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DNA (More Than A Game) [FIFA World Cup 2026™] - Single album cover by Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE & Megan Thee Stallion

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2026 · From the album DNA (More Than A Game) [FIFA World Cup 2026™] - Single

DNA (More Than A Game)

by Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE & Megan Thee Stallion

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02:57 Runtime

The reading

An official 2026 World Cup anthem built around a single idea: falling down and getting back up is what links every nation on the pitch

02 · Interpretation

DNA (More Than A Game): The Sound of a Multilingual World Cup Anthem

E Editorial Desk

The song is a commissioned anthem for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and its construction tells you that immediately. Four artists from four corners of the pop map (Italian classical crossover, French dance production, Korean pop songwriting, American hip-hop) trade lines in three languages over a single, very simple idea: getting knocked down and standing back up is hard-coded into us. That is the "DNA" of the title, and the song treats it less as a metaphor than as a slogan to chant.

Bocelli opens in Italian with a line that translates roughly to "even if we fall, we get back up," immediately answered by EJAE in Korean with the same sentiment: fall again, rise again. The pairing is the song's whole thesis in miniature. Before any English lyric arrives, two different languages have already said the same thing, which is the move a World Cup song has to make. The hook then lands in English so the stadium can sing it: it's more than just a game, it's our DNA.

The first proper verse leans into tournament-speak. "Tonight, we live our destiny," "only got one shot," "the world is watching." These are the standard furniture of sports anthems, and the song does not pretend otherwise. What gives the section a little lift is the line about waving flags and letting fate decide, which acknowledges the thing every knockout-round fan knows: at some point preparation ends and the ball does what it does. The pre-chorus reframes nerves as collective resolve rather than individual heroics.

The second chorus tightens the message into something close to a motto. "We're not gonna break" and "shooting for the stars, got a fire in our hearts" are not lyrics designed for close reading; they are lyrics designed to be shouted in a bar in a language that is not your first.

Megan Thee Stallion's verse is where the song shifts register, and it is the most interesting stretch on the track. She drops the team-sport plural and goes first-person competitive: flowers at her feet, haters' stones turning into diamonds on her wrist, a "paper chase" if she runs a race. The boasting reads as a deliberate counterweight to the anthem's communal sentiment, the individual star inside the squad. The line that ties her verse back to the song's thesis is the last one, "Walking on the field, I'll die before I quit." It is the same fall-and-rise idea the Italian and Korean lines opened with, translated into the grammar of a rap flex. "Bend, never break" does the same work as "anche se cadiamo, poi ci rialziamo," just in a different accent.

A song engineered for a stadium

David Guetta's involvement explains the shape of the production around these vocals: a build-and-release structure designed to function at a stadium PA volume and to survive being cut into thirty-second broadcast bumpers. The "Whoa-oh" post-chorus exists for exactly one reason, which is that 80,000 people who do not share a language can sing it together. That is a technical achievement more than an emotional one, but it is the achievement the brief required.

The choice to bookend the song with the Italian and Korean lines, rather than burying them as exotic flavoring in a bridge, is the most considered decision on the record. It tells the listener that the English chorus is the translation, not the original. For a tournament co-hosted across three countries and broadcast to most of the planet, that inversion is the point.

Why it works on its own terms

As a piece of songwriting, "DNA (More Than A Game)" is not trying to be subtle, and judging it for that would be missing what it is. It is a functional object: an anthem meant to score montages, opening ceremonies, and penalty shootouts. What it does well is refuse to pick a single cultural center. The resilience cliché is universal enough to carry the weight of four artists who otherwise have very little stylistic overlap, and the song's willingness to let each of them sound like themselves (Bocelli's tenor, Megan's swagger, EJAE's pop melody, Guetta's drop) is what keeps it from collapsing into beige.

Themes catalogued

resilience national pride competition unity sport

03 · Lyrics

"DNA (More Than A Game)"

And I say, "Hey, anche se cadiamo, poi ci rialziamo

It's more than just a game, it's our DNA"

Yeah, 또 넘어져도, 난 또다시 일어나

This is more than just a game, it's our DNA

(Ooh) tonight, we live our destiny

(Ooh) only got one shot, and I know I believe (believe)

That we'll keep on fighting (fighting) while the world is watching

(Ooh) I know everything is meant to be

We'll stand together, we'll stand the pressure

Wave your flags up in the sky, let fate decide

So we say, "Hey, we're not gonna break, yeah

We're standing here today

'Cause it's more than just a game, it's our DNA"

Yeah, we're shooting for the stars, got a fire in our hearts

This is more than just a game, it's our DNA

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh

It's our DNA

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh

It's our DNA

Yeah, bend, never break (never break), everybody winning

Come and kick it with the great (kick it with the great)

Flowers at my feet, time to pull it out the vase (when?)

Dripping down my face (yeah)

If I run a race, it'll be a paper chase (ay, okay)

The hottie gotta win (yeah)

Haters throwing stones, turned to diamonds on the wrist

(Diamonds on the wrist)

Give it all you got, taking shots, never miss (yeah)

My squad all legit (yeah)

Walking on the field, I'll die before I quit, huh

We'll stand together, we'll stand the pressure

Wave your flags up in the sky, let fate decide (before I quit, huh)

So we say, "Hey, we're not gonna break, yeah

We're standing here today

'Cause it's more than just a game, it's our DNA"

Yeah, we're shooting for the stars, got a fire in our hearts

This is more than just a game, it's our DNA

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh

It's our DNA

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh

It's our DNA

And I say, "Hey, anche se cadiamo, poi ci rialziamo

It's more than just a game, it's our DNA" (just a game)

또 넘어져도, 난 또다시 일어나

This is more than just a game, it's our DNA

Lyrics via Google. Copyright belongs to rights holders.

04 · FAQ

Frequently asked

What does 'anche se cadiamo, poi ci rialziamo' mean in DNA (More Than A Game)?
Bocelli's opening Italian line translates as 'even if we fall, then we get back up.' It states the song's core idea before the English chorus arrives, and it is mirrored immediately afterward by EJAE's Korean line expressing the same fall-and-rise sentiment.
Why is DNA (More Than A Game) sung in three different languages?
The track was made as an official tie-in for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a tournament co-hosted across multiple countries. Using Italian, Korean and English in the same hook lets the song function as a multinational anthem rather than belonging to any one fan base, while still being singable from the chorus alone.
What is Megan Thee Stallion's verse in DNA (More Than A Game) actually about?
Her verse swaps the communal 'we' for a first-person competitor: haters' stones turning into diamonds, flowers at her feet, a paper chase if she runs a race. It plays the role of the individual star inside the team, and lands on 'I'll die before I quit,' which restates the song's resilience thesis in the grammar of a rap boast.
Who is EJAE, the Korean vocalist on DNA (More Than A Game)?
EJAE is a Korean American songwriter and vocalist with extensive credits in K-pop. Her Korean-language line, repeating the idea of falling and rising again, anchors the song's Asian-language half and balances Bocelli's Italian opening.
How does DNA (More Than A Game) compare to past World Cup songs like Waka Waka or Wavin' Flag?
Like those predecessors, it leans on a chant-friendly post-chorus (the 'Whoa-oh' hook) designed for crowds without a shared language. What sets it apart is the deliberate multilingual structure: instead of one lead artist with regional flavor, it splits the lead vocal across four artists from four scenes.
What does the line 'haters throwing stones, turned to diamonds on the wrist' mean?
It is a Megan Thee Stallion image that reframes criticism as fuel for success: the stones thrown at her are transmuted into jewelry she now wears. In the context of a sports anthem, it doubles as a competitor's answer to doubt, fitting the song's wider 'bend, never break' message.
Why does DNA (More Than A Game) keep repeating 'it's more than just a game'?
The phrase is the song's argument for why a football tournament deserves an anthem at all. By tying the game to 'DNA,' the lyric claims that the qualities the sport demands (resilience, collective effort, refusing to quit) are not athletic traits but human ones, which is the emotional pitch every World Cup song has to make.
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