Ask English soccer fans of a certain age to tell you the greatest World Cup song, and they’ll most likely point to New Order’s World in Motion. The song, a collaboration with the England national soccer team released before the 1990 World Cup, was a number-one hit – the first in New Order’s storied career.
As England set off for the 2026 tournament, where they sit among the favorites in the World Cup betting odds, World in Motion is likely to get plenty of airtime. There are others, notably the 1996 song, Three Lions, by the Lightning Seeds feat. Baddiel and Skinner, but New Order’s track feels like a bigger pop culture moment in retrospect.
1990 changed soccer in England
The context of the song’s release is important. Soccer changed in 1990, particularly in England. The 1980s were characterized by hooliganism wrapped in nationalism. Across the 1980s, English clubs were banned from participating in European competitions. In short, soccer had a bad reputation. It felt less mainstream, more angry.
The 1990 World Cup, which was held in Italy, changed that. Ordinary people fell back in love with soccer. It was helped by a perception of glorious failure on England’s part after the team exited in the semi-finals on penalties to (West) Germany. World in Motion even had the lyrics “We Ain’t No Hooligans,” which tried to signal that soccer had moved back to the mainstream.
Odd seeing “cool” New Order release a novelty song
The song can definitely be considered a novelty song. One of the England players, John Barnes, even performed a rap, which has kind of gone down in soccer folklore as a so-bad-it’s-good moment.
For New Order, the song was not great for the band’s ‘cool’ reputation. We aren’t saying the band was damaged by it – it was, as we said, the band’s first number-one single – but it also dissociated New Order from its previous incarnation as Joy Division. The latter was dark and edgy – cool, basically. New Order was also cool, seen as part of the vanguard of the venerated Manchester dance scene of the 1980s.
But here they were performing with the England soccer team with a family-friendly record complete with rapping soccer players. It lifted the veil a bit, with lead singer Bernard Sumner remarking that it was the “last straw for Joy Division fans”.
Still, the song is fondly remembered. The lyrics, in all their glory, are posted below:
Express yourself
Create the space
You know you can win
Don't give up the chase
Beat the man
Take him on
You never give up
It's one on one
Express yourself
It's one on one
Express yourself
It's one on one
Express yourself
You can't be wrong
When something's good
It's never gone
Love's got the world in motion
And I know what we can do
Love's got the world in motion
And I can't believe it's true
Now is the time
Let everyone see
You never give up
That's how it should be
Don't get caught
Make your own play
Express yourself
Don't give it away
Express yourself
It's one on one
Express yourself
It's one on one
Express yourself
You can't be wrong
When something's good
It's never gone
Love's got the world in motion
And I know what we can do
Love's got the world in motion
And I can't believe it's true
Love's got the world in motion
And I know what we can do
Love's got the world in motion
And I can't believe it's true
You've got to hold and give
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line
They'll always hit you and hurt you
Defend and attack
There's only one way to beat them
Get 'round the back
Catch me if you can
'Cause I'm the England man
And what you're looking at
Is the master plan
We ain't no hooligans
This ain't a football song
Three lions on my chest
I know we can't go wrong
We're playing for England (England)
We're playing the song
We're singing for England (England)
Arrivederci, it's one on one
We're playing for England (England)
We're playing the song
We're singing for England (England)
Arrivederci, it's one on one
We're playing for England (England)
We're playing the song
We're singing for England (England)
Arrivederci, it's one on one
We're playing for England (England)
We're playing the song
We're singing for England (England)
Arrivederci, it's one on one
