The 2024 UEFA European Championships is comfortably the most eagerly anticipated football tournament this year. It’s been three years since England narrowly missed out on becoming European champions on home soil, losing to Italy on penalties at London’s Wembley Stadium.
That’s all firmly in the past though, as attentions shift to Euro 2024, which is being held this summer in Germany.
Kicking things off
Ten host cities across the nation are staging some of the group stage and knockout games through June and July. The tournament is already capturing the imagination of football fans including those in the most unlikely of places. In the iGaming scene, there’s a European Championship-inspired Slingo title that’s just been released as part of Paddy’s slingo selection, alongside other titles inspired by popular culture like horse racing and television gameshows.
To celebrate the kick-off of Euro 2024, UEFA has revealed a new official song for the tournament. The song, “FIRE”, has been released by a trio of music artists. Grammy-nominated OneRepublic are involved, along with German pop artist, Leony, and Italian electro group, MEDUZA.
The nuts and bolts of FIRE
Ryan Tedder, the leading vocalist and frontman for OneRepublic, has been writing material for other musicians for the best part of two decades. Tedder was enlisted to write FIRE, which was later produced by MEDUZA. His band, OneRepublic, plan to release their sixth studio album in the coming weeks, called Artificial Paradise. It’s been made available for pre-order ahead of its July 12 release date. The band are also planning to embark on a major tour with this new album, with Tedder squeezing in his work on FIRE before a busy second half of 2024 awaits.
There is a unique blend of creativity which burns bright in FIRE. MEDUZA are well-known for their euphoric house production and this, along with OneRepublic’s emotive effects and Leony’s compelling pop power have made for an explosive track which captures the essence of what it is to be a football fan.
Although the song is likely to be played throughout the tournament, fans will be able to watch MEDUZA, OneRepublic, and Leony perform FIRE live as part of the competition’s closing ceremony on July 14. The closing ceremony is held as part of the pre-match build-up to the Euro 2024 final, which is being held at Berlin’s historic Olympiastadion.
To supplement the track, MEDUZA have also launched a string of additional music compositions as spin-offs to FIRE, ideal for providing the backdrop to major Euro 2024 events like the pre-match team entrances, television broadcasts, and even trophy presentations.
How music channels the spirit of soccer
Philipp Lahm, tournament director of UEFA Euro 2024, said that music and this sport can “unite people” in unique ways. Lahm said that some football songs have become synonymous with iconic football tournaments, most notably “Football’s Coming Home” by The Lightning Seeds for Euro ’96. Lahm wants FIRE to be renowned for Euro 2024, symbolizing the “togetherness” and “diversity” of Europe.
As part of the launch of FIRE, UEFA unveiled a social media campaign surrounding the hashtag #LightYourFire. The campaign invited football fans from across Europe to share their love of the “beautiful game”.
