Commentary: The debate over World Cup chants and what makes a great one

HOBART, Tasmania: As the 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives in Canada, Mexico and the United States, one contest has already begun online: the fight over who sounds like a “real” football fan.

Fans in the US have been mocked on social media for chants such as “I believe that we will win” and “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

To some, they sound joyful. To others, especially those raised on older football traditions, they sound awkward, rehearsed or painfully unoriginal.

But this debate is about much more than whether one chant is better than another. Sports chants are cultural passports. They teach people how to belong - who counts as an insider - and whose version of football is “legitimate”.

Football fans have been shouting, singing and chanting for well over a century. Early records of football cries and songs date back to the 1880s, while some club songs still used today emerged in the 1890s.

By the 1960s, modern football chanting had become deeply tied to terrace culture, the supporter culture that grew from the sport’s standing sections. Fans borrowed tunes from pop music, hymns, folk songs and local jokes, then rewrote them for players, rival clubs and match-day drama.

This is why the best chants often feel half familiar and half new. The tune may come from somewhere else, but the words belong to the crowd.

While there are numerous factors that contribute to the success of a football chant, a great chant will usually have five key ingredients.

It is simple. People must be able to learn it in seconds.

It is repeatable. It needs to survive noise, nerves, bad singing and thousands of people joining at slightly different times.

It is shared. A chant only works when it stops being owned by one person and becomes the crowd’s voice.

It is emotionally