Top 10 World Cup Songs

1. Baddiel and Skinner/The Lightning Seeds – Three Lions 98 (1998) - This song was originally penned for the Euro 96 finals in England. A slightly reworked version was released for the 1998 World Cup and again it seemed to capture the combined of hopes of England fans alike that a major trophy would be brought home to English soil. Amazingly enough, although a very English tune, other countries have also adopted it as their own.

2. England and New Order – World in Motion (1990) - The England squad joined forces with New Order to and features ex-Liverpool player John Barnes with his trademark rap.Along with co-writer Keith Allen(father of Lily) they created this electro-pop style anthem that has remained a classic.

3. The Three Tenors” – Pavarotti , Plácido Domingo and José Carreras in their famed first concert held on the eve of the tournament’s final match at the 1990 World Cup in Italy with a performance of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, from Turandot.

4. Sham 69 & the Special Assembly – Hurry Up England - This alternate version of the punk band’s classic “Hurry Up Harry” This won the vote by Virgin Radio listeners as the “People’s Anthem”. It is basically a re-working of one of punk music’s most endearing classics “Hurry Up Harry”, that was a number 10 in October 1978.

5. Embrace – World at your Feet (2006) - The England team’s official anthem for the 2006 finals, this smoother type song that was compared in style to Coldplay (whom they have supported) was only warmly received by critics and fans alike. However, this track from Embrace a rock band form West Yorkshire seems as years have passed to have grown in stature as a World Cup classic.

6. England World Cup Squad – This time (we’ll get it right) (1982) - A catchy little chorus from a song which is a classic players effort.

7. Fat Les – Vindaloo (1998) - Whether written tongue in cheek or not this terrace chant-like song was a huge hit for the 1998 World Cup

8. Del Amitri – Don’t Come Home Too Soon - The World Cup 1998 and this was Scotland’s official song – talk about putting the pressure on. Unfortunately, the Scottish team were home way too soon after coming last in their first stage group.

9. England World Cup Squad – Back Home (1970) - This was one of the first songs that showed that just because players could play football didn’t mean they could sing! However, the novelty of singing players, and a decent tune catapulted this little ditty to number 1 for three weeks.

10. Far Away In America (Village People and Deutsche Fussball 1994) – This Village People track was Germany’s song for the 1994 finals in the USA. This truly cringeworthy effort has to be in any list of top 10 world cup songs just for the bizarre site of the bemused German team singing along with the leather clad biker and red indian of Village People!

Let us know what you think of our list, and please suggest one that we’ve missed!