On July 4, FIFA published a post on its World Cup Twitter account asking people which song they would like to listen to at the final of the Wold Cup to be held on July 15. Among the choices were J Balvin's "Mi Gente," Zedd's "The Middle" and two popular songs by the k-pop bands BTS and EXO – "Fake Love" and "Power." Fans immediately rushed to vote.
Turn it up and feel the beat!
— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) July 4, 2018
From the final four, which beat do you want heard inside the stadium? VOTE NOW! 🎶 #FIFAStadiumDJ
The two k-pop hits went head to head in the poll and after a day of intense voting EXO’s song won.
EXO fans, of course, expressed their excitement over such a victory on Twitter:
#EXOLxARMY YAAAAAAASSSSS WE ARE SO STRONG CONGRATS 💖💖💖💖STOP THE FIGHTING ENJOY THE MUSIC pic.twitter.com/J4PRSWky1l
— Benni👩🏻💻 (@beekittyx) July 6, 2018
#FIFAxEXOPower #FIFAStadiumDJ #EXO
— ˢᴱ정2후니ᴴᵁᴺ (@jung2hun2) July 5, 2018
I love EXO 💘 Thanks you🎉🎉🎉 @weareoneEXO pic.twitter.com/AAUtbKEJ9C
we got that power everytime👊👊👊#FIFAxEXOPower #WorldCupEXOPower #EXO #엑소@weareoneEXO pic.twitter.com/W5g3aj1wP3
— parkling (@8KZuTvdblnwCjCJ) July 6, 2018
Congrats to EXO and EXO-L's for winning!!!! I'm still proud of our ARMYs ♡ and i'm so happy we will hear the kpop song in FIFA stadium!!! #BTSxFIFAWorldCup #FIFAxEXOPower
— jimin pics (@jiminhqpics) July 5, 2018
EXO can cheer everyone by Power so it would suit a FIFA event so much#FIFAxEXOPowerpic.twitter.com/QiRufrzVM1
— xiudaddy (@kaihunlyone) July 5, 2018
EXO'S POWER IS THE RIGHT SONG FOR FIFA FINALE!!!!! #WorldCupEXOPower pic.twitter.com/4UldaS2BCQ
— Baekhyun’s thighs (@Baekhyunebaby) July 5, 2018
The boy band already stole the show during the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
The official Olympic channel has also expressed its support for EXO via Twitter:
Take it from us, @WeAreOneEXO sure know how to rock a stadium! 😍#EXO Their full closing ceremony performance here 👉 https://t.co/PLQMdiMJgp pic.twitter.com/w7TODHg1l9
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) July 5, 2018
However, BTS fans should not worry, because "Fake Love" will also be played at Luzhniki stadium. Alex Stone, the social media manager for the World Cup, tweeted later on July 5 that BTS has won in a separate poll on Instagram and football fans will hear the group's song too.
Great news. We also ran a poll on Instagram. Fans of both groups are winners! Enjoy the rest of the day/evening.
— Alex Stone (@AlexStone7) July 5, 2018
So it turns out that we and exo both won the fifa poll! So we shall have both songs playing👍🏻😆🙏🏻 —bex#BTSxFifaWorldCup @BTS_twt pic.twitter.com/7PlmIHEC2b
— UK BTS ARMY (@UKBTSARMATION) July 5, 2018
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the final set to be held at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.