The soccer World Cup that has proclaimed Spain champion for the first time in 16 years clearly marks the news on the Spanish singles chart this week. While ‘Dai Dai’, the official anthem of the tournament, remains at number 2, only behind Quevedo and Elvis Crespo, other songs rise, enter or re-enter the classification driven by football euphoria.
The main protagonist, of course, is Aitana, who places ‘Superestrella’ a few places above where it was last week, going from 7 to 4. The unofficial anthem of the Spanish team is still going strong after 56 weeks on the list, although it has not yet managed to reach number 1. At the same time, it continues to grow internationally and is already in the top 35 globally.
The influence of footballers when it comes to promoting songs is once again evident with two of the week’s entries. Marc Pubill surprised in the Plaza de Cibeles by singing ‘Baby Lover’ a cappella, and now this Ñengo Flow hit from 2017 debuts on the Spanish list at number 39. For his part, Lamine Yamal takes ‘Y qué fue’ by Don Miguelo to number 67 after citing it among his favorite songs.
We also have to talk about those other unofficial World Cup anthems that go beyond ‘Superstar’. The famous ‘Wavin’ Flag’ by K’naan returns to number 58 thanks to the nostalgia for Spain’s victory in 2010, as it was one of the official anthems of FIFA that year. And, sweeping home, ‘A kiss and a flower’ by Nino Bravo has also become popular during the World Cup and now enters at number 71.
Finally, several songs that have played strongly during the competition return to the classification. ‘As if you were going to die tomorrow’ by Leiva reappears at number 55, ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ by Shakira and Wyclef Jean does so at number 78 and ‘Despechá’ by Rosalía closes the list at number 99, after all of them went viral during the tournament.
On the sidelines of the World Cup, a trio of songs from the new album by Madrid-based trapper MVRK also manages to debut on the list. If ‘DAALE’ is the most successful of the three, entering directly at number 11, ‘3horas’ appears at number 82 and ‘2LATE’ at number 85.
