Time to annoy you all with my list of the most underrated FIFA tracks (08-22)
It's my opinion so you're just going to have to deal with it.
Hello and welcome back to my incredibly serious football newsletter where over the past few weeks we’ve been documenting the history of National football teams in World Cups, but this week we're going to get into the real nitty gritty… FIFA soundtracks.
Every year FIFA announces its soundtrack and every year someone predictably poses the question ‘What’s the best FIFA song'?’ (yes I know I did it that’s the joke). You always get your Aviciis, your Smallpools(s), and some guys ignored my question completely and started talking about PES, but everyone has their favourites.
So I thought I’d go through some of the songs that I feel get overlooked from FIFA’s expansive catalogue and pick one song from FIFA 08 to FIFA 22 that deserves more love (I could do every FIFA but I am not that old and I doubt you want to read that many).
Some ground rules. This is a small list; I am definitely going to have at least one choice you don’t agree with and one omission as well, it’s nothing personal (unless it’s a bad song then your taste sucks) but I can’t name every song.
Secondly, I like Indie music a lot (because of FIFA and Soccer AM) so that’s going to affect a lot of my choices on here.
Thirdly, if you know the song please don’t reply ‘that’s not that underrated, I like it’. This is just my opinion based on what I usually see every single year and I’m basing it on how they stand out in an all-time list, not on their individual FIFAs.
Anyway, with all that admin done, time to cause a dumpster fire/war in my Twitter comments section (or who knows maybe find your new favourite FIFA song):
You Will Find A Way - Santigold, FIFA 08
I’m going to say this now, FIFA 08s soundtrack legitimately sucks. It was one of the first I ever played and looking back now hardly any of the tracks stand out as memorable or nostalgic. Monster by The Automatic and Fa Fa Fa by Datarock are good, but I see them mentioned by people pretty often.
So basically, I just like Santigold and this is a decent song by them, enjoy.
Untouched - The Veronicas, FIFA 09
‘This song is underrated, everyone knows this one’ - Ok, bear with me. This is one of the Top 5 FIFA songs of all time and yet it never gets mentioned as much as it should. Loading up ‘09 and being greeted by the Viola riff is a nostalgia trigger that still gets me 14 years later. So I’m going to make your day better by putting it on this list.
Moth’s Wings - Passion Pit, FIFA 10
I wasn’t going to put this on because I think it is remembered fondly by people who played FIFA 10, but since no one mentioned it in reply to my tweet I’m going to throw it on here.
‘I’ll be Alright’ is still the better entry from Passion Pit into the FIFA series, but this one is why I’m such a big fan of Passion Pit in the first place. It’s a really solid song that captures the feeling of playing football as a kid (even if it is on a video game).
White Picket Fences - Jump Jump Dance Dance, FIFA 11
This song perfectly encapsulates the vibe that both FIFA and Soccer AM had created around football in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Fun story about FIFA 11, I only really played Kick-Off with my friend, he was Chelsea and I was… Sunderland.
Craig Gordon once pulled off a quadruple save against Drogba, Lampard, Drogba again and then Malouda and I’m still chasing that thrill to this day. Wonder by Dan Black would also be a solid entry here.
Colours (Captain Cuts Remix) - Grouplove, FIFA 12
This is arguably my favourite FIFA song, it does not get the love it deserves. Nothing else to say bar you should listen to it now and then agree with me about how great it is.
Professional Griefers - deadmau5 + Gerard Way, FIFA 13
FIFA 13 arguably has the greatest soundtrack of any FIFA (and personally I think it’s where the series peaked) so picking just one song is difficult because while many get represented in 'Best FIFA songs’ lists, others get left by the wayside.
I’ve gone with Professional Griefers because although dubstep isn’t really FIFA’s vibe, the song’s hook/chorus by Gerard Way is. And the video, which I’ve linked above, is insane.
Magic - Olympic Ayres, FIFA 14
There’s the reason the ‘Did you know this song was on…’ meme always mentioned FIFA 14. This is the game where EA really nailed their vibe, every song you heard from this soundtrack, wherever you heard it, you could instantly link back to the game.
Anyway here’s Magic by Olympic Ayres and did you know that this song was on…
Imperium - Madeon, FIFA 15
This one is on here because it’s a great FIFA track (though now it wouldn’t be out of place on Rocket League) but whenever you say the words ‘Madeon’ and ‘FIFA’, everyone instantly thinks of ‘Finale’, so I thought it should get a mention.
It’s an argument that also applies to ‘Are You What You Want To Be’ by Foster The People, which is also on the FIFA 15 soundtrack.
Tonight - Coasts, FIFA 16
I like Indie Music, sue me. Definitely sounds like it should be on a Centre Parcs/Thomas Cook advert but it’s a great song. It’s a shame that the band broke up (but let’s not get into that on a FIFA song list).
Vowels - Captial Cities, FIFA 17
It’s a really catchy tune, but this song is mainly on the list for the amusement my friends and I used to get out of imagining someone doing everyday tasks only speaking in vowels.
Set the scene; you’re in a coffee shop and you want a Frappucino with Vanilla Syrup but no Ice and there’s a big queue behind you… and go.
Dangerous - The xx, FIFA 18
I have this The xx album on vinyl (humble brag), so as you can probably guess I really like this song. The bassline and beat created by Jamie xx (I also have his solo album ‘In Colour’ on vinyl) combined with the horns really works for a FIFA song and it deserves to be on people’s lists.
Ordinary People - JP Cooper + Bugzy Malone, FIFA 19
This song is about growing up in Manchester. It describes a childhood I was lucky to mostly avoid (which I am incredibly thankful to my parents for because I know they went through some of it), but I do still feel some affinity for it being from around here and you unfortunately still see it today.
It’s a great song but yeah, it’s on here for the message. And on the day an emergency budget is announced in the House of Commons, I feel it’s important I throw it on here.
Awa Ni - The Knocks + Kah-Lo, FIFA 20
From a more serious one to just a catchy tune. Awa Ni from FIFA 20 captures the happy feeling that you should get from playing video games and sticks it in one of the most rage-inducing games I’ve ever played.
Occasionally it calms you down; most of the time it doesn’t.
Ticket to Ride - KAWALA, FIFA 21
I really wanted to put the Dua Lipa track on here, but putting one of the world’s biggest popstars on a most underrated song list seemed a little strange, so instead, you’ve got Ticket to Ride by Kawala.
I saw them live in Manchester (someone had a ticket going) and they seemed like really chill guys and their music was good, so going to give them some love on here.
Tenfold - Harvey Causon, FIFA 22
It’s very hard to pick an ‘underrated’ track from the most recent FIFA as I feel you can only gauge whether a song stands the test of time after a few years. However just to keep this list neat I’ll throw in Tenfold by Harvey Causon, which is a strong entry on the FIFA 22 soundtrack but one that will likely be forgotten.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. As always I am available for freelance work, so if you like what you’ve read, please feel free to drop me a message. Next week we will be back with the next instalment of the World Cup series focused around Argentina.