As football fever sweeps across the world in preparation for Germany 06, we present the all-time top football hits.

The list is, broadly, in sales order. It is highly accurate at the 'top end' though absence of some historical data means that it has been necessary to estimate on a few occasions lower down the listing. We are hugely indebted to Simon Walters for his detailed record-keeping and hard work in the compilation of this chart.

"Three Lions" has sold in excess of 1.4 million in both its guises (on this basis, it is just inside the Top 30 biggest sellers of all time). The 1996 original sold 780,000 copies putting it at no. 1 in our Footie 50. To make the top 5 in this chart a single needs to have sold 430,000. By the time we get to no. 30 sales figures are around the 52,000 mark.

All the tracks included in the listing are in celebration of a tournament. A few football-related songs don't seem appropriate for inclusion in this listing. Details of these are given below the chart.

Detailed World Cup archive.

Other songs worth mentioning, though they do not specifically relate to football tournaments are:

• The Crowd - "You’ll Never Walk Alone" (no. 1, 1985) [Bradford City fire disaster fund]
• The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden & Stock Aitken Waterman - "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" (no. 1, 1989) [Hillsborough disaster fund]
  
  (the above two would have been no. 7 and 9 respectively if included in the Footie 50).
  
  
  
• Gazza & Lindisfarne - "Fog On The Tyne (Revisited)" (no.2 1990) [no special occasion but a Geordie anthem performed by a north east group and their football hero, Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne!]
• Bell & Spurling - "Sven Sven Sven" (no. 7, 2001) [tribute to England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson]
• Bell & Spurling - "Goldenballs (Mr Beckham to You)" (no.25, 2002) [tribute to England player David Beckham]