Shakira Leads Ireland World Cup Songs As Waka Waka Tops 2024
Shakira’s “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” became the most streamed FIFA World Cup song in 2024, and the ireland world cup conversation now runs through one anthem that still outranks every other official tournament track. Rolling Stone surveyed FIFA songs and anthems since 1990 and singled out the songs that have stayed unavoidable — and the ones that faded faster.
Shakira and 2024 Streams
“It’s one of my biggest songs,” Shakira said of the 2010 release. The track blended Afro-Colombian elements with South African music styles, and the article says it was inescapable in 2010 before earning a Guinness World Record in 2024. That late surge matters because the song did not peak only as a tournament tie-in; it kept building long after the final whistle.
Rolling Stone placed that 2024 streaming mark alongside a longer review of official FIFA music dating to 1990. The point was not just nostalgia. It was a reminder that World Cup songs can become catalog records years after the tournament ends, with streaming now extending the life of a song far beyond the year it was released.
Gloryland and Waka Waka
The survey reached back to 1994, when Daryl Hall sang over “Gloryland” for the World Cup in the United States. That song was inspired in part by “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which gave the track a different tone from the more pop-driven entries that followed.
By 2006 in Germany, Il Divo and Toni Braxton recorded a ballad-like anthem that included the phrase “glory and the pain.” Four years later, Shakira’s “Waka Waka” set a standard that later songs had to live up to, and the 2024 streaming record showed it was still drawing listeners in a way few tournament songs do.
2026 World Cup Song
The 2026 World Cup song in the article was described as an Afrobeat pop song with Middle Eastern inflections. Trinidad Cardona, Davido, and Aisha sing together in the final chorus: “You know we’re better together,” The track also keeps the survey moving forward from older anthems to the next tournament cycle, with FIFA’s music machine still reaching for a global hook.
Other entries in the review showed how broad that formula has become. Los Ramblers released “El Rock del Mundial” in 1962 ahead of the first game in Chile, and it became an instant hit in South America and one of the best-selling records in Chilean music history. A 2014 track brought Carlos Santana, Wyclef Jean, Avicii, and Alexandre Pires together, while another 2014 anthem paired Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and Claudia Leitte.
For readers following the ireland world cup music trail, the takeaway is simple: these songs are not just time capsules. They are part of the tournament’s long tail, and Shakira’s anthem still leads it.
