These are the tracks officially adopted by FIFA for each soccer tournament since 1990.
By Griselda Flores
The World Cup was inaugurated in 1930, but it wasn’t until 1990 that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, began to adopt songs that would become the official soundtrack of the global soccer tournament, which happens every four years.
Some more popular than others, these official anthems have not only soundtracked World Cups; they’ve also gone on to change the careers of the artists who’ve performed them. Such was the case for Ricky Martin, who in 1998 recorded the euphoric official song “Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida)” for the tournament that took place that year in France.
At the peak of the “Latin explosion,” with artists such as Martin crossing over to the English market, the Puerto Rican star teamed up with Desmond Child and Draco Rosa to write and produce the song, which originally peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998 and re-entered the chart at No. 45 in August 1999. The international smash hit also won a Grammy for best Latin pop performance.
