10 Songs About Sports - "World in Motion" / myLot

Denver, Colorado

June 30, 2026 11:51pm CST

After reading @FourWalls celebration series on Sir Paul McCartney, I realized it’s been awhile since I’ve done my own music series. Four years, actually. I figured I would start off easy. I don’t watch television much unless I’m watching sports, so here, in no particular order, are ten songs about sports. And with World Cup Mania in full swing here in the United States, we might as well start with football (soccer here in the States.) This one is actually an official World Cup song, “World in Motion” by New Order. “World in Motion” was recorded and released in 1990 as the World Cup song for the England National Football Team. It features background vocals from members of that year’s team. New Order came into play when The Football Association’s (England’s governing football body) director, David Bloomfield (a Joy Division fan) decided he found the previous official English World Cup songs “uniformly dull.” He contacted Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records (Joy Division/New Order’s indie record label) and asked if the band could record a single. Wilson agreed, apparently without speaking to the members of New Order first.

Luckily, they agreed to do the tune. Interestingly, for a band that has released 39 singles (including the best-selling 12” single of all-time, “Blue Monday,”) “World in Motion” is New Order’s only #1 U.K. single. Such is the power of the World Cup! Link is to the official video:

youtu.be

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8 people like this

7 responses

Michael

@Wrexxo (4701)

•

1 Jul

World cup songs are always great. I will definitely listen to this one

2 people like this

Scott Ganschow

@teamfreak16 (45337)

• Denver, Colorado

1 Jul

So does every country have one? I honestly don't know.

1 person likes this

Scott Ganschow

@teamfreak16 (45337)

• Denver, Colorado

1 Jul

@Wrexxo - That's pretty cool. National pride!

1 person likes this

Michael

@Wrexxo (4701)

•

1 Jul

@teamfreak16 I think we have in Nigeria

1 person likes this

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Winterishere

@thedevilinme (5371)

• Northampton, England

2 Jul

Quitea niche band and big in Manchester and the north. I think Blue Monday was re-released with a club mix and did go to number one in later convoluted charts.

1 person likes this

Scott Ganschow

@teamfreak16 (45337)

• Denver, Colorado

2 Jul

I would have loved to experience that Manchester scene first hand, instead of just listening to the bands and reading about it.

Scott Ganschow

@teamfreak16 (45337)

• Denver, Colorado

2 Jul

@thedevilinme - It's all good stuff to me, but Factory remains my favorite indie label. So many good bands came out of that label.

Winterishere

@thedevilinme (5371)

• Northampton, England

2 Jul

@teamfreak16 It was quite an intrinsic thing up north. Students up there were into indie with a bit of edge whereas students down south into indie middle class scene.

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Four Walls

@FourWalls (88336)

• United States

1 Jul

It is good to check with the band first before promising to do a song. At least then. Nowadays, you can get a computer to do it.

Bet you’re thrilled that New Order (and Joy Division) were selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. I know I am, and I’m not that big a fan! LONG overdue.