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As It Happened6:11How a 15-year-old Bosnian anthem went from mocking the American Dream to a World Cup anthem.
When the Bosnian band Dubioza kolektiv was released USA in 2011, they never thought their tongue-in-cheek song about being disappointed in the American dream would be turned into a guaranteed World Cup anthem.
“We didn't know and we didn't have a plan, even though some people suspected us of having prophetic elements in our songs,” said Vedran Mujagić, the band's bass player and one of its founders. As It Happened hosted by Nil Köksal. “That, in a way, we love The Simpsonsit was able to fix the future.”
Similarly, team-wise, no one could have predicted what happened in April, when underdog Bosnia stunned Wales on penalties in Cardiff, ending Wales' World Cup hopes. Just before the game started, band members said they were surprised when cameras caught a group of Bosnian die-hard supporters unfurling a banner that would soon become a hit song: “I'm from Bosnia, take it to America.”
The rest, as they say, is history. A quick, ska-punk earworm resurfaced after Bosnia pulled off another upset days later, this time defeating Italy to secure the country's second World Cup appearance.
“We had no idea that after 15 years this song would be second in this football game,” said Mujagić.
On May 25, just three weeks before Bosnia-Herzegovina's FIFA World Cup 2026 match against Canada, the band dropped a new music video for a reimagined version of the song. Renamed, I'm From Bosnia, To Americathe video celebrates the roots of soccer, with a song that takes its name from the opening lyrics of the first song.
WATCH | Canada's draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in FIFA World Cup 2026 opener:
Soccer North athletes Donnovan Bennett and Amy Walsh discuss Canada's opening game against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the FIFA World Cup and are joined by guest Kyle Bekker from Forge FC.
The video has garnered nearly three million views on YouTube, in addition to the 26 million views of the original USA The video was collected over the years.
“Our song is out of our hands and out of control,” said Brano Jakubovich, the band's keyboardist and one of the founding members. “It's not ours anymore; it's gone somewhere else and I love that because this is every artist's dream, to have your song become something else…you know, [the] the song of the people.”
The origin of the song
The original song – driven by a catchy accordion melody – opens with a catchy, humble stanza – “I can't wait, take me to the United States; Take me to the Golden Gate, I'll act.” But Mujagić says the “absurd” character's dream of escaping “this nightmare” and “going to the promised land” quickly fades into a sense that the American dream isn't all it's cracked up to be.
“He realized that it's not really that good and that 'the grass isn't green in the neighbor's yard' and that 'there's no place like motherland,'” said Mujagić, quoting some of the song's lyrics. “So he turns around and goes home, so this was the original intention … we were playing with all these traditions and ideas of the Bosnian people.”
Mujagić says the song came at a time when there were many Bosnians – some 1.7 million – living abroad, “immigrating for economic reasons or leaving as war refugees in the '90s.”
Both band members noted that the song could have a deep, emotional resonance for the Bosnian national team players, many of whom were “born or raised in foreign countries and do not live in Bosnia.”
“[The] same born and raised player [the] States, he scored the last penalty against Italy,” said Jakubovich, referring to 21-year-old Esmir Bajraktarević. “Just imagine how it happened. [looked] when he scored his goal and immediately this song started playing on the field. I mean it was very painful for me, I can't imagine what it was like for him.”
