That Time Bono and the Edge Co-wrote a Euro Championship Song

In 1960, the very first UEFA European Football Championship was held. It’s taken place every four years since then and is, at the time of this writing, the second-most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup. (That’s European football, by the way, referred to as soccer by American audiences.)

Since 1992, each championship has featured a new song, often multilingual with the host country’s language. In 2020, Bono and the Edge of U2 took part in that year’s song creation. It was titled “We Are the People,” in collaboration with Martin Garrix, Albin Nedler, Kristoffer Fogelmark, Giorgio Tuinfort and Simon Edmund Carmody.

“Creating the music for one of the biggest sports events in the world together with Bono and the Edge has been an incredible experience,” Garrix said in a press release at that time (via Pitchfork). “I’m very proud of what we did together and excited to finally share it with the world!”

READ MORE: Top 10 Post-‘Achtung Baby’ U2 Songs

Bono and the Edge even “performed” the song virtually at the championship’s opening ceremony, which you can watch below.

Work on the song began three years before it was released, and it was completed before the pandemic began in March of 2020, with the entire process kept a secret.

“At one point [Bono] was singing new melodies,” Garrix told Rolling Stone in 2021. “And mind you, I think this was six hours after we sent the email to them asking whether they were interested. I remember I had to mute myself on the phone during the conversation just to scream and then unmute and play it cool. It was incredible.”

Next thing Garrix knew, he was flying to Monaco to record the track with the two members of U2.

“I had goosebumps in the studio the entire time,” he recalled, “because it’s Bono standing next to me singing the song.”

The 2024 Euro Final between Spain and England will take place on July 14 at 3 p.m. EST.