"World Cup (Champions)"^[b] is a song by American influencer, musician, and online streamer IShowSpeed, released on June 1, 2026 through Warner Records,^[a] and SALXCO.^[4][5] The song was released in anticipation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as an unofficial anthem but was later included on the tournament's official album as one of its official singles.^[6][7][8] It was produced by BongoByTheWay, Pink Slip, and RiotUSA and written by Darren Watkins Jr. alongside Doobie Newton, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr., Kyle Buckley, Olivier Francois, Shawn Shea and Vicente Jimenez Gomez del Barco.

The music video, directed by Zach Madden, was filmed in Miami and features stadium-inspired settings with national flags and colored powder effects.^[9]

The song received positive reviews from contemporary critics. It became IShowSpeed's third song to chart on the Official Charts Company's Video Streaming chart alongside "World Cup" and "Higher".

In November 2022, IShowSpeed released the song "World Cup" as a single through Warner Records in the leadup to the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.^[10] "World Cup" gained viral attention with the song's music video receiving 3.9 million views in 18 hours,^[11] and the song charted in multiple countries' national music chart.^[12][13]

In early 2026, speculation emerged that Speed was preparing a new football-themed song in connection with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Reports followed the circulation of behind-the-scenes footage showing him filming a large-scale production in Miami. Images and videos from the shoot showed stadium-inspired settings, national flags, football jerseys, and production equipment, including camera crews and drones.^[14]

In May 2026, while conducting a travel livestream series throughout the Caribbean, he revealed that the World Cup would be his next focus, with plans for a North American tour to follow the tournament's matches.^[15]

"World Cup (Champions)" was released on June 1, 2026 ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.^[6] The song was written by Darren Watkins Jr. alongside Doobie Newton, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr., Kyle Buckley, Olivier Francois, Shawn Shea and Vicente Jimenez Gomez del Barco, while production was handled by BongoByTheWay, Pink Slip, RiotUSA and Shonci.^[16][17]

The song begins with an intro roll call in which IShowSpeed calls out all 48 teams that have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in alphabetical order – starting from "Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria" to end at "USA, Uzbekistan, Uruguay, Ivory Coast". In a lyrical commentary by StayFreeRadio, calling out all these names is done more as a way to create a unified chant, rather than a listing with some countries having preference over others, and any pronunciations that could possibly go wrong while doing so add a personal touch to this whole sequence, just like fans calling out friends' names before a big match.^[18] The chorus is built around a stadium-sized crowd chant "Oh, ayy-oh, ayy-oh, ayy-oh / Let's go, we the champions". A secondary refrain repeats the directive: "Put your flags up in the air / Put your hands up in the air / Put your flags up 'cause this is the World Cup / Put your flags up, leave 'em there." The chord progression in the song is E♯ minor, G♯, Bm, D♯.^[19][c]

The verse includes Spanish phrases like "To' el mundo mirando" ("all the world is watching") and "Everybody gritando" ("everybody yelling"), mixed with English lyrics from the song. These lyrics talk about how the crowd watches and reacts to the game, thereby emphasizing the theme of the song. This is followed by the counting phrase "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro".^[18]

The accompanying music video was directed by Zach Madden, with cinematography by Joanna Nguyen and creative direction provided by Barely Manic and Wyatt Richards.^[15] The video was executive produced by Slipz and Ames J. Ward. The video production draws influence from Ghanaian culture,^[21] including appearances by traditional dancers and choreographed performance that attracted attention from audiences in multiple countries.^[4]

The music video was filmed in Miami and features Darren in stadiums with national flags and colored powder effects. Throughout the video, he is seen wearing a Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal national team jersey.^[22]

The music video received 3.3 million,^[23] views on YouTube within less than 24 hours of its release and had received over 8.3 million views by June 3, 2026, two days after its release.^[24][25] As of June 14, 2026, the music video has received over 50 million views on YouTube.

Writing for LOS40, Sergio P. Naranjo described the song as a straightforward yet effective football anthem, highlighting that its chorus and upbeat rhythm helped it resonate with younger audiences.^[26] The Times of India noted that the song quickly gained attention online and was embraced by many supporters as an unofficial anthem for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, attributing its success to its celebratory football theme and widespread circulation on social media.^[27] Independent Online noted that unlike the usual highly polished, pop star tournament anthems, IShowSpeed delivered a track that felt like it was truly made by a football fan, for football fans.^[4]

According to StayFreeRadio, the production has a cinematic feel to it, as if the arrangement was made specifically to soundtrack a slow-motion stadium video, with the chorus designed to explode and create an almost involuntary urge in people to put their hands up and sing along.^[18]

Billboard included "Champions" in its curated list of the best 2026 FIFA World Cup songs, describing the track as driven by hard-hitting drums, passionate crowd chants, and an energetic rhythm blending elements of EDM, Brazilian funk, and Mariachi.^[1]

The song generated division online, with football fans and digital commentators drawing comparisons between "World Cup (Champions)" and the official FIFA soundtrack single "Goals," performed by Lisa, Anitta, and Rema. Supporters of "World Cup (Champions)" argued that the track possessed a more organic quality than the official anthem.^[28] Fans also started online petitions requesting that FIFA formally adopt the song as the primary anthem of the tournament,^[29] comparing its energy to World Cup songs by artists such as Shakira.^[30][31][32]

NewsX issued a fact check regarding allegations that the song had overtaken the official anthem "Dai Dai". In regard to this particular claim, the media outlet found that the numbers of 120 million views for "World Cup (Champions)" and 70 million for "Dai Dai" on their respective days was grossly exaggerated without any verification. Despite this, NewsX report indicated that the claim about the general success of "World Cup (Champions)" compared to "Dai Dai" is indeed very true. It was further noted in the fact check that "Dai Dai" had an edge over "World Cup (Champions)" when it came to audio streaming sites such as the Billboard Global 200. This was largely due to radio airplay internationally.^[33]

Following the song's release, IShowSpeed publicly tagged FIFA on social media, asking them to consider "World Cup (Champions)" as the tournament's official anthem. FIFA responded directly with the message: "We will be in touch".^[34] The reply went viral and generated widespread speculation about the possibility of a formal partnership.^[9]

On June 3, 2026, the song was officially added to the tracklist for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Album.^[35][36][37] Following its viral reception, FIFA reached out to Speed via social media to confirm its inclusion, saying "We heard it. We liked it. It's on the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Album".^[8][38][39]

Following the song's release, "World Cup (Champions)" debuted at number 30 on the Nationale Top 40 Suriname in Suriname.^[40] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number 8 on the countries' Video Streaming chart,^[2] becoming IShowSpeed's third song to chart on the Video Streaming chart alongside "World Cup" and "Higher",^[41] and jumped to number 3 the following week.^[42] The song also charted on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart at number 33,^[43] and in the Netherlands.^[44]

Credits are adapted from the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Album liner notes.

• "World Cup", 2022 single by IShowSpeed
• List of FIFA World Cup songs and anthems