The biggest World Cup in history, with three host countries, 48 teams and 104 matches, also has the biggest musical album. There are 18 songs, with performances by artists such as The Rolling Stones, Shakira, Shaggy and Anitta. But none of the tracks caught as much attention as the lyricless melody that cradles the selections as they enter the field.
For the remodeled pre-game ceremony adopted in 2026, FIFA (International Football Federation) decided to use as the soundtrack “Sirius”, part of the 1982 album “Eye in the Sky”, by the British band The Alan Parsons Project. And a large part of the public soon made the association with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls of the 90s.
“Sirius” is an instrumental work by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, a crescendo that has already proven appropriate for the moment when a sporting event is about to begin, surrounded by expectation. It was with this song that fans of Chicago, champion of the NBA (the North American basketball league) in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998, became accustomed to welcoming their great star.
“Man, when I started listening, I was unsure if that was it,” said lawyer Raphael Moura, 44, who was at the clash between Brazil and Morocco, in East Rutherford, last Saturday (13). “When I saw that that was what I was thinking, I started throwing some imaginary balls and sticking out my tongue”, laughed the Brazilian, an amateur basketball player.
The sharp shots and tongue out were Jordan’s signature moves. And it was to the sound of the notes now repeated at MetLife Stadium that Michael used to be announced by the communications team at the Bulls’ gym – initially the Chicago Stadium, then the United Center.
“Aaaaand now…”, said the announcer, in a preamble that brought the house down.
The idea came from Tommy Edwards, who played the role of master of ceremonies at the Chicago Stadium and also worked as a radio presenter. In the 80s, he began testing popular songs in the players’ presentations, such as “Thriller”, a hit by Michael Jackson. But it was with the then little-known “Sirius” that everything fell into place.
The NBA was still in its infancy as an entertainment industry. And the electricians at Chicago Stadium were deeply irritated by the idea of turning off the lights so that a spotlight could be pointed in the star’s direction while the music played. At that point, when a spotlight turned off, it took minutes to come back on.
But everything went well.
“There was a fan base hungry for a good basketball team and one of the most popular athletes in history. If we had been presenting someone who wasn’t Jordan’s size, things wouldn’t have gone ahead. Because of Jordan, everything became special,” said Tim Hallam, the Bulls’ public relations director from 1977 to 2023, on The Ringer podcast in 2018.
With Chicago’s success in the 90s, the idea spread. “Sirius” went on to be used by other NBA teams, such as the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs, and also in American football games. In 2014, in tennis, France adopted the path in an attempt to secure the Davis Cup title – they lost the final to Roger Federer’s Switzerland.
Donald Trump even used the song in the 2016 presidential campaign in the United States, presenting himself as a kind of Michael Jordan of public administration. After a formal complaint from the family of one of the composers, Eric Woolfson (1945-2009), the song was forced to be taken down.
In the 2026 World Cup, everything is well sewn between FIFA and the copyright holders. Each of the 1,248 players in the competition can take the field to the sounds of what Michael Jordan listened to on his way to his sixth NBA championship. Only 26 of them have the chance to also be hexa.
