See How Fans Celebrated the World’s Game on Spotify
Over the past month, football fans around the world joined together to cheer on their countries’ teams as they competed in the world’s biggest sporting event. And whether it was with classic anthems, podcasts, or destinations, Spotify was there to soundtrack the biggest goals, victories, and moments of glory that the world’s game produced.
As the tournament unfolded, there were many unexpected victories and moments of excitement that sparked fans to celebrate with their favorite anthems. And we’ve helped fans capture those moments by tracking some of the key trends and creating new experiences.
Let’s revisit some of Spotify’s big musical moments from the tournament.
- Ultimately, the quest for football glory came down to Argentina and France, with Argentina the celebratory victor! In Argentina, football fans were able to enjoy a special Spotify destination from the start of the tournament. Along the way, La Mosca Tse-Tse’s anthem “Muchachos, Ahora Nos Volvimos a Ilusionar” saw a massive spike in popularity, and following Argentina’s unprecedented victory, there was a 4,300% increase in global streams of “Muchachos” on Spotify globally, with a 5,300% increase of streams from Argentina specifically.
- Fans also celebrated with Queen’s “We Are The Champions,” which saw a 320% increase in streams in Argentina following the final game.
- There was also something for French fans, who streamed our playlist Allez Les Bleus !, which features local and global football anthems from past and present.
- Overall, Gala’s 1997 hit “Freed From Desire” proved to be one of the standout football anthems over the last month, with fans in France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Poland all flocking to the song.
- Following Saudi Arabia’s historic upset of Argentina in the group stages of the tournament, Spotify Arabia celebrated by highlighting Madonna’s 1996 hit from the musical Evita, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” The song saw an over 1,200% increase in streaming in Saudi.
.@SpotifyARG https://t.co/coymE5CEzg
— Spotify السعودية (@SpotifyKSA) November 22, 2022
- As Morocco carried out its Cinderella run throughout the tournament, fans listened to our new playlist Dima Maroc, which includes Hamid Bouchnak’s fan-favorite football anthem “Allez Allez Maroc — Les lions de l’Atlas,” which had an almost 5,000% stream spike during the tournament from listeners around the world.
- South Korea also added an element of unpredictability to the tournament, and as they made their way to the knockout stages, fans streamed two anthems in particular: BTS’ “IDOL” and Jung Kook’s “Dreamers [Music from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Official Soundtrack].”
- Speaking of anthems, Nicki Minaj, Maluma, and Myriam Fares’ new fan festival anthem, “Tukoh Taka (Official FIFA Fan Festival Anthem)” is a global favorite, with its top listeners coming from the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, and Czechia.
- To wrap up this big month for the world’s game, Spotify also supported Egyptian rapper Wegz with a billboard in New York’s Times Square to promote his new single “EZZ AL ARAB (Music from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Official Soundtrack),” which he performed at the closing ceremony of the tournament.
Continue to celebrate the beautiful game and relive your favorite moments from the world’s biggest sporting event with our playlist Himnos de Futbol.
