FIFA World Cup has long gone beyond the boundaries of a purely sports festival. This 4-year event is a magnet attracting billions of spectators, becoming fertile ground for top-notch music products, from official theme songs to cheering songs of teams.
In that flow, K-pop is proving its increasingly large influence.
After the historic milestone at Qatar 2022 with Jung Kook's "Dreamers" (BTS), the K-pop wave continues to create influence at the 2026 World Cup when Lisa (Blackpink) officially contributes her voice in this year's tournament's soundtrack album.
Before the match kicked off in 3 co-host countries, the US, Canada and Mexico, a series of K-pop artists simultaneously "ignited" with quality music products.
Lisa and "Goals
The most notable K-pop project at the 2026 World Cup is named "Goals" through Lisa's (Blackpink) voice. Released on May 21st in the official soundtrack album of the tournament, the song is a unique intersection between Latin pop, K-pop and Afrobeats with percussion instruments imbued with African breath. Behind this arrangement is a famous production team including Grammy winners - Cirkut, Bava, PinkSlip and Tropkillaz, along with the vocals of Brazilian pop star Anitta and Nigerian singer Rema.
According to the organizers, Lisa will bring "Goals" to the opening ceremony stage at SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles, USA), performing with superstar Katy Perry and Paraguayan artist Marilina Bogado.
Although experts are still debating whether a solo song by the Thai star should be considered a representative of K-pop or not, it cannot be denied that Lisa is one of the global icons with the highest recognition of K-pop.
Dream With Us" – TWS: Fueling "Taegeuk Warrior
The rookie boy group TWS (under Pledis Entertainment) has also just released the song "Dream With Us". Although not in FIFA's official album, the song was composed with the mission of being the official cheering song for the Korean national men's football team.
The song has an energetic melody and a message honoring the will of young people with the same aspirations.
As Ambassadors of the Korean Football Association (KFA), the group had their first live performance of this song at the friendly match between Korea and El Salvador in the US.
Watch It, Feel It" – Dynamic Duo & Woodz: Ignite the stands
Watch It, Feel It" is a special World Cup version developed from the popular sports music track of Korean television station JTBC.
The newly released remix has fully recreated the fiery atmosphere, depicting the desire for victory of the kimchi country's players. The combination of the veteran hip-hop duo Dynamic Duo and Woodz's powerful vocals on a thick bass background, rhythmic rush has heated up the stands before kick-off.
Jung Kook (BTS) and the standards of "Dreamers
Although this year's World Cup witnessed a series of new products, the "golden standard" of K-pop on the World Cup playground still belongs to Jung Kook's (BTS) hit "Dreamers" at the 2022 World Cup. The song skillfully blends modern K-pop with the characteristic Khaleeji pop genre of the Gulf region.
To date, the MV "Dreamers" has surpassed 450 million views on FIFA's YouTube channel, becoming one of the World Cup songs with the highest views in history.
Notably, Jung Kook will reunite with this playground with BTS members when the group takes on the main role at the halftime show in the final in July, where fans expect "Dreamers" to resonate once again.
