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When a World Cup stadium prepares to host a match, attention inevitably turns to the champions, the challenges on the pitch, the passion of the fans. More rarely we focus on the music that accompanies those images and contributes to building their identity. Yet, for Angelo Laganà, a musician originally from Melito di Porto Salvo, that is precisely where an essential part of the story is hidden.
For the 2026 World Cup, Laganà signs a project composed of sixteen original songs, one for each of the cities that will host the matches. A work that was born in Calabria but looks to the world, imagining music as a bridge capable of connecting different places and passions. These are not simple sound accompaniments, but compositions designed to tell the identity of cities through the universal language of notes.
A musical story between identity and emotions
“Every metropolis, through my notes – he says – has its soul, its history, its rhythm which I have been able to transform into music with immense passion”. An idea that translates into a real homage to the cities destined to write a page in the history of world football, through melodies that aim to evoke emotions and a sense of belonging. All the music was composed by Laganà, with the exception of the song dedicated to New York, created by his daughter Francesca. The arrangements bear the signature of the masters Adelmo Musso and Massimo Idà. Most of the compositions were performed with midi-accordion and accompanied by a 35-piece orchestra.
Angelo Laganà: a story full of passion and satisfaction
Music, after all, has accompanied Angelo Laganà since childhood. He was just two years old when he received a small toy accordion as a gift, an event that would shape the rest of his life. Five years later his first real instrument arrived, at thirteen he wrote his first song and won a Rai radio competition. In the following years he joined the Jokers, a musical group that managed to attract the attention of important protagonists of the Italian music scene.
Alongside music, his passion for football, inherited from his father, also grew. An injury soon forced him to step away from the game, but not to abandon it completely. In fact, through sports photography he continues to experience the world of football up close, even taking a shot of Angelo Mammì’s goal which was destined to go around the world. From there, collaborations and experiences will arise that will mark his professional path. Among these, the meeting with Ezio Greggio, which brought him closer to the publishing world for the first time. Having moved to Rome, he founded “Roma Mia”, the first Italian color magazine, starting a long activity that intertwines publishing, photography and sport.
However, music never leaves Angelo Laganà’s life: in July 2022 he composed the anthem for the ten years of Pope Francis’ pontificate, later also translated into Spanish. In the same year, he received the honor of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, on behalf of President Sergio Mattarella.
From Calabria to the world stage
The project dedicated to the World Cup seems to encompass all the souls of its history: music, football, and the desire to talk about places and people. It is not just a collection of songs, but the attempt to give a sonorous voice to the cities that will host the most followed sporting event in the world. From Melito di Porto Salvo to the large metropolises of the United States, Angelo Laganà’s journey follows an unusual direction, remembering that the most unexpected stories often arise far from the places where they end up in the spotlight.