"I wish John was still here." That's Bill Danoff — co-writer of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" — watching tens of thousands of fans belt his song back at a World Cup stadium in 2025. John Denver died in a plane crash in 1997. He never got to see this.
What started as a FIFA playlist experiment has turned into the defining post-match moment of the U.S. team's World Cup campaign. After victories, Pochettino, McKennie, Berhalter, and the rest of the squad stand on the pitch and sing Denver's 1971 classic back to the crowd. After Wednesday's 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina — achieved with ten men following a red card — the scenes were electric. Pochettino, Argentine-born, Spain-based, was arm-in-arm with his staff, belting out every word.
A song from Maryland pretending to be from West Virginia
The geography alone is worth a moment. Danoff and co-writer Taffy Nivert were inspired by a drive along Clopper Road in Maryland — roughly 40 kilometres from the West Virginia border. Danoff hadn't even spent meaningful time in West Virginia when he wrote it. He was channeling Appalachian radio broadcasts he'd heard growing up in Massachusetts, a West Virginia-born actor, and the West Virginian commune members who showed up to his gigs.
They were going to sell it to Johnny Cash. Then Denver heard an unfinished version in their apartment one night and talked them out of it. Smart man.
The John Denver estate called the song's World Cup revival "thrilling," pointing out that its resonance has always been bigger than geography. "Everyone knows what 'Take me home to the place I belong' is about," they said. "It's not limited to West Virginia."
From AFL tradition to global football moment
Brisbane Lions fans already know this territory. Since 2020, "Country Roads" has been the goal song at the Gabba whenever Charlie Cameron finds the net — one of the more joyful traditions in Australian rules football. West Virginia University has been using it after home wins for years. German NFL fans sing it during Oktoberfest and carry it into Frankfurt and Munich on game days. Manchester United supporters rewrote it for Old Trafford.
The song travels. That's always been its trick.
FIFA added it to the post-game playlist specifically to engineer a shared moment between the U.S. squad and its supporters. It debuted after the 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle and landed immediately. One exception: the June 25 loss to Turkey at LA Stadium, where the mood killed any sing-along momentum before it could start. But that was an anomaly.
"You could feel the connection with the fans," McKennie said after the Australia match. That connection has only grown since.
Meanwhile England, doing their own version of this, have adopted Oasis' "Wonderwall" — arms over shoulders, in a line, after each match. Harry Kane called the moment after the Croatia opener "one of my favourite ever moments in an England shirt." Two nations, two anthems, both leaning on music to build something beyond the football itself.
Danoff, for his part, has started watching more soccer. Partially for the football. Mostly to see what 50,000 people do with a song he wrote about a Maryland drive fifty-four years ago.
