France's anthem is about revolution, ours is about an outdated institution and the words could have been written by a child "Send her victorious, happy and glorious".

I loathe God Save the Queen.

The anthems I like are about the land and the people.

They only played the shortened version of the Argentinian anthem tonight : it changes tempo and becomes much more bombastic.

Actually, the English anthems lyrics are quite similar to the French anthem. Many people seem to only know the first couple of lines, since none of the anthems are sang in their entirety at the world cup.

I like it personally, I think it has more weight than many of the other anthems, and simple lyrics work best in anthems if you ask me. Most of the anthems have fairly simplistic lyrics and it's more about making an obvious statement of national pride.

The monarchy in England is outdated and unneeded today perhaps, just like France is no longer in revolution- it's just a hark back to an earlier time that inspires a bit of patriotism in some people.

Love the french anthem. Very disappointed not to hear it tonight. Thought the chilean anthem was great Friday.

I know the rest of the lyrics, still it is a dirge. The Italian and French anthems are uplifting and rousing, God Save the Queen is just plain boring in my opinion. As I said, I prefer lyrics about the land (Sweden's Du gamla, Du fria "Thou ancient, Thou free" is another nice anthem) or the people, not some unelected white-haired octogenarian that has no relevance to me whatsoever. The Welsh anthem 'Land of My Fathers' is another lovely one, seeing it sung by thousands of Welsh rugby fans in a stadium is a sight to behold even if you don't support Wales.

Fair enough

The ones whose words I know, which is a fair few, are about pride in the country, defending it against the invader et al.

Except bloody ours.




Yes, second that.

I'd prefer if England's anthem was something else.

There are plenty of great options.


There is no official national anthem of England anyway.

I find the anthems I like best to are the ones to trot to - cantering off at the end ...

Interesting to notice the US team turning sideways towards a flag during the anthem, our players were criticised for the same.

I always love watching Italy play because the players always sings their anthem with such passion

Is there no one else who likes the German one? Or are you all still pissed about the war?

I don't mind it but it's no French or Italian one

I like the German anthem.

Looking forward to Russia tonight

The version they're using for the Argentinian anthem does not have any lyrics to it, hence no player was singing. In the Rugby World Cup they always use a version which has lyrics. Why do they not use it in the Football World Cup?

Nice Haydn lullaby

http://youtu.be/Moj2Iftq7m0

But not for me suitable pre-battle.

France, Italy, Germany, and Russia are the best ones for me

If we can include 2010 I would go for the South African anthem. It is the most beautiful and inspiring anthem in the world - in fact the two best anthems in the world merged together!


Our anthem is dire by comparison - no disrespect to the Queen but it sounds like the sort of anthem some tin pot dictatorship would have. No reference to the country or anything inspiring at all!

As for the current world cup - the Russian and Spanish anthems are pretty inspiring!

Normally Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem are regarded as the English unofficial anthems - and are used at the Commonwealth games. The former is however the most suitable - as the words are inspiring.

Nice words and melodious tune. But IMHO not suitable to work one up into a frenzy as most of the Latin ones are.

They still can't agree on post-Franco lyrics in Spain so no words.

Russian, German, French and Dutch are all great anthems and give me the goosebumps when they're played at the start of the match.(I don't know the lyrics, but just get moved by the music)

I'm not such a fan of the South American ones.

Can't stand GSTQ, neither the tune or the words. Something like "I vow to thee my country" would be much better for England.

I like USA's, France's, Russia's & Germany's.

The Japanese anthem is beautiful. Pretty haunting and sad, like they're off to get slaughtered.

The last line is

Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

May the impure blood [of the aristocracy]
Fertilise the furrows [of our fields]

It's best when it's sung by a French rugby team whose forwards all look like they have escaped from Devil's Island.