God's Favorite Band features 20 of Green Day's previous hits, as well as 2 new songs: a new version of the Revolution Radio track "Ordinary World", featuring country singer Miranda Lambert, and a previously unreleased song entitled "Back in the USA". The album includes songs from all of Green Day's studio albums, with the exception of 39/Smooth, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!. 10 of the tracks previously appeared on Green Day's 2001 greatest hits album International Superhits!. Although he had returned to his previous role as the band's touring guitarist, Jason White participated in the recording for "Back in the USA".

The album's title is a reference to a joke made by Stephen Colbert during the band's March 22, 2017 appearance on The Late Show, in which Colbert quipped that Green Day were "God's favorite band". Colbert's joke was in itself a reference to a comment made by Green Day drummer Tré Cool on the band's 2005 DVD Bullet in a Bible, in which Cool remarked that the rain clouds over the venue had cleared because "God wants to watch His favorite band again."