40. Kygo – ID
From FIFA 16
No doubt about it, Kygo has soundtracked the anthem of that gap year in Thailand that you never went on. Tropical house is a maligned 'genre' but given his Norwegianness, poppy melodies and bouncy beats, EA just had to give him a tune sooner or later.
ID is a decent compromise – it doesn’t feature an annoying vocalist, instead eschewing chart ambitions for being a subtle and simple piece of chilled out bliss. Kygo later added vocals to this one, courtesy of X Factor’s Ella Henderson. We prefer this version, though.
39. Kasabian - Comeback Kid
From FIFA 17
This was a huge moment for EA – the moment they commissioned a theme song for their The Journey mode. And who else would you ask to soundtrack such a thing?
The fifth single from Kasabian’s 2017 album For Crying Out Loud, Comeback Kid had FIFA written all over it. A hark back to the classic days of thudding guitar and mellow basslines, it was as reliable as Tony Pulis in a relegation scrap. Not the band’s greatest ever banger, but a safe pair of hands for a FIFA playlist and one you could kick back and enjoy on a rainy afternoon’s FIFA sesh.
38. Caribou – Odessa
From FIFA 11
Another alternative modern classic, Odessa by Caribou has all the staples of being a song perfect for FIFA – it’s a hipster band, playing bright, loud synthesisers and though it gets stuck in your head, it’s not exactly going to get daytime play on Radio One.
The dancey track was featured on the critically-acclaimed album Swim, from the American act. It’s one of the standouts of their back-catalogue
37. The Strokes – Machu Picchu
From FIFA 12
2012 was the year of The Strokes’ big return. The New York rockers’ height came a little too early for the explosion of the FIFA soundtrack being a phenomenon, with their second and third albums underwhelming fans.
Machu Picchu, however, was a decent left-turn for the band. Moody, different from the predictably-crashing guitars and bouncy enough to sing along to. An underrated banger forever associated with Didier Drogba and Bastien Schweinsteiger, depending on who you ask.
36. Disclosure – Omen ft. Sam Smith
From FIFA 16
It’s not often that returning to the same collaboration spells genius – look at Mourinho at Chelsea. Disclosure’s first hit with Sam Smith, Latch, became a global smash that would catapult both into superstardom. But for our money, Omen is better.
This was a great way of crowbarring a name as big as Sam Smith onto FIFA 16 with going down too poppier route. The track has the typical stuttering beat and squelching synths that were all the rage when EA first started taking this curation business seriously, and though it was a big hit, it never felt overplayed or like it had overstayed its welcome.
35. Sam Sparro – Black & Gold
From FIFA 09
Another one-hit wonder, but damn, what a hit it was. Sam Sparro never really topped Black and Gold, though 21st Century Life and Basement Jaxx-aided Feeling’s Gone were also excellent. With its moody bass and colourful synths though, this one was tailor-made for custom-building yourself as a Liverpool striker. Not that Sparro planned that.
34. The Knocks – Awa Ni ft. Kah-Lo
From FIFA 20
A cult classic from FIFA 20, Awa Ni did so many great FIFA songs did – make you start tapping your fingers on the controller without realising it.
An infectious beat, catchy lyrics and a modern classic to help you drift away while zooming through a season on Career Mode. Just as enjoyable on the sofa on a Sunday night as it would be on a beach somewhere tropical. A perfect FIFA song in many ways.
33. The Automatic – Monster
From FIFA 08
While some songs slither onto the FIFA jukebox simply on the basis of being super-cool, others make their way there through sounding worthy of being a stadium chant. Monster, by Welsh rockers, The Automatic, is the latter: a melodramatic tale of psychedelic drug use and scary late nights, Monster was one of the more memorable tracks from FIFA 08.
“You get labelled ‘one hit wonder’, it's not like we've disappeared without a trace,” Robin Hawkins of the band claimed. “We've got a second album coming out, which in my opinion is full of much better songs.”
The Automatic are yet to have another hit. But what a hit it was.
32. John Newman – Love Me Again
From FIFA 14
Is Love Me Again the greatest pop song ever? Well, that’s subjective, so you can’t definitively tell us that it isn’t. But it’s not number one on this particular countdown.
Crashing pianos, brass, an infectious chorus and a driving rhythm make this one of the most underrated No.1s of the 2010s. Absolute masterstroke from EA to include it on FIFA and a nice hark back to some of the northern soul-inspired pop jams of years gone by.
31. Catfish and the Bottlemen – Postpone
From FIFA 17
“When you feel that it all starts falling / And you feel like your luck needs changing.”
Has there ever been a FIFA song with more apt lyrics? One to shut yourself in your bedroom to after losing 5-0 to that one mate from school who really got under your skin. A song for hope. After all, hope is all we are left with after some FIFA sessions.
30. The Hoosiers – Goodbye Mr A
From FIFA 08
The silly pop of The Hoosiers sort of came out of nowhere around the mid-00s. Goodbye Mr A – their biggest hit – actually featured lead singer Irwin Sparkes (yes, that’s his name) playing FIFA in the video. Reading - Sparkes’ home team - against Manchester United, to be precise.
Is it the best song ever written? Maybe. Just maybe. (No. – Ed.) In terms of its FIFAness, it’s 30th for us.
29. Oasis – Lyla
From FIFA 06
One for the dads, and FourFourTwo editors. The dark brooding guitars coupled with Liam Gallagher’s aggressive wailing made Lyla the perfect song for preparing for a derby on career mode. Thomas Gravesen, even in virtual form, would be hella pumped for a trip to the Ibrox with this banger on in the background.
Oasis’s best post-'90s song? Definitely. As you were.
28. MGMT – Kids
From FIFA 09
Remember when MGMT were the coolest band in the world? When indie hits were written using nothing but a synthesiser and a kazoo? When wearing nothing on your top half at a house party except a couple of threadbare festival wristbands was acceptable?
Of course you do, that was the same summer you won a treble with Feyenoord on career mode. This was the soundtrack of that glorious period.
27. The 1975 – The City
From FIFA 14
2014 was the FIFA edition that EA really embraced bringing the big name indie bands, delivering hugely popular acts with stan blogs on Tumblr (remember that?) into the world of eSports.
The City by The 1975 is typically all indie guitars, angsty vocals and pop sensibilities. It sounds like it was born from a generation brought up with EA’s soundtracks, so nice to actually see it included on one.
26. Bloc Party – Helicopter
From FIFA 06
Bloc Party are one of the most iconic bands of the UK music scene in the noughties. They also boast the best claim that anyone has to a famous AFC Bournemouth fan.
Bloc Party just had to be on FIFA at one stage or another, and it’s fitting that Helicopter – arguably their finest single – was included. It’s as fast-paced, exciting and cool as Theo Walcott was back then.
25. Avicii – The Nights
From FIFA 15
One of the most beloved DJs, producers and hit-makers of the last 10 years – if not all time, really – Avicii had everything that EA love: big hooks, colourful sounds and a Scandinavian passport.
The Nights is one of the most unashamedly pop moments on any FIFA soundtrack ever, but it was a testament to the artist’s transcendent popularity. Culture was changing around this time, with the likes of Avicii being seen as the new sound of teenagers and 20-somethings.
EA have always been great at curating soundtracks that represent the audience. The Nights has sort of taken on an iconic status in the years since its release, and FIFA was well ahead of the curve on that one.
24. Seu Jorge – Tive Razao
From FIFA 06
Seu Jorge might be best known for his spine-tingling David Bowie covers in Portuguese, but FIFA lovers of a certain vintage will know him as the soothing, scratchy voice on this mystical ditty. A great example of the phenomenal world music the FIFA bods collect every year for our listening pleasure.
Also, a song that immediately gets FFT in the mood for a Nandos.
23. Tom Grennan – Found What I've Been Looking For
From FIFA 18
Following the rebrand of the Premier League in 2018, Found What I’ve Been Looking For was used by Sky Sports as their theme music for two seasons. The re-recorded version – featuring lyrics of “Feel the magic when they sing my name” – is instantly recognisable.
It’s not particularly innovative for EA to whack the song on FIFA, but it’s most welcome, indeed. Found What I’ve Been Looking For is one of the most soaring stadium songs of a generation, forever synonymous with the rise of Mohamed Salah, the years that Manchester City dominated England, and thanks to FIFA, hours of fun investing time and hard-earned cash into FUT.
It’s still by far and away the best thing that Tom Grennan has put his name to.
22. The Dandy Warhols – We Used To Be Friends
From FIFA 04
The Dandy Warhols are better known for Bohemian Like You, an annoyingly ever-present, guitar-pop earworm from the early noughties that featured on every advert and film trailer going. But We Used To Be Friends is better.
A meaner, synth-led song, the track was included on FIFA 2004. It later became the theme song to the TV series Veronica Mars -–but FFT remember it more for being the track that played when we signed Seth Johnson for Northampton Town on Career Mode (it is a very specific memory, yes).
21. Scissor Sisters – Take Your Mama
From FIFA 05
To this day, this is one of those songs that’ll drop at a wedding and cause mass confusion among onlookers who have no idea why so many straight men know every lyric. The truth is, everyone fell in love with this LGBTQ+ anthem on FIFA 2005.
It’s bouncy, it’s camp, it’s fun to sing in that falsetto voice. It’s just an all round pop classic and we salute EA for making us listen to it when we were moody teenagers.
