In 2002 , Q magazine named " Where the Streets Have No Name " the 16th- " most exciting tune ever " . The following year , Q ranked the song at number 459 in a special edition titled " 1001 Best Songs Ever " . Three years later , the magazine 's readers voted the track the 43rd @-@ greatest song in history . Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 28 on its list of the " 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time . " In a 2010 poll by fan site @ U2 , approximately 29 % of 4 @,@ 800 respondents named " Where the Streets Have No Name " as their favourite song from The Joshua Tree , ranking it as the most popular song from the album . In 2010 , American sports network ESPN used the track , among other U2 songs , in commercials for the 2010 FIFA World Cup , with the South African Soweto Gospel Choir adding vocals to the song . The advertisement , titled " Robben Island " , portrays South African political prisoners during the apartheid era forming a soccer team . It are plans to bring a recording of the Soweto @-@ supported performance to retail . Composer John Mackey used the introductory guitar theme in his 2009 piece for wind ensemble , Aurora Awakes . The song 's introduction was used by the Vancouver Canucks hockey team at the start each of their home games , when the players take to the ice . The Baltimore Ravens also use the song as they enter M & T Bank Stadium before home games . The Marquette Golden Eagles men 's basketball team uses this song in their entrance video before all home games at the BMO Harris Bradley Center . The song is also used by the Wisconsin Badgers football team for their entrance video at Camp Randall Stadium prior to all home games . The Kansas Jayhawks men 's basketball team uses the song during their starting lineups at Allen Fieldhouse .