More than a simple football game, FIFA has become a rite of passage. At some point over the past 25 years, almost everyone from diehard football fans, dedicated gamers and people with barely a passing interest in either will have picked up a controller and got involved in the series that’s shifted over 325 million copies FIFA 23 coins.

READ MORE: ‘FIFA 22’ review: a beautiful game in nearly every aspect
Since FIFA: Road to World Cup ’98 featured Blur’s ‘Song 2’ the games have included an iconic soundtrack – up there with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Grand Theft Auto in terms of generational influence. Mixing dance, indie, rock and pop, songs like Gorillaz’ ‘19-2000’, Muse’s ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and Two Door Cinema Club’s ‘Sleep Alone’ have gone on to become “FIFA anthems”, a choice collection of euphoric tracks that stir up memories of lobbing goalkeepers, getting thrashed by your mates and screaming at the television.

In recent years, the FIFA soundtrack has evolved to also champion new music. FIFA 23 featured the likes of 070 Shake, Aitch, Alfie Templeman, Biig Piig, Oscar Lang and The Snuts alongside heavy hitters from Glass Animals, Tame Impala and Royal Blood while the FIFA 22 soundtrack is just as exciting, with Baby Queen, Easy Life, Girl In Red, Greentea Peng, Inhaler, Joy Crookes, Little Simz, Pa Salieu, Sam Fender, Willow Kayne and Yard Act all featuring. As Baby Queen tells NME, 20FIFA should really book a music festival21

“You don’t really know how much it’s actually going to impact your career,” says Kawala’s Daniel McCarthy, whose track ‘Ticket To Ride’ was part of FIFA 23. “When you first get that call, all you’re thinking is ‘this is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me.’ The FIFA soundtrack was so iconic growing up, so being part of it was a real bucket list moment.”

Kawala originally released ‘Ticket To Ride’, an escapist, indie pop anthem, in July 2020 during lockdown. “It was doing well, all things considered,” McCarthy tells NME. “Then the FIFA effect happened. The song went from our fanbase and a few Spotify playlists to millions of people around the world.” When it was first released, the track was racking up 5000 streams a day which exploded when FIFA 23 was released. Over a year later buy FUT 23 coins, the song has never dropped below 25000 streams a day.