According to Chinese media, the promotional song for the 2026 World Cup - "Goals" performed by Lisa (Blackpink), Anitta and Rema is facing a wave of opposition from a part of football fans around the world.
The reason is that the content of the lyrics and performance style are considered to be deviating from the core spirit of sports.
The song continuously appears sentences like "My body, my fit", "Buy out the club"... making many people think that the song is too focused on showing off wealth, parties and nightclub culture, while the World Cup is inherently high on values such as solidarity, effort and sports enthusiasm.
Compared to the classic songs of previous World Cups such as Shakira's "Waka Waka", with the message of solidarity and encouraging the fighting spirit of Africa through the famous line "This time for Africa"; "Goals" is ridiculed by many people as "nightclub DJ music", "soft drink commercial music", even rated as "the worst World Cup promotional song in history".
Some opinions also suggest that the lyrics imply materializing women when unintentionally putting women in the position of cheerleaders for men's play.
In the MV, Lisa appears in revealing outfits, sexy dance moves and many hip-shaking scenes that are said to be sexually suggestive. This makes many people associate it with controversies surrounding her performances at the Crazy Horse Paris nightclub before.
A part of the audience believes that this image is not suitable for the "friendly to all ages" nature of the World Cup, and may also have a negative impact on young fans.
Goals" is a collaboration between Lisa, Brazilian singer Anitta and Nigerian singer Rema. Most of the lyrics and music are said to be composed by Anitta and Rema.
However, the wave of criticism almost only focused on Lisa, while Anitta and Rema were not scrutinized at the same level. This made fans question whether there was a "double standard for Kpop idols".
Although the song has been officially selected by FIFA and achieved high rankings in the music charts of many countries, opponents argue that FIFA is sacrificing the spiritual value of the tournament to attract young audiences, prioritizing the element of attention rather than empathy for the spirit of football.
Conversely, supporters believe that the electronic music material of the song is suitable for the strategy of rejuvenating the World Cup image. Bringing the famous toy character Labubu into the MV is also considered a creative effort in terms of culture.
Many football fans have summarized classic World Cup songs of the past, such as "The cup of life" in 1998, and believe that a World Cup song needs to meet 3 core elements.
One is to show the spirit of sports and the desire to win: conveying the passion for competition and global solidarity.
Two is to be suitable for all ages: avoid factors that are considered offensive, and at the same time pay attention to orienting positive values.
Three is to sincerely express diverse cultural identity: respecting the characteristics of the three co-host countries of the United States, Canada and Mexico instead of just superficially combining symbols.
For Lisa, some opinions suggest that the controversial image she built after performing at Crazy Horse is counterproductive when appearing in a family event like the World Cup.
Especially in the Chinese market, controversies related to important values have caused her many difficulties for a long time.
