60. Glass Animals – Youth
From FIFA 17
Glass Animals were always on the cusp of becoming a really big band, depending on how poppy their next single was – think Kevin Strootman, waiting for a Premier League move. Luckily though, the group have always kept it cool and delivered banger after banger that don’t sell out. Youth is one such cut from FIFA 17.
59. Casiokids – Fot I Hose
From FIFA 10
Norway has given us Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, John Arne Riise and Erling Haaland, in the football world. In the music world, it’s not quite delivered since the days of A-Ha.
Fot I Hose by Norwegian act Casiokids is a typically hipster indie-dance jam, with shuffling rhythms perfect for FIFA. It was also used extensively on Channel 4 comedy Friday Night Dinner (“Shalom Jackie, you look nice”).
58. Robbie Williams – It's Only Us
From FIFA 2000
Nowadays, Wrexham are included in FIFA because they're owned by Ryan Reynolds. In 22 years, however, things haven't changed too much – Robbie Williams only allowed this song in the game if EA added his beloved Port Vale. Respect.
57. Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart
From FIFA 05
Former lead singer of The Smiths, militant vegan and latter-day far-right gobshite Morrissey is not the first Mancunian you’d associate with football. Ex-bandmate Johnny Marr is an avid Manchester City fan. Even Simply Red are named after the colour United play in.
Nevertheless, this particular cut from Morrissey solo record You Are The Quarry is forever associated with Pavel Nedved and the like after its inclusion on FIFA 2005.
Intriguingly, EA omitted the rather political lyrics, “Spit upon the name Oliver Cromwell” from the version they included in the game. For the best, perhaps – it's unwise to anger the Roundheads. They banned football last time, after all.
56. Massive Attack – Splitting The Atom
From FIFA 11
Legendary trip-hop act Massive Attack returned for their fifth album Heligoland in 2011 after a long hiatus. Of course, an act as funereal, chilled and damned cool as them had to feature on FIFA.
Splitting the Atom sent EA full circle in some ways – it was the third song that Blur and Gorillaz frontman (and …Atom producer) Damon Albarn had worked on that was included in the FIFA series after the huge popularity of Song 2 and 19-2000 defined earlier games. In some ways though, this track showed how far EA had come. It’s mature, not afraid to be a little dark and it’s a sign of how big the soundtrack had become that not even the best song off of a Massive Attack album could be featured.
In case you’re wondering, Paradise Circus – the theme tune to Idris Elba show Luther – is definitively the best song off Heligoland.
55. Lemaitre – We Got U ft. The Knock
From FIFA 17
French electronic duo Lemaitre producing a stadium anthem for the masses? Yaaasss please.
Included on FIFA 17, this was another one of those songs that will become forever interwoven with the tale of Alex Hunter. Whether this was a comforting track to you when you were sent on loan to Aston Villa or a triumphant battle cry before taking to the Wembley pitch to face Gareth whats-his-name in the FA Cup final, this song was absolutely glorious.
54. Mura Masa – Helpline ft. Tom Tripp
From FIFA 18
Guernsey producer Mura Masa came out of nowhere in the middle of the 2010s. In many ways, he’s been shaped by the kinds of soundtracks that EA have been compiling since he were just a nipper.
The genre-hopping self-titled debut album featured 12 songs – any of which would’ve felt at home on FIFA. As it was, Helpline made it on. As quick-paced as Timo Werner's first spell at Leipzig… and just as cool, some would argue.
53. LOYAL – Moving As One
From FIFA 17
An anthemic, thumping, drum-led anthem of a FIFA track. You can actually imagine this being the matchday chant of some small and just-happy-to-be-here South American nation at a World Cup.
If you didn’t get pumped selecting your team during this song, you either had no soul, or you were the manager of West Brom and therefore contractually obliged to be miserable.
52. LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
From FIFA 06
LCD Soundsystem were to explode in the 2000s into a cult act with one of the most beloved albums of the century, Sound of Silver. In 2006, however, many got their first taste of the band from FIFA.
Earlier cut Daft Punk Is Playing At My House though is every bit as silly, high-energy and messy as the title suggests. It’s one of the New York project’s most beloved tracks, however, and it introduced a whole new audience to the act’s music.
51. Broods – Peach
From FIFA 19
Jangly synth, crashing drums and some indeterminable lyrics occasionally involving the word “Peach” - this is so obviously a FIFA song. Another one that would snap you into action with its pure energy.
A half-time pep talk from Rafa Benitez in song form, and one you could whack on at a garden party and get a few fist bumps from music lovers and FIFA fans alike. Instantly likeable and instantly recognizable as a song from the game.
50. Jungle – Busy Earnin'
From FIFA 15
Busy Earnin’ is a song about how you spend way too much time at work grinding for the dollar and how that life is just ain’t the one. This became the Ultimate Team anthem. Come on… we all pour way too much money into that thing, don’t we?
Jungle don’t really fit into one box. A production duo that produce soulful pop music, they’re inspired by dance acts of the 2000s but sound fully like of a product of the guitar-twanging decade that EA shaped the FIFA soundtracks. Later cut Beat 54 was also to be included on FIFA, but Busy Earnin’ is their biggest hit and our choice of the two.
49. Jai Paul – He
From FIFA 20
Like a meeting between the Karate Kid soundtrack and a '70s funk album, He was a psychedelic yet soothing tune to kick back and load up a FIFA career to.
Jai Paul is a Chelsea fan, but don’t let that put you off. The man’s got talent and a sound that’s certain to be seen on FIFA editions of the future.
48. Idlewild – You Held The World In Your Arms
From FIFA 03
You Held The World In Your Arms was a standout song on FIFA 2003, in a soundtrack that wasn't overall a classic. You were probably too busy questioning why Robert Pires was the only player with red boots in the game to appreciate just how great this track is, actually.
The song itself was a sophisticated, energetic piece of Scottish indie and it helped set the tone for a decade dominated in Britain by guitar bands. Most of those bands were picked by EA for FIFA over the years, but few were as quality as Idlewild were. Lovely band.
47. The Black Keys – Tighten Up
From FIFA 11
Seven albums in, The Black Keys suddenly stumbled upon popularity with their Brothers record, catapulting them into a (sort of) mainstream light. Tighten Up was a gloriously soulful, guitar-spangling song that married two of EA’s favourite genres into something typically FIFA. It still pops today.
46. The Hours – Ali In The Jungle
From FIFA 08
The Hours aren’t exactly a household name but Ali In The Jungle was a masterful song, recalling the odds that Muhammad Ali faced and referencing great comebacks in the lyrics.
It’s unsurprising then that it found its way into both FIFA 08 and 2K Sports game NBA 2K13. This was about as close as The Hours had to a hit.
45. Foals – The Runner
From FIFA 20
Modern and simultaneously a little old-school – with heavy, shredding guitar, catchy lyrics and a bouncy drum beat, The Runner would have been at home on any edition of FIFA.
Just enough zip to get you through the endless stream of inbox clutter you’ve built up on Career Mode, while soothing enough to help you drift away, Foals knew damn well what they were creating with this modern classic of the football gaming world.
44. Childish Gambino – Feels Like Summer
From FIFA 19
Writer, actor, comedian, rapper, singer, director, producer… Donald Glover is probably annoying good on FUT, too.
Infectious Childish Gambino track Feels Like Summer was perhaps the most high-profile inclusion in FIFA 19 - but no one is too big for this game. With its mellow synths and trademark smooth vocals, this was a great pick for the game.
43. Foals – Mountain At My Gates
From FIFA 16
Foals combine the sophistication of county-mates Radiohead with the thick distortion of the indie scene they were born from – yet they’re comfortable headlining festivals and appearing on daytime radio.
Mountain At My Gates is arguably the most perfect piece of music they’ve ever produced. If it were a football team it would be Leeds United under Bielsa: powerful, beautiful and suddenly taking you by surprise by upping the noise in the final third. What a song. We couldn't not include this and The Runner, now could we?
42. Billie Eilish – You Should See Me in a Crown
From FIFA 19
Enough of the fun, the serene, the anthemic, you should see me in a crown took things to a dark and terrifying place and we loved it. A creepy beat mixed with sinister lyrics (and a music video which is genuinely horrific) offer something a bit different to the norm on FIFA 19.
Not the song you’d want coming on while playing late at night by yourself with your parents out for the evening. Spookier than Neil Warnock grinning menacingly outside your bedroom window.
41. Ana Tijoux – 1977
From FIFA 11
The commitment that FIFA’s curators show to including music from all around the world is staggering. French-Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux’s 1977 was an underground hit in Chile, before finding its way into the English-speaking world.
The string-laden, scattering track is not only effortlessly cool and catchy but perfect background fodder if you can’t make out any of the words. It was also used in the iconic meth-peddling epic Breaking Bad.
