Why Country Roads Became The US Soccer Team's Victory Anthem

(KMDL-FM) The United States Men's Soccer Team advanced to the Round of 16 in World Cup Soccer play with a victory over Bosnia on Wednesday night. After the game, fans at the stadium in Santa Clara, California, stayed to celebrate the victory with a rousing rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads, a classic hit from John Denver from back in 1971.

Many of you have wondered, why that song? It's a surprisingly good question for several reasons. First, the song is twice as old as many of the players on the US Men's team, so it's not something "the kids have been digging". Second, the song mentions West Virginia and Coal Mining, two subjects that I have never in all of my years heard connected to the sport of soccer.

Who Picked Country Roads as U.S. Soccer's Victory Anthem?

So, of all the songs in the history of songs, why is a 1971 song that only peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts now so synonymous with soccer in the United States? For that, you can blame or credit, depending on your feelings about the song, Amy Hopfinger. That's her.

Amy Hopfinger is a FIFA World Cup 2026 Chief Business and Strategy Officer. She is also a former employee of U.S. Soccer. Here is how the choice came to be. FIFA, the governing body of the World Cup, asked each participating nation to create a playlist of tunes to play for different times in the match.

The playlist was supposed to include music for warm-ups, when goals were scored, and, you know, there had to be a special song for when the team wins. U.S. Soccer wanted to choose songs that were representative of America and American artists. There also needed to be a "sing-along" aspect, because that's what you do at a soccer match and certainly what you do when the team wins.

What Other Songs Has U.S.A. Soccer Considered?

Among the songs that were reported to be on the list were Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, and John Denver's Country Roads. The reason you probably won't hear Sweet Caroline at a U.S. match is that England uses that one.

And ultimately Amy Hopfinger settled on Take Me Home, Country Roads, and I guess the choice was good because folks certainly like to sing along.

Even if you don't give two boots about soccer, John Denver, and the whole World Cup Tournament, you have to admit, it sounds really nice hearing American voices lifting in song to celebrate something good in our country.

The U.S. Team will move on to the Round of 16 in World Cup play; they will face the team from Belgium. That game will be played Monday, July 6th in Seattle. Those who run the sports book betting parlors have the match basically as a toss-up. Some sports books give a slight edge to Belgium; others give a slight nod to the United States.

Let's hope that at the end of the match we hear Take Me Home, Country Roads and not Waar is dat feestje? Yeah, that's a song that Belgium likes; it means, Where is the Party, let's hope it's not in Seattle on Monday.