Why does USA play 'Country Roads' at World Cup? How song became USMNT anthem

IRVINE, CA — Country roads have taken the U.S. men's national team home at the 2026 World Cup.

The USMNT's excellent start to the tournament continued with a win over Australia on Friday, June 19 to clinch Group D and advance to the knockout round, and the celebration reached peak levels after the match when the iconic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver played inside Lumen Field in Seattle.

Seemingly a majority of the 66,000 people inside the stadium all sang the signature chorus in unison to provide one of the best moments of the tournament.

Many fans found it to be the perfect song to play to celebrate a U.S. victory, and it wasn't a coincidence it was played either, as there was plenty of thoughts and discussions about it playing after a USMNT win.

Why 'Country Roads' plays after USA win

Ahead of the World Cup, FIFA asked all national teams for a playlist of songs to play for warmups, goals and wins, and U.S. Soccer consulted with players and people within the organization about what songs to submit. When it came to picking the song for wins, the U.S. wanted to pick one for "that were both representative of American artists and would be great singalongs for the crowd," according to the federation.

The final list of songs chosen for wins were "Living On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi, "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver.

Since England uses "Sweet Caroline," that was taken off the list, leaving just the songs by Diamond and Denver. Ultimately, it was FIFA World Cup 2026 chief business and strategy officer and former U.S. Soccer employee Amy Hopfinger that chose "Country Roads," U.S. Soccer said.

USA players love 'Take Me Home, Country Roads'

Clearly Hopfinger made the correct call as fans were in awe of the scene, and the players agreed with it.

"I think 'Country Roads' is a very American song, and to hear it in that stadium, with everyone singing along, it’s a dream come true. It’s feelings that you can’t really describe," said defender Auston Trusty.

Forward Alex Zendejas said "everyone knows" it and if people don't, they should learn the words. It even resonates with leading scorer Folarin Balogun. He spent the majority of his life in England, and even though he wasn't singing along, he knows the popularity of the song and knows the lyrics.