FIFA have unveiled the 2026 World Cup anthem, DNA, a track that football fans will become very familiar with over the next few months.
The song is a collaboration between Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, Megan Thee Stallion, and EJAE. But they’re not the only ones who had a hand in this anthem.
Daniel Goudie, with his composing partner Ashley Milton, helped write the original version of DNA, but had no clue it was going to be released.
‘We’d had quite a roller coaster experience with this song,’ he told Metro. ‘Up to the last minute, even yesterday morning, we weren’t sure if it was actually happening.’
He admitted it feels ‘quite surreal’, with the track now likely to become their biggest ever song, thanks to FIFA cementing its legacy.
Dan laughed when we asked what happened to the already released official World Cup 2026 Song, Dai Dai, sung by Shakira and Burna Boy.
‘It has been a bit confusing,’ he admitted. ‘That’s actually been part of the roller coaster for us, because we’ve not been kept in the loop.
‘Then these other songs have come out with the official World Cup song labelled on them, and it’s been quite confusing.’
DNA is the official World Cup 2026 Anthem, set to be played during games throughout the summer, as well as being performed live at the launch event.
The song actually started life at a workshop in Berlin, which Daniel and Ashley (better known as production duo Laconic) attended to ‘refresh their creative palette’.
In its early form, the song was a much more lyrically focused emotional number about accepting yourself, even with all your flaws.
The songwriters, which also included Fast Boy and Norma Jean Martine, didn’t have a home for the track – until Bocelli’s team got involved.
‘They were looking for songs for this World Cup,’ Daniel continued. ‘And the musical feeling, the melodies and the chords, it just felt like they spoke to a World Cup kind of occasion.’
But the lyrics weren’t quite as football-focused as the final version, so the track went through tweaks and alterations until Bocelli and FIFA gave the sign-off.
From there, things get a little murkier for the songwriters.
‘The industry is such that songwriters are often the last to know,’ shared Daniel, who also runs Real Culture, a company that aims to amplify artists from underrepresented backgrounds.
While Laconic have been in the industry for almost 15 years, previously working with Tom Grennon, Nicki Minaj and Madison Beer, Dan admits songwriters are often still the underdogs.
He confessed he was a little shocked they actually got a heads up before the song was released, even if it was a chaotic one.
‘There are very much no guarantees,’ Dan said. ‘I have plenty of friends and colleagues [where] the first they’ve heard about a song being released is when it’s released.’
In the industry, there is ‘absolutely no regulation’, meaning creatives are often working for very little credit (or pay).
Dan added: ‘Unfortunately, despite the fact that they create the very thing that the music industry survives on, [songwriters] tend to be at the bottom of the chain.
‘Least well paid, least well informed, and least well respected, which is a difficult place to be sometimes, but it is the way it is, and there have been various attempts to try and change things, and I hope that they will continue.’
As for DNA, Dan is just happy the track found its way out into the world, with his name attached for the world to see.
Quite frankly, he doesn’t even care if it gets a little overplayed over the summer and football fans get a little sick of it.
‘I’m absolutely fine with that,’ he laughed. ‘The amazing thing about art is that it is so subjective, and the beauty really is in the ear of the beholder.
‘If people don’t like it, I’m not going to be upset about that. But I hope that they do and I hope that people feel a sense of togetherness through the competition, and hopefully the song helps.’
Dan revealed he’s not a diehard football fan but will tune in for the big competitions, especially now his song will soundtrack the biggest event of the summer.
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