He sang "Angels" in a duet with Russian opera star Aida Garifullina as dancers circled the stage in the Lushniki Stadium where, 38-years-ago, the Moscow Olympics began with a rather more lengthy artistic performance.

Williams also courted controversy with a raised finger caught by television cameras.

Historically, the quality of music at World Cups has not necessarily been an indicator of the standard of football to follow.

In Spain in 1982, opera star Placido Domingo was chosen to perform the official song "El Mundial", written by Jose Torregrosa and Alfredo Garrido. He even wore a Spanish team shirt to promote it but the home side proved unimpressive on the field and went out with a whimper in the second phase.

On the eve of the 1990 World Cup Final in Rome, Domingo joined Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras as the Three Tenors. Their performance that night is remembered even now, but the final the following evening is almost forgotten. For the record, West Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in one of the worst finals in history.

When the same two nations met in the final in 2014 in Brazil, victory by the same score gave the Germans their fourth title. They justly have a reputation for peaking at the right time.

If only the same could be said for their music. In 1974, they recorded "Fussball ist Unser Leben" - or "Football is our life". Goalkeeper Sepp Maier and star striker Gerd Muller seemed to enjoy themselves. Thankfully for them, their performance on the pitch exceeded their efforts in the studio and Germany beat The Netherlands to lift the cup.

The Germans also reached every final from 1982 to 1990. In 1986, the entire squad joined Austrian entertainer Peter Alexander to record "Mexico Mi Amor". Many wore ponchos and sombreros. Manager Franz Beckenbauer did not go quite that far, but he did join the chorus. 

As the music died away goalkeeper Harald Schumacher put a trumpet to his lips and appeared to play. Yet even this was not the high musical water mark. In 1994 before the United States World Cup, the Village People recorded "Far Away in America" with the German team, including Jurgen Klinsmann and Lothar Matthaus as backing.

Such virtuosity may have been the reason German fans adopted "Football's Coming Home" by Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds, composed in 1996 and revamped for the 1998 World Cup with lyrics by English comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. 

Then again, it might just have been schadenfreude, so often have Germany proved to be the nemesis of England in big football tournaments.

The World Cup began in 1930, when Uruguay won what became known as the Jules Rimet trophy. It was an era when football crowds still went in for "community singing". The Uruguayans revere their football history but have not actually won the tournament since 1950. 

NTVG (No Te Va Gustar) released "Cielo de un Solo Color" (One Coloured Sky) in 2004 but it had a new lease of life in 2010 when the team sang along with it and then reached the semi finals in South Africa. Understandably, it did not feature on playlists in Ghana after a controversial handball from Luis Suarez denied the Black Stars a place in the last four. In any case, the Ghanaian team had an official supporters song of their own, performed by Kings Queens Entertainment.

An early example of the World Cup song came in 1962. A Chilean rock and roll group called Los Ramblers decided to mark the tournament with music.

The result was "El Rock de Mundial" written by band leader Jorge Rojas Astorga. The chorus was "Gol Gol de Chile" so it was not surprisingly a great hit, said to have sold more than two million copies. Chile reached the semi finals before they lost to the eventual champions Brazil. Los Ramblers were still going strong half a century later.

The 1966 World Cup in England had a mascot, a "square shouldered little lion" called World Cup Willie. Inevitably he had his own song.

"He's strong as a lion, and never will give up, and that's why Willie is favourite for the Cup," the lyrics went.

It was written and performed by Lonnie Donegan with his skiffle group. Donegan, incidentally, was a Scot.

The official music for England 1966 included a World Cup march written by Alan Moorhouse and Keith Mansfield, who was to compose many sporting themes. It was performed by Joe Loss and his band. That year there was even a World Cup waltz and cha-cha by the celebrated band leader Victor Sylvester.

In 1970, "World Beaters Sing the World Beaters" was issued as a circular album sleeve and contained England's 1970 World Cup song "Back Home".

Rod Stewart was a huge fan of Scotland's national team and recorded the official 1978 song "Ole Ola" and travelled to Argentina to see them play.

The 1982 England squad included at least two players who had tried their hands as solo artists, Kevin Keegan and Glenn Hoddle.

American Alexi Lalas, the most recognisable face of the USA team at the World Cup in 1994, even produced a rock CD including the track "Kickin'balls".

Ennio Morricone was probably better known for his music for spaghetti westerns, but he also composed a jaunty march for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

The Argentina team were encouraged by a tango number "Argentina te Queremos ver Campeon" but the song which really had staying power was "Vamos Vamos Argentina" recorded by Los Campeones. It became popular on the terraces in 1978. In "Hero", the official film of the 1986 World Cup, Diego Maradona is shown belting out the song after they won for the second time. It remains popular to this day.

In 1988, Georgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock found they had a hit on their hands with Olympic song "Hand in Hand", a hit far beyond Korean borders. It was even played at Pyeongchang 2018. The duo were recruited to produce a World Cup song for 1990 in Italy. It was called "Notti Magiche" - literally Magical Nights.

This was mixed in Los Angeles and performed at the Opening Ceremony in the San Siro Stadium by Edoardo Bennato and the husky voiced Gianna Nannini.

The Swedes came up with "Ciao Ciao Italia", performed by the splendidly named "Aftershave" and featuring the entire Swedish squad. Sadly, they did not make the cut after the group stages.

England were a revelation in 1990. Their run to the semis coincided with "World In Motion" made with New Order. The rap by John Barnes was unforgettable.

The marketing men soon realised the commercial potential of the official album and were recruiting major stars to perform.

Daryl Hall and the Sounds of Blackness came together to record "Gloryland", a tune inspired by "Battle Hymn of the Republic", but another American star will always be associated with 1994.

"A skeptical global fan base might have questioned the validity of the Americans putting on a soccer tournament but not their ability to put on a show. Think again," said Time Magazine.

Williams wore red in Moscow yesterday, and Diana Ross was also dressed in a red suit as she raced through a column of dancers singing "I'm Coming Out". All she had to do was shoot the ball into the goal. As the posts fell away so did Diana's shooting. Hardly a supreme effort. In 2018, Ronaldo and the young mascot in Moscow who passed the ball made no such mistake.

Ricky Martin's France 1998 anthem "Cup of Life" topped charts in Australia, France, Sweden, Germany, Spain Switzerland and Belgium.

The Spice Girls were at their zenith and recorded as "England United" with Ocean Colour Scene, Space and Echo and the Bunnymen. Sadly their efforts have been long forgotten.

France 1998 saw the debut of the Reggae Boyz from Jamaica. The music to encourage them was called "Rise Up" with Ziggy Marley, son of Bob, among the performers.  

The 2002 tournament was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea. The official music, penned by Vangelis, had echoes of Arirang, the traditional Korean song which became so familiar at Pyeongchang 2018.

In 2010 in South Africa the choice fell on Colombian superstar Shakira. It was said that she first met her future partner Gerard Pique at the recording session for "This time for Africa".

The song borrows heavily from a Cameroonian song "Zangalewa Zamina" and remains popular to this day.

It remains a wonder that anyone heard it in the stadia. The sound of the 2010 World Cup was the dreaded vuvuzela which had even television viewers reaching for the aspirin.

In 2014, the team changes included Jennifer Lopez for Shakira. J-Lo lined up alongside rapper Pitbull and Claudia Leitte for "We are One" which was performed at the Opening Ceremony.

This year's official song is a number called "Live it Up" produced by DJ Diplo. "So many stars have come together to make a strong vibe," he said. 

In the video Ronaldinho joins Nicky Jam, Era Istrefi and Will Smith who seems to have mastered the art of the football interview. "At the end of the day we just want to see the world dance," he said.

Nigeria might well dance to their own tune. "Dem Go Hear em", translated as "Go show them" by Olamide and Phyno. They are two rappers who have performed together before and hope their efforts will "mentally boost" the Super Eagles when they begin their campaign against Croatia tomorrow.

FIFA also have their own anthem. It was composed by the German organist Franz Lambert in 1993 and first heard at the 1994 World Cup in the USA. 

Chelsea are of course owned by a Russian and run out to the tune "Blue is the Colour". It is a reminder that whenever the year ends in eight, World Cup winners have always worn predominantly blue, even Brazil in 1958 and of course the thick blue stripes for Argentina in 1978. An omen? Time will tell.