One of the most memorable images from the U.S. team’s World Cup run has nothing to do with goals or saves — it’s the sight of American players joining tens of thousands of fans in belting out John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” after their matches.
Even head coach Mauricio Pochettino, a native of Argentina who now lives in Spain, jumped into the celebration following Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, singing the words to Denver’s beloved anthem while embracing players and staff.
The John Denver estate told the Associated Press it is “thrilled” by the song’s renewed popularity at the World Cup. The estate says “Country Roads” has stood the test of time because its message goes beyond any single place, and that the “simple, clear, and relatable” lyrics make it ideal for a crowd sing-along.
“Everyone knows what ‘Take me home to the place I belong’ is about,” the estate said Thursday. “It’s not limited to West Virginia.”
Interestingly, despite the song’s deep connection to West Virginia in the lyrics, co-writer Bill Danoff has said the inspiration actually came from a drive he and his then-wife and co-writer Taffy Nivert took along Maryland’s winding Clopper Road to attend a family reunion in Gaithersburg — roughly 25 miles, or about 40 kilometers, east of the West Virginia border.
“I just started thinking, country roads, I started thinking of me growing up in western New England and going on all these small roads,” Danoff told Washington’s WRC-TV in 2020. “It didn’t have anything to do with Maryland or anyplace.”
At the time, Danoff hadn’t spent much time in West Virginia. He was, however, familiar with Appalachian music he heard growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts, broadcast from Wheeling, West Virginia’s well-known WWVA radio station. He also cited West Virginia-born actor Chris Sarandon and West Virginian members of a commune who regularly came to his performances as additional inspirations.
Danoff said he and Nivert originally intended to pitch the song to Johnny Cash, but one evening they played an unfinished version for their friend John Denver at their apartment, and Denver persuaded them to let him record it instead. Released in 1971, it became Denver’s biggest hit and has remained popular ever since.
“I don’t know all of the ways that song must have touched people, but I’m grateful that I have somehow been able to say something that has meaning for others,” Denver wrote in later years. Denver passed away in a plane crash in 1997.
According to The Athletic, FIFA officials added “Country Roads” to its postgame playlist choices specifically to help create a shared moment between the U.S. team and its fans.
The song made its first appearance after the U.S. team’s second match, following their 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle. It was an instant sensation both inside the stadium and across social media, as fans embraced the sight of U.S. players waving and singing along to the crowd.
“You could feel the connection with the fans,” midfielder Weston McKennie told reporters after that match.
The song didn’t land quite as well on June 25 at Los Angeles Stadium, coming on the heels of a demoralizing, though ultimately inconsequential, last-minute loss to Turkey.
But it roared back Wednesday night in Santa Clara, California, as the U.S. beat Bosnia-Herzegovina to punch their ticket to the round of 16. Midfielders McKennie and Sebastian Berhalter were among the most spirited, swinging their arms and wandering the field while singing to the crowd.
Even at matches not involving the U.S. team, the song has been played during hydration breaks — and has been met with loud cheers from fans who, just moments before, were booing those same breaks.
This isn’t the first time “Country Roads” has taken on a life of its own in sports. It has long been a tradition at West Virginia University football games, where fans serenade the team after home wins. The song has also found a following in Germany, where fans have been singing it during the NFL’s annual games there since the first match in Munich in 2022 — a tradition carried over from Oktoberfest celebrations. Manchester United supporters in the English Premier League have even adapted the lyrics to reference their home ground, Old Trafford.
While “Country Roads” serves as the U.S. team’s unofficial anthem at this tournament, England’s national squad has similarly adopted Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” The English players lined up with arms over each other’s shoulders and sang the 1995 hit after their 4-2 opening win against Croatia — a moment captain Harry Kane called “one of my favorite ever moments in an England shirt.” The team has kept the postgame tradition going after every match since.
