John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” has become an unofficial anthem for the U.S. men’s national team at the 2026 World Cup, with thousands of fans singing along after victories. FIFA has called the classic one of the tournament’s “defining musical moments.”
But even more than creating viral moments of stadium-wide singalongs, the song’s use in the tournament is showing how music can continue to generate interest—and revenue—even decades after it was originally released.
After the USMNT’s June 19 victory over Australia, “Country Roads” generated nearly 1.7 million official on-demand US streams over the next three days, according to Billboard. That was a 20% increase from the song’s 1.4 million streams during the same three-day period one week earlier.
“We’re thrilled at this latest resurgence of John Denver’s timeless song,” a representative for Denver’s estate told Front Office Sports. “We’ve been having fun with the World Cup coverage as much as everyone else.”
“Country Roads,” like all pieces of recorded music, has two separate sets of rights. Denver, Bill Danoff, and Taffy Nivert are credited as the songwriters, meaning they created the lyrics and melody. Denver’s 1971 recording of the song is a separate asset controlled by RCA Records, now part of Sony Music Entertainment.
