THE WORLD CUP is nearly upon us and alongside the football, that means we’ll be bombarded with upbeat, cheesy and shamefully catchy pop music as each nation soundtracks their attempts on the pitch.

Over the years there have been several memorably terrible efforts to balance out the more successful songs. 2010′s official tournament anthem by Shakira entitled ‘Waka Waka’ has racked up over 600,000 views on YouTube since the South Africa-hosted tournament. 

Here, we take a look at and a listen to some of the songs of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Here’s Pitbull, J-Lo and Claudia Leitte with the ‘Official Song’ of this year’s competition

Brazilian fans have greeted the official song with some criticism, mainly due to the fact that there is very little Portuguese involved. Furthermore, some local football supporters feel the video is built upon stereotypes about Brazil.

The hashtag #VoltaWakaWaka has been trending on Twitter as critics of ‘Ole Ola’ compare it to Shakira’s widely-loved 2010 World Cup song.

The ‘Official Song’ is not to be confused with the ‘Official Anthem’ by Carlos Santana, Wyclef Jean, Avicii and Alexandre Pires

The mascot, Fuleco, even has his own song. He’s a three-banded armadillo in case you were wondering

Shakira has a tune this time around too, but for some reason Pitbull’s effort was deemed more worthy of the ‘official’ tag

England’s official song was supposed to be this miserable track by Gary Barlow, featuring the likes of Gary Lineker, Michael Owen and some of the Spice Girls

But with Barlow’s offering having been dropped before the tournament even gets underway, Politics of Pop have come up with an unofficial alternative

However, the far more polished 5 Seconds of Summer – buddies of One Direction – have teamed up with the BBC to produce this monstrosity

Mercedes-Benz have put money into one of the songs coming out of Germany this year, a country that appears to be obsessed with World Cup tracks

Xavi is on drums for Spain’s song, with Diego Costa on bongos

Neymar guest stars in this popular single by Brazilian funk ostentação artist MC Guimê, which spreads the message of self-improvement as a means to escaping poverty

Pop Will Eat Itself have released a protest track aimed at Sepp Blatter and what they perceive as a corrupt FIFA

In a move that sits perfectly with their status as hipsters’ favourites, Belgium singer Stromae came up with something a little different for the Red Devils

Cameroon’s song comes from The 4, who ask you to ‘Come Celebrate’ with the Indomitable Lions

Italy’s offering is by pop songstress Annee…

While Australia have gone for Samantha Jade’s ‘Up’ to soundtrack their World Cup

Have you heard any other World Cup songs this year? Let us know in the comments section…

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