whilst it’s not the worst song in the world, we could name a bunch of grime tunes that would make a far better anthem, so we decided to do just that. Take a look at our top 10 grime songs that we think would make a much better official anthem for this year’s Fifa World Cup.
Boy Better Know – Athlete
For obvious reasons, with a title like “Athlete” this recent banger from BBK would have made an excellent anthem for the World Cup this year. Not only on topic but if the energy and hype of this song doesn’t get you pumped to go out on the pitch and “tie your lace, fix your face” then we don’t know what will.
Wretch 32 Ft Donae’o, Kojo Funds – Whistle
Not strictly grime but you get the point. Can you catch all the football references?
AJ Tracey & Dave – Thiago Silva
This one recently went off at Parklife Festival in Manchester over the weekend when AJ came out and performed it. After Brazil’s humiliating exit out of the last World Cup where Silva was suspended for his team’s final match against Germany in which they ended up losing 7-1, the PSG centre-back is more than determined this time round to bring the trophy back to Brazil. So I’m sure he and the rest of his Brazil fans would be happy to see this as the anthem (not sure the other countries would be too keen though).
Dizzee Rascal – Fix Up, Look Sharp
This one would definitely make a good anthem for the World Cup, especially if any managers are struggling to find the words to motivate their team at half time.
JME ft. Krept & Konan – Boy Better Play Dirty
Not that we’re condoning any dirty play during the tournament, but this throwback grime tune would have made a far better anthem for the Fifa 2018 World Cup. This tune in particular also shows the gems that can come from two completely different sides of London coming together; let’s hope that the England team can channel that same energy.
So Solid Crew- 21 Seconds
Everyone knows how important those last few moments of a football match are; a team can go from going through to the semis to being knocked out of the competition completely in a matter of seconds.
Tempa T – Next Hype
Guaranteed this is how the whole country will be feeling if England actually make it past the quarters this year…
Skepta – Pure Water
With Russia set to see temperatures of around 25 degrees it’ll be important for players to keep themselves hydrated, making Skepta’s latest single a perfect and fitting anthem.
Krept & Konan – Don’t Waste My Time
Time is of the essence in a football match and the last thing you want is one of the players in your team to get booked for time wasting.
Giggs – Talkin’ The Hardest
Forget the rule book, we know its meant to be a list compiling FIFA World Cup Anthems; but there is no way we could leave out our National Anthem. Picture Giggs performing this before the game, guaranteed to light a fire in the players bellies, as opposed to the dated and dreary “God Save The Queen”.
Jaykae – Moscow
Being that the World Cup is being hosted in Russia, It most definitely makes sense to have this as the anthem for the tournament. Everything from the Bowzer production down to the chorus is sure to set stadiums alight given the opportunity. Needless to say, the slick Peaky Blinders inspired visuals are some of the best we’ve seen.