'Take Me Home, Country Roads' becomes a U.S. World Cup anthem

musicJul 2, 2026731,747

John Denver’s 1971 hit “Take Me Home, Country Roads” has become a viral anthem for the U.S. men’s national team at the 2026 World Cup after fans and stadium speakers broke into the sing-along following key wins. FIFA asked national teams to submit playlists for warmups, goals and wins, and U.S. Soccer consulted players and staff when curating tracks; former U.S. Soccer employee and now FIFA executive Amy Hopfinger specifically chose “Country Roads” for match use. The song was sung loudly by crowds in Seattle after a 2-0 win over Australia that clinched the U.S. a knockout-stage spot and again in Los Angeles after a 4-1 victory over Paraguay. Fans also serenaded the team with “Country Roads” in the Bay Area following the Round of 32 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium. U.S. Soccer kept other sing-along staples like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” on the playlist while England used “Sweet Caroline” and Oasis’s “Wonderwall” during the tournament. The sing-along has become part of the team’s match-day ritual and now accompanies U.S. victories on the field.

shauna

@goldengateblond.bsky.social

i need to know how and why "take me home country roads" became a sports anthem

40210h ago

CrushMD104

For years it is the song they sing in Europe related to American Football games played there. Everyone in Europe knows it and sings it when our teams play there. And they now play it everywhere with mixed versions by various artists. Frankfurt Germany Colts cs Patriots. youtu.be/Ou3iyrtXByM?...

shauna36

tbc i’m not just talking about soccer — i watch a lot of other sports and i’ve been hearing it a lot of late

TJE31

Easy to sing when intoxicated

briantarbell.bsky.social20

Its just a happy song

Doug Eyman20

When I travel in China and SE Asia, this is the song that *everyone* knows and loves to sing. I have no idea how that came to be, but it is really something.

Jorge A. Caballero, MD19

Hard same. Like, what?! And— why?!

Quoting this

Nick Brumfield18

WVU sings it after every game

Jay Willis

@jaywillis.net

Fox having the good sense to keep the booth quiet so you can hear a stadium full of 70,000 people belt out “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is beautiful, man

2039h ago

Joshua B. Hoe3

And how often can you say "Fox" and "good sense?"

lawrscott.bsky.social1

Likely, the only time fox and good sense are used in the same sentence this week.

Dean Banfield1

Stadium doesn’t need to play it. US fans need to learn how to spontaneously sing. youtube.com/shorts/Dz7K-...

National Security Counselors 🕵

@nationalsecuritylaw.org

Somewhere I have a video of a bunch of swiss banker types loudly singing Country Roads a cappella while riding a tram up a mountain outside Zurich just because one of the Americans on the tram said he was from WV. Seems appropriate to mention rn.

838h ago

Norm Charlatan

@normcharlatan.bsky.social

Guy hearing Country Roads: That song from the Miyazaki movie, Whisper of the Heart?!

828h ago

Grant Brisbee5

Miyazaki? The guy who ruined Ursula K. LeGuin's beloved series?

Peter Labuza4

(kondō, miyazaki is only the writer)

🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦 🇻🇦Pope Leo XIV enthusiast2

A great song about Maryland!

jody2

Oh, are you asking what’s the only thing worse than the Country Road-sample including Lonely Roads by MGK and Jelly Roll? That would be Jelly Roll

DT-WxRisk1

from 2022 nfl game in Germany. This was 100% organic. the crowd just broke out into THIS song for no reason. and the crowd was 90% German or european LOOOOK at the joy look at the camaraderie look at the togetherness of humans that the song evokes youtu.be/7QX5bLsmJrU?...

Cooper Lund

@cooperlund.online

Country Roads is a bit traumatic for me because when I lived in rural China in 2011 it was the one American song everyone knew so it became my default entrance music to every bar across the country

858h ago

Cooper Lund18

I was not in a single city that you could have called “nice”, lemme tell ya

Woozer3

One of the defining moments of my life was singing How Deep Is Your Love, without a teleprompter, at a gigantic working class karaoke bar in Shenzhen in 2005.

BRAK AND BLUE1

wife was there in 2009 including some rural and mostly they just got people following or wanting pics of her and a fellow 5'10 blonde woman and most of all the 6'5" foofycurlyhaired redhead guy

Nick Brumfield

@nickjbrumfield.bsky.social

It's worth thinking about Country Roads global popularity in the context of the history of migration The three decades preceding its 1971 premiere saw 7 million people leave Appalachia for jobs in the Midwest The tumult of the 1960s/1970s saw similarly huge migration flows across the Global South

458h ago

Tamreen38

Found the exact quote from the book!

Elana Levin7

Another side story is the place it was originally written about was not West Virginia but a DC suburb that was soon to be on mass transit. It would have sounded bizarre just a few years later to have a country song about it.

Bryan Fischer

@bryandfischer.bsky.social

Poch, asked if he feels American after singing Country Roads: "I am 200% Argentine...But you feel part of something bigger. Things that we are building here. I enjoy being part of the amazing project." "It's impossible not to sing [Country Roads]."

598h ago

DFAntastic

@phillytradesman.bsky.social

Not enough talk about how “Take me home, country roads” was written by the couple who wrote “Afternoon delight.”

529h ago

DFAntastic17

Iirc Emmylou Harris was occasionally their babysitter.

Breathin' Orange Fire7

Now you know why they wanted to get home so badly.

Brian Barrish1

They worked together with John Denver a lot. In fact, here they are singing backup to John on “Victory is Peace,” which was used by NBC as their theme for the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan:

Quoting this

pork, cheese, broccoli rabe162

hold on all those people who are like “actually it’s about the west *part* of virginia” are actually wrong? it’s been about western MARYLAND this whole time???

AlderFish11

I cannot escape that song 😭

Rob Wesley

@eastwes.bsky.social

Fun fact about Take Me Home, Country Roads: the "mountain mama" mentioned in the song? Shelob.

369h ago

lake-life-girl.bsky.social

@lake-life-girl.bsky.social

USA, USA, USA! We’re going to Seattle for the Round of 16. Take me home, country roads. 🇺🇸⚽️🇺🇸

429h ago

Doug F.2

Awful call on Balogun. No way it should have been a red card. The player he fouled came back into the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they appeal the card down to a yellow.

Alan Cordray @alancordray.bsky.social1

Way to go USA. We are so proud of you

Elizabeth Picciuto

@epicciuto.bsky.social

I’m not sure when Take Me Home, Country Roads became our new anthem but I couldn’t be more here for it.

449h ago

Jerry-ATX5

It may likely be, by far, the most conservative-coded piece of art I love the most.

Weaselrina Amy4

Its one of my favorites, I'm happy to see it enjoying a renaissance.

EJP3

Much better vibes than chanting USA USA USA like a goon army

Call me Ishmabill1

Took my kid to one of his first robotics competitions like 8 years ago. And was shocked when they stopped everything and all the kids sang along to Country Roads Was one of the first times I realized the kids were alrite and I didn’t need to worry so much.

Manny Ares 👀1

better than Sweet Caroline imho

Dale Waffle1

Fun Fact - that song gets me every single time. If I can, I'll belt it. If I can't, I'll get misty.

SoLetsSay

@soletssay.bsky.social

Country roads is actually about the western part of Bosnia, which is called Croatia but should actually be part of Bosnia and…

399h ago

obnoxiously pitt girl8

@thesoulfulwit.bsky.social can we call a truce to deal with whatever the fuck this is

Rarian Rakista1

It is about Elves losing magic and absconding from the human world forever.

JRC

@jennc25.bsky.social

OK, I'm not crying. Between this, and like, the Dutch loving Kansas City, and little Scottish kids loving Doritos in Boston, and then the stadium today singing John Denver's "Country Road", my heart has swelled to a point I almost don't even remember anymore for my country. 😭💔

377h ago

SFGATE

@sfgate.com

All of the USMNT fans at Levi’s Stadium explode at the final whistle as the Americans beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-0 in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. After the final World Cup match in the Bay Area, fans serenaded the team with a rendition of “Country Roads” in celebration.

246h ago