[1] The single was written by band members Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne and regular collaborators Jonathan Cain, Wayne Hector, John Ryan, Ed Drewett and Julian Bunetta.

Lucas Villa of AXS praised One Direction's classic rock sound of "Steal My Girl", noting similarities to Journey's "Faithfully".

He wrote that "the guys have been digging in their parents' record collections" and calling the song "a pretty neat and new direction for the band.

[5] Billboard gave the song four and a half out of five stars, stating it "represents the group's most tremendous Van Halen impression yet.

[12] Christina Lee of Idolator wrote that "the song is clearly a hit" that "morphs into a soaring stadium pop anthem with hard-hitting drum machine beats, glassy piano chords and that playground chant of a hook".

[19] The clip featured Danny DeVito, a juvenile chimpanzee,[20][21][22] sumo wrestlers Yamamotoyama Ryūta and Ulambayaryn Byambajav, acrobats and a marching band.

He dubs each of the members of the group a different expression: Harry is love, Niall is light, Liam is power, Louis is danger, and Zayn is mystery.

In the end, a rain effect is used on the lot, where the group, DeVito, and all other acts appear together in one shot resembling a mix of Cirque du Soleil and Coachella.