England has three matches to win before it can claim its first World Cup title in 60 years. If the Three Lions succeed, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher says he’s ready to join the team on the pitch after the final in New Jersey for a rendition of one of his biggest songs.
England players and fans have embraced Wonderwall as the team’s anthem this summer, belting it out in unison following each victory. They’ll need to get by Erling Haaland and Norway on Saturday night to keep the music playing.
As lifelong fans of Manchester City, where Haaland plays his club soccer, Liam and his brother Noel, the faces of Oasis, could have slightly split allegiances. But, Liam posted on X, “If we get to the final we’ll be taking over.”
Back home, streams of Oasis music have more than doubled, according to entertainment analytics platform Luminate. In the U.K., there were more than two million streams of the band’s songs over the last week, up from less than 1 million per week in early June. Worldwide, listenership has grown 40%. Luminate, like Sportico, is part of Penske Media Corporation.
Wonderwall has also returned to the U.K.’s top 40 singles chart. Following England’s first World Cup win, over Croatia, Spotify reported that plays of the song surged 50%. “It truly was a remarkable moment,” England striker Harry Kane told BBC News of the seemingly spontaneous karaoke session at Dallas Stadium.
“That was one of my favorite ever moments in an England shirt and especially at a major tournament,” he said in a separate interview.
By the time England beat Mexico in Mexico City, the team was prepared, swaying shoulder-to-shoulder and joining in the singalong.
“Wonderwall belongs to the people,” Noel Gallagher told The Sun recently.
At Euro 2020, English supporters more often turned to Sweet Caroline as their tune of the summer. But Oasis has taken over since then, thanks in large part to the 2024 announcement that the band was getting back together for a reunion tour (U.K. streams grew 4x that week, Luminate said).
England submitted Sweet Caroline as its signature song and preferred post-match tune to FIFA for this tournament, along with Three Lions by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner & The Lightning Seeds, according to The Athletic. Yet stadium DJ’s have known what people are hungry for. FIFA stadium entertainment teams fine-tune playlists for each matchup, in collaboration with participating country representatives.
American fans united around Take Me Home, Country Roads during the tournament, memorably belting out the lyrics after the team’s win over Australia in Seattle. As a result, John Denver saw a 103% streaming increase in the states from the beginning of June to early July, according to Luminate. But the U.S.’ loss to Belgium Monday in the same stadium meant those revelers would have to go home, quietly. Meanwhile, England continues singing.
