The last time Scotland qualified for a World Cup, Scottish indie rockers Belle and Sebastian were about to release their seminal album ‘The Boy with the Arab Strap’.
Now Scotland is back, and so is the band – with a World Cup anthem for a generation of Scots who weren’t even alive the last time their country made the tournament.
As football fever grips Scotland ahead of its opening match against Haiti on 14 June – its first appearance on football’s biggest stage since France 1998 – the Glasgow indie icons have released ‘It Only Takes One Lion’, an unofficial anthem for the Tartan Army.
The song was written in the aftermath of Scotland’s dramatic qualification campaign, which culminated in a 4-2 stoppage time victory over Denmark last year.
Produced and co-written by Pete Ferguson, better known as Wuh Oh, the track blends Belle and Sebastian’s signature warmth and wit with decades of football frustration and hope.
“It’s a personal song about following the travails of Scotland’s national team for the last 50 years,” frontman Stuart Murdoch said in a press release. “The song tries to encompass the experience of the whole country following Scotland.”
Football’s most famous music
Belle and Sebastian are far from the first musicians to try to bottle the optimism, anxiety and occasional delusion that accompany a World Cup campaign.
For the 1990 World Cup in Italy, FIFA kicked off its modern tradition of official tournament songs with ‘Un’estate italiana’. Composed by Giorgio Moroder and performed by Gianna Nannini and Edoardo Bennato, the track remains a favourite among football fans more than three decades later.
Ricky Martin’s ‘La Copa de la Vida’ followed eight years later, providing the samba-driven soundtrack to France 1998.
South Africa 2010, of course, belonged to Shakira. ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)’ became a global hit that managed to transcend football entirely, much like the vuvuzela, which droned its way into pop culture during the same tournament.
National teams have inspired plenty of other songs, too.
England’s ‘Three Lions’ gave the football lexicon the phrase “It’s coming home”, while Scotland fans of a certain vintage may remember Del Amitri’s ‘Don’t Come Home Too Soon’, released ahead of France 1998. (Alas, Scotland did come home too soon.)
A bit of previous
Led by frontman Stuart Murdoch, Belle and Sebastian formed in Glasgow in 1996 and have gone on to global acclaim.
Over the past three decades, they have released 12 studio albums, including 1998’s ‘The Boy with the Arab Strap’, which helped secure a surprise Best Newcomer win at the 1999 BRIT Awards.
Despite venturing into synth-pop territory, their most recent album, ‘Late Developers’, was released to positive reviews in 2023.
Belle and Sebastian are currently touring to mark the 30th anniversaries of their albums ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’. Both were released in 1996, the same year the Tartan Army returned from Euro 96 with a win, a draw, a defeat and another familiar tale of what might have been.
If your soundtrack preferences run a little less twee, you can check out FIFA’s own World Cup album, featuring tracks from global heavyweights such as The Rolling Stones, Lisa, Daddy Yankee, Jelly Roll, and Major Lazer with Nelly Furtado and Davido.
The 18-track album hits all major streaming services on 6 June.
And, yes, Shakira has yet to shake herself from World Cup lore, either.
This year, the Colombian superstar teamed up with Nigerian Afrobeats star Burna Boy on ‘Dai Dai‘, the official anthem of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.