No song became as much of a Qatar 2022 anthem for the millions of fans who supported Argentina’s win as Muchachos, the La Mosca–inspired chant that accompanies the Albiceleste to this day. Now, a new song aims to become the anthem for the 2026 World Cup, and for the first time, it’s gaining traction.

Titled La cuarta estrella, “the fourth star,” the song seeks to recapture the inspiring ethos of Muchachos through imagery of Argentine heroes and the heart the country felt when the United States last hosted the World Cup.

It was written by Pablo Quintana, better known as Palmito Música, an Argentine musician who went viral in 2023 after posting a song about his search for a rental home on Instagram. 

Sung to the rhythm of legendary Argentine cumbia singer Gilda’s No me arrepiento de este amor (I won’t regret this love), Quintana’s lyrics look for motives to keep the good times rolling. 

It’s a move away from the hopeful themes of its predecessor or the antagonistic vibes of Brazil 2014’s Brasil, decime que se siente (Brazil, tell me how it feels), which shows how the Albiceleste fans’ realities have changed.

The verses Y 32 años después, la Scaloneta va a vengar la copa que le robaron al Diez (Some 32 years later, La Scaloneta will avenge the cup that was stolen from number 10), recall how Diego Maradona was banned from USA 94 after testing positive for ephedrine – a result he always claimed was due to a medicine switch-up.

With Por Malvinas, por el Diego, por la última de Leo, Argentina, quiero verte bicampeón (For the Malvinas, for Diego, for Leo’s final cup, Argentina, I want to see you two-time champs), the song also pushes Argentina to become the first country to win back-to-back tournaments since Brazil in 1962 as a send-off for star and captain Lionel Messi.

Getting off the ground

But as creative as Quintana’s lyrics were, the song hadn’t really stuck with fans leading up to the tournament.

A mix of the abundance of success by the team led by Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s difficult economic situation and a return to a winter tournament in opposition to Qatar 2022’s summer months for the Southern Hemisphere meant there was considerably less “World Cup feeling” in Buenos Aires

However, there’s nothing quite like winning to get fans in the singing mood. With Argentina hitting the ground running at the 2026 World Cup, with Messi scoring in all three games, the song is starting to take off.

While Muchachos can still be heard, the massive celebrations in Dallas, Texas, after the Albiceleste’s 3-1 win over Jordan saw the first instances of La cuarta estrella becoming ubiquitous. 

“I tried to evoke the Argentine popular feeling, that of the fans, the families, and the kids,” Quintana told La Nación in a recent interview. “They’re the biggest crowd, the ones who sing louder.”

The song is now appearing in print in restaurants in cities where Argentina is set to play, and it was even sung at a concert by the Argentine rock band Ciro y Los Persas when they performed in Dallas.

Quintana confirmed in that same interview that he’s got it on good authority that the song has reached the Argentine squad, who “sing it every day.”

With Argentina looking very solid in the tournament and with a somewhat open road to progress, it could be the case that we start hearing La cuarta estrella more and more.

Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falkland Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands.