Ranking the best World Cup and England songs ahead of Russia 2018
They are sometimes brilliant, occasionally a toe-tapper, but mostly awful. One thing is for certain though, England songs written around major tournaments will always divide opinion.
Until recently, England would always have an official World Cup song, and you can guarantee that other tracks would be in abundance every two years.
From strokes of genius, to the outright bizarre, England songs have always provided us with a variety of melodies.
Here, Tom Carnduff looks at 18 songs for England, and ranks them from best to worst alongside a couple of notable absentees.
18 - (How Does It Feel to Be) On Top of the World
Produced for the 1998 World Cup in France, a super group formed of the Spice Girls, Echo and the Bunnymen, Space and Ocean Colour Scene going under the name of England United put this one together.
It's very 90s, and in all honesty it's not very good.
A good World Cup song gets you pumped up and starting to believe, despite how ridiculous it sounds that England will be world champions.
This song doesn't do that, and the Spice Girls? Not for me, Clive.
17 - Meat Pie Sausage Roll
My word, this is an awful song. What saves it here though is that it's arguably the most entertaining of the bunch.
It's not just the song, Grandad Roberts and his son Elvis put together a very watchable video.
Does it get me excited for the World Cup? Slightly. Does it get me excited backing over 11.5 corners every game? Certainly.
16 - Shout
One of the more recent additions on this list, Shout was Dizzee Rascal and James Corden's effort released for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
It's not bad, it's alright. But it is just that, it's alright.
The tune is a bit slow, although the message behind it is very typical England song in 'get behind the team'.
It made number one in the charts so was pretty popular at the time, but for me it's not exactly a classic.
15 - Eat, Sleep, Football
Now, you're reading this thinking 'Eat, Sleep, Football? Never heard of it.'
Fair enough, but you should know it, play it on repeat, it's catchy.
And it makes this list because the lad in the cap and white jacket is none other than Sporting Life's very own Dom Newton-Collinge.
I like the camper van, and the video is probably better than most other England songs.
That said, it was done for Euro 2016, and it's probably fair to blame England's exit to Iceland on these two lads.
It didn't make it big (yet) so can't go any higher than 15th on the list.
14 - World at Your Feet
I don't know how popular this song actually was in comparison to others, but I really like it.
The negative though is that it doesn't feel like an England song, and if you asked someone who didn't know they probably wouldn't be able to put it as an England song either.
It reached number three in the UK charts so did pretty well, but it's not one of the first named when you ask people for their favourite football songs.
13 - Mas Que Nada
I like this, I like it a lot.
The song, originally produced in 1963 and covered by Sergio Mendes for the 2006 World Cup, appeared on the FIFA video game for the World Cup.
It's a great tune, easy listening and very catchy.
Although, it only makes 13 on this list, but that is through no fault of its own.
12 - All The Way
You know when a song is so bad it becomes good?
Let me introduce you to 'All The Way' - a song released by the England team ahead of Euro 1988.
I quite enjoy the video in this one, Gary Lineker looks like he's having a fantastic time.
You'd imagine he'd be pretty embarrassed about it looking back now, but I'd happily watch a cover done by the class of 2018.
11 - All Together Now
Originally released in 1990, this song was brought back for Euro 2004, where England crashed out to Portugal at the first knockout hurdle.
It hit number five in the charts with the re-release, and there's no doubting that it's a good song.
I like this one, but it does narrowly miss out on a spot in the top ten.
10 - Nessun Dorma
It's a classic, and for many it's an instant reminder of Italia '90.
It was the tune behind the BBC's opening credits for their World Cup coverage, and it was glorious.
This song probably sits well with England fans given how well we did at the tournament, given how the Three Lions finished fourth.
That link makes it eligible as a 'World Cup-related' song - and a very good one at that.
Andrea Bocelli also sang it at the King Power Stadium after Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions, a genuine spine-tingling moment.
9 - Wavin' Flag
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa probably brings back horrific memories of Frank Lampard's disallowed goal, but for me it has to be this song.
It was Coca-Cola's song for the tournament, and it was a hit.
To this day, Wavin' Flag has over 100 million views on YouTube and is popular whenever the World Cup comes around.
A real feel good song.
8 - We're on the Ball
Ant & Dec's effort for 2002 was great, and I'm not having anyone who says it wasn't.
Throw in the wonderful video above and it's difficult to argue that this isn't a likeable song.
Sven-Goran Eriksson was popular after the 5-1 win over Germany, and a video which shows the two lads trying to dress up as him is a great watch.
The lyrics are catchy, and I don't believe anyone who says they don't know the route the ball goes before finding the net at the end of the song.
7 - Carnaval de Paris
Carnaval de Paris was the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, and it was fantastic.
It's hard for any song to successful incorporate bagpipes, especially in a dance-type tune, but this song does it wonderfully.
I'd say it's still fairly popular now, well as popular as a song from 20 years ago can be.
It's easy to forget that this was produced for a World Cup, and I think it was one of the best that has been done.
6 - Eat My Goal
A song produced for two tournaments - Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup - Eat My Goal was undoubtedly Collapsed Lung's most famous song.
It's still used on TV and radio programmes now, which is hardly a surprise given its connection with football.
You can't not like this song, and it deservedly takes a place firmly in the top-ten of this list.
5 - Back Home
This was really the first England song ahead of the World Cup and the England team put together a great effort back in 1970.
They had won the trophy in 1966 and could do no wrong. It's a big ask getting footballers to sing, but this group did it very well.
It's got a nice message behind it too, the players knowing that the fans will be cheering them on, something that you don't see too much of nowadays.
4 - World in Motion
Now this is where the decisions get tough, but for me World in Motion comes in fourth.
It's a great song, no doubt about that, and John Barnes' rap makes this.
It is quite historical in the fact that it was the first England World Cup song that was actually very good.
Top five definitely, but there are three better candidates on this list.
3 - Vindaloo
One of those candidates is Fat Les with Vindaloo, which was released in time for the 1998 competition.
The video for the song is fantastic, a parody of the Verve's hit 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'.
It features comedian Paul Kaye as a Richard Ashcroft lookalike walking down the street, the exact same street used in the Verve's video.
The song itself is wonderful. Everyone knows the lyrics and it is a song that really gets you going.
A worthy spot in the top three for this classic.
2 - Three Lions
The runner-up in this list goes to Baddiel & Skinner with the Lightning Seeds. Their song Three Lions is a classic and there's no point arguing otherwise.
It's not your typical England song. It starts by addressing what is wrong with the attitude to the national team, and then addresses it with the belief that the team can achieve something.
The lyrics match the tune as well, with the downbeat melody turning into a jolly number during each verse.
A great song, even after Germany stole it from us as winners of Euro 96.
1 - Three Lions '98
There's only one thing that could beat Baddiel & Skinner with the Lightning Seeds' Three Lions, and that's Baddiel & Skinner with the Lightning Seeds re-release of the song two years later.
It's always hard to argue that a sequel is better than the original, but I think this just edges it.
The crowd singing at the start of the song is a nice touch, and the lyrics just remind us how close we were to glory.
It was a great remake, and I would have liked to see Three Lions make a comeback for the 20-year anniversary.
Notable absentees
Put 'Em Under Pressure
Oh why, oh why did Ireland not make the World Cup this year.
I love this song, and I'm not even exaggerating when I say I may have played it every day in the three months building up to the tournament.
The tune is great, Jack Charlton's 'we'll put 'em under pressure' makes for a great lyric.
Ireland nearly won the World Cup in 1990 too! They were knocked out by hosts Italy at the quarter-final stage.
There's always Euro 2020, I really hope there's Euro 2020 so this song can top the list in two years' time.
It's On Me 'Ead Son, Not Off Me 'Ead Son
A great song and one of the many highlights from Mike Bassett England Manager.
England did well in Brazil, Bassett leading the side to the latter stages despite the nation doubting him.
Unfortunately though, it's not real so can't make the list.
Is This The Way To The World Cup?
Back in 2006, Tony Christie came back into fashion (I think) and so did Is This The Way To Amarillo.
That of course means, a song was made for the 2006 World Cup.
We have the greatest football league, according to Tony. He doesn't have the greatest video though.
We should win all three games apparently, and in fairness to Mr Christie we did win two and draw one.
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