Listen to Dallas' FIFA World Cup Theme Song

Next summer, the FIFA World Cup is coming to North America, with nine of the tournament’s 104 matches to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The event’s arrival brings about equal parts fanfare and pressure, with an estimated $2 billion of economic impact expected for North Texas.

Just over a year away from kick-off, FIFA tapped local musicians from each of the host cities across North America to put a regional spin on the tournament’s 2026 theme song, calling it the city’s “Sonic ID.” Names include DJ Jazzy Jeff for Philadelphia, Tech N9ne for Kansas City and the Berklee College of Music for Boston. As for Dallas, FIFA called on Grammy winning producer Tre Nagella, who won three awards for gospel albums produced with Kirk Franklin and founded Luminous Sound recording studio in Dallas.

“I knew that I needed to keep certain elements of the original FIFA theme intact,” he says, noting the track’s tempo and signature choral melody. “It’s a sports theme, so it needs to feel big and exciting and have energy. Then I started thinking about what people around the world would think of when they think of Dallas.”

It’s a massive undertaking, not only producing music for such a globally significant event but also compressing the sound of a massive city into musical form.

“I included acoustic guitar and pedal steel for the country twang,” Nagella says. “But then realized that might also be associated with Nashville, so I incorporated a Dobro, which is a Southern metallic slide guitar, to make it uniquely Texas. I didn't want it to come off cliché, and Dallas also has a lot more to offer musically and culturally than just country.”

The finished product is based a lot on that Dobro sound while also incorporating a hip-hop element with an electronic drum backing.

“I think Dallas has a few sounds, actually, but they haven't quite cross-pollinated with the genres,” Nagella says. “I think Dallas hip-hop sounds very different from Houston, LA or Atlanta, and I think our red dirt or outlaw country has a very different sound from Nashville. We just aren't known for one particular thing.”

In addition to the genre-fusion, Nagella also snuck in a few sporty audio motifs, like a clock ticking down, a stadium of cheers and the heavy breathing of a player. His song will be played at the Arlington matches as well as on social media and TV broadcasts of the event.

“It’s been a big honor,” he says. “Seeing how much production goes into the World Cup and how excited the fans are makes me excited to be a small part of it all.”

Nagella's remix, along with the 15 other host city Sonic IDs are available to stream.