The grass was greener, the light was brighter

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	2026 FIFA World Cup	4,606,880	The second week of the tournament finished with half the teams having played 2 games, thus some already know if they're qualified (Germany and co-hosts Mexico and the United States) and eliminated (Turkey and Tunisia). The four first timers made their debut, with two having detailed entries down there at #3 and #5, and both Jordan and Uzbekistan scoring an equalizer yet still losing 3-1. Many blowout wins also happened, including the first ever win by the third host country Canada, a 6-0 over the Qatar that received the previous Cup. And on Monday 15, all four games ended in ties! In short, much football ahead of us.
2	Oliver Tree	4,230,872	An American musician best known for his viral hits including "Miss You" and "Life Goes On"; Oliver Tree was killed aged 32 in a helicopter collision that killed five others over Rio de Janeiro on 14 June. Tree had been performing his first world tour to promote his recently-released album Love You Madly Hate You Badly. Argentine YouTuber Gaspi, Argentine director Lucas A. Vignale and Brazilian music producer Lucas Frota were also killed in the crash. Tree's remains suffered extensive damage in the post-crash fire, requiring the use of dental records to identify his body.
3	Cape Verde	2,075,601	An archipelago near northwest Africa that as a Portuguese colony used to be a stop for Age of Discovery ships, and in spite of being named "Green Cape" has blue as its national color. By finishing above the more traditional Cameroon at #1's qualifiers Cape Verde became the smallest independent country ever in a World Cup (though not overall territory, see #5), and shocked football fans in its first game of the tournament, holding off past champions Spain to a 0-0 in an incredible performance by goalkeeper Vozinha ("little grandma", after the woman who raised him), who at the age of 40 made 7 saves.
4	Jalen Brunson	2,065,363	"Captain Clutch" led the New York Knicks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 and their first NBA championship since 1973. Scoring 45 of the Knicks' 94 points in the title-clinching game earned Brunson the tournament MVP award, making Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson a very proud father.
5	Curaçao	1,808,479	A consequence of #1 both raising the number of teams and having the three strongest North and Central American squads out of qualifiers was opening the doors to the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, a Caribbean island slightly smaller than Queens inhabited by 155,000 people, known for its eponymous drink. Curaçao is not its own country but part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and in fact the national team has only one player born on the island along with 25 Dutchmen with Curaçaoan ancestry. Curaçao started the week scoring its first World Cup goal to tie the game against Germany, only keeping it equal for 17 minutes before the Germans opened the floodgates for a 7-1 laugher (not the first blue and yellow squad to suffer this score from Die Mannschaft!). And to everyone's surprise the week ended with Curaçao's first point, as goalkeeper Eloy Room making 15 saves whenever Ecuador wasn't missing their kicks kept the score down to 0-0.
6	Daveigh Chase	1,748,107	A rising child actress in the 2000s with works such as Donnie Darko and Big Love, peaking when in 2002 she played the spooky Samara Morgan in The Ring and had two notable voice acting roles, Lilo of Lilo & Stitch and Chihiro in the English Spirited Away dub, Daveigh Chase had last acted in 2016, and afterwards only appeared in the public eye for arrests, mostly regarding drug usage. And after reports of Chase spending years in homelessness and addiction, it culminated in a hospitalization for malnutrition that got worse when she contracted meningitis, leading to her death at just 35. Her former manager revealed that he hadn't seen her in a decade once Chase cut off contact with family and friends (and even left behind millions in unclaimed residuals that could have helped her recovery). His attempt at a documentary on Chase's disappearance, Finding Lilo, will also now be a celebration on her life.
7	FIFA World Cup	1,508,798	Football's greatest event, and the 48 teams of #1 include seven of its eight past champions (shame on you, Italy!). Next edition will be the centennial one, and FIFA decided to complicate regarding hosts, with games in six countries!
8	Lionel Messi	1,335,240	During his victorious 2022 campaign, "La Pulguita" already broke the record for most World Cup matches played. And once Argentina faced Algeria in their first game at #1, Messi became the first player to hit the field in six tournaments, and by scoring thrice both reached 16 overall to match Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer and became the oldest player with a World Cup hat trick at 39.
9	List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers	1,266,111
10	Juneteenth	1,207,083	The U.S. has a federal holiday nearly every calendar month. This one, combining "June" and "nineteenth", commemorates the enforcement of the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865 (announced by United States Army major general Gordon Granger). While Texas and other states honored the day locally, it was made a national holiday in 2021.

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

2026 FIFA World Cup

4,606,880

The second week of the tournament finished with half the teams having played 2 games, thus some already know if they're qualified (Germany and co-hosts Mexico and the United States) and eliminated (Turkey and Tunisia). The four first timers made their debut, with two having detailed entries down there at #3 and #5, and both Jordan and Uzbekistan scoring an equalizer yet still losing 3-1. Many blowout wins also happened, including the first ever win by the third host country Canada, a 6-0 over the Qatar that received the previous Cup. And on Monday 15, all four games ended in ties! In short, much football ahead of us.

Oliver Tree

4,230,872

An American musician best known for his viral hits including "Miss You" and "Life Goes On"; Oliver Tree was killed aged 32 in a helicopter collision that killed five others over Rio de Janeiro on 14 June. Tree had been performing his first world tour to promote his recently-released album Love You Madly Hate You Badly. Argentine YouTuber Gaspi, Argentine director Lucas A. Vignale and Brazilian music producer Lucas Frota were also killed in the crash. Tree's remains suffered extensive damage in the post-crash fire, requiring the use of dental records to identify his body.

Cape Verde

2,075,601

An archipelago near northwest Africa that as a Portuguese colony used to be a stop for Age of Discovery ships, and in spite of being named "Green Cape" has blue as its national color. By finishing above the more traditional Cameroon at #1's qualifiers Cape Verde became the smallest independent country ever in a World Cup (though not overall territory, see #5), and shocked football fans in its first game of the tournament, holding off past champions Spain to a 0-0 in an incredible performance by goalkeeper Vozinha ("little grandma", after the woman who raised him), who at the age of 40 made 7 saves.

Jalen Brunson

2,065,363

"Captain Clutch" led the New York Knicks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 and their first NBA championship since 1973. Scoring 45 of the Knicks' 94 points in the title-clinching game earned Brunson the tournament MVP award, making Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson a very proud father.

Curaçao

1,808,479

A consequence of #1 both raising the number of teams and having the three strongest North and Central American squads out of qualifiers was opening the doors to the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, a Caribbean island slightly smaller than Queens inhabited by 155,000 people, known for its eponymous drink. Curaçao is not its own country but part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and in fact the national team has only one player born on the island along with 25 Dutchmen with Curaçaoan ancestry. Curaçao started the week scoring its first World Cup goal to tie the game against Germany, only keeping it equal for 17 minutes before the Germans opened the floodgates for a 7-1 laugher (not the first blue and yellow squad to suffer this score from Die Mannschaft!). And to everyone's surprise the week ended with Curaçao's first point, as goalkeeper Eloy Room making 15 saves whenever Ecuador wasn't missing their kicks kept the score down to 0-0.

Daveigh Chase

1,748,107

A rising child actress in the 2000s with works such as Donnie Darko and Big Love, peaking when in 2002 she played the spooky Samara Morgan in The Ring and had two notable voice acting roles, Lilo of Lilo & Stitch and Chihiro in the English Spirited Away dub, Daveigh Chase had last acted in 2016, and afterwards only appeared in the public eye for arrests, mostly regarding drug usage. And after reports of Chase spending years in homelessness and addiction, it culminated in a hospitalization for malnutrition that got worse when she contracted meningitis, leading to her death at just 35. Her former manager revealed that he hadn't seen her in a decade once Chase cut off contact with family and friends (and even left behind millions in unclaimed residuals that could have helped her recovery). His attempt at a documentary on Chase's disappearance, Finding Lilo, will also now be a celebration on her life.

FIFA World Cup

1,508,798

Football's greatest event, and the 48 teams of #1 include seven of its eight past champions (shame on you, Italy!). Next edition will be the centennial one, and FIFA decided to complicate regarding hosts, with games in six countries!

Lionel Messi

1,335,240

During his victorious 2022 campaign, "La Pulguita" already broke the record for most World Cup matches played. And once Argentina faced Algeria in their first game at #1, Messi became the first player to hit the field in six tournaments, and by scoring thrice both reached 16 overall to match Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading scorer and became the oldest player with a World Cup hat trick at 39.

List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

1,266,111

Juneteenth

1,207,083

The U.S. has a federal holiday nearly every calendar month. This one, combining "June" and "nineteenth", commemorates the enforcement of the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865 (announced by United States Army major general Gordon Granger). While Texas and other states honored the day locally, it was made a national holiday in 2021.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	2026 FIFA World Cup	7,055,972	The past seven World Cups, with 32 teams, had 64 games overall. This one expanded to 48 squads had 72 matches in the group stage alone. The downsides were pretty clear, with teams being terrible (newcomers Uzbekistan and Jordan lost all games, as did Tunisia, Iraq, Haiti and Panama - the last one also managing to be only team with no goals in the entire tournament!) or underwhelming (once traditional Czechia left with only a draw, two time champions Uruguay had no wins, and Turkey only played well and won in a game they entered already eliminated) leading to matches with little or no scoring - even more when right after the goal and ensuing celebration, VAR comes in and removes it, even costing a qualifying spot! But otherwise it's providing fun and emotion for football fans everywhere, specially on blowout wins or teams pulling off upsets – the same Ecuador that failed to score goals on Curaçao beat four time champions Germany!
2	Andy Burnham	1,752,739	Fourth time's a charm for ol' Andy Burnham. The former Mayor of Greater Manchester returned to Westminster after a nine-year absence in a closely watched by-election which many saw as merely a formality in order to become Labour leader and Prime Minister. Burnham ran for Labour leadership in 2010 and 2015 previously and was seen as planning a comeback earlier this year when he tried to stand as Labour's candidate in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election. Labour's National Executive Committee, attempting to protect a challenge to Keir Starmer's leadership, blocked his candidacy. The scandal that followed allowed the Green Party to secure its first by-election win and caused it to skyrocket in opinion polls. Burnham is (at least currently) viewed as an affable, competent and popular alternative to the current PM, especially following his work turning around the Greater Manchester area, with an ideology aptly named Manchesterism. Whether Manchesterism can be applied nationwide remains to be seen.
3	Lionel Messi	1,412,019	He plays that sport, quite well I think. Scored in all his games of #1, including one he didn't start.
4	FIFA World Cup	1,369,195	#1 included the landmark 1,000th match on football's biggest stage, eight years after the most recent milestone (900th) set at the 2018 final. That means, we've now seen over 1,000 matches since the very first FIFA World Cup match of the inaugural tournament in 1930, hosted by Uruguay–the same country that got eliminated on the last day of this Report, after a dirty match that concluded with a red card for Agustín Canobbio for injuring Spain's Nico Williams.
5	Cape Verde	1,330,323	An archipelago of fewer than 500,000 people that got its independence from Portugal in 1975, and most of the world only really discovered at #1. Riding the heroics of goalkeeper Vozinha, the "Blue Sharks" tied three games against former champions Spain and Uruguay and future hosts Saudi Arabia and managed to qualify for the knockout rounds in their first World Cup! They're facing right away the Argentina of #3, but even if they fall it was already a historic run.
6	2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage	1,272,782	Due to #1 having 48 teams, the playoffs were expanded to have a round of 32 and returned the repechage that qualified teams that finished third in the group stage. This led to the first knockout appearances of co-hosts Canada, the Bosnian squad they tied in their first game, and five African squads, three surprises (#5, South Africa and DR Congo) and two who had bad luck in their previous three Cup appearances (Ivory Coast and Egypt). The round of 32 starts with Canada x South Africa on Sunday, and then three games every day from Monday to Friday, leading to the round of 16 starting on a Saturday that is a national holiday in another host.
7	Cristiano Ronaldo	1,207,004	Messi's hat trick also meant he matched rival Cristiano Ronaldo as being the only player with goals in five World Cups. CR7 then managed to isolate himself in the record again, as at the age of 41 he became the first with goals in six tournaments, scoring twice in a 5-0 massacre of Uzbekistan. That was also only Portugal's good game so far, struggling in ties against DR Congo (last seen in the tournament in 1974 still under the name of Zaire) and Colombia.
8	List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers	1,124,399	Took until the 21st century for Gerd Müller getting 14 across 1970 and 1974 (as champion in the latter) to be overcome. First with a Brazilian in Germany and a German in Brazil, namely Ronaldo (who unlike the Portuguese Ronaldo, has managed to both win a Cup and be its top scorer) in 2006 and then Miroslav Klose in 2014 (worth noting that Klose was born in Poland, and surpassed the Brazilian scoring against Brazil). And now #3 got to the top of the list with six in just three games of #1 that led to an overall tally of 19, that might only grow.
9	Erling Haaland	1,063,378	Ro!🚣 Ro!🚣 Ro!🚣 The Viking Row chant of Norwegian fans motivated the team through their first two winning matches against Iraq and Senegal, granting Norway a spot in #6. The Man City star scored two goals in each match, along the way becoming the first Norwegian in history to score a double. Norway ultimately lost their final group stage match against France, though neither Haaland nor Kylian Mbappé scored during that one. They'll be facing Ivory Coast on June 30.
10	Deaths in 2026	941,359	I need you here, I need you here to wipe away my tears, To kiss away my fears, no If you only knew, How much I wanna run to you...

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

2026 FIFA World Cup

7,055,972

The past seven World Cups, with 32 teams, had 64 games overall. This one expanded to 48 squads had 72 matches in the group stage alone. The downsides were pretty clear, with teams being terrible (newcomers Uzbekistan and Jordan lost all games, as did Tunisia, Iraq, Haiti and Panama - the last one also managing to be only team with no goals in the entire tournament!) or underwhelming (once traditional Czechia left with only a draw, two time champions Uruguay had no wins, and Turkey only played well and won in a game they entered already eliminated) leading to matches with little or no scoring - even more when right after the goal and ensuing celebration, VAR comes in and removes it, even costing a qualifying spot! But otherwise it's providing fun and emotion for football fans everywhere, specially on blowout wins or teams pulling off upsets – the same Ecuador that failed to score goals on Curaçao beat four time champions Germany!

Andy Burnham

1,752,739

Fourth time's a charm for ol' Andy Burnham. The former Mayor of Greater Manchester returned to Westminster after a nine-year absence in a closely watched by-election which many saw as merely a formality in order to become Labour leader and Prime Minister. Burnham ran for Labour leadership in 2010 and 2015 previously and was seen as planning a comeback earlier this year when he tried to stand as Labour's candidate in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election. Labour's National Executive Committee, attempting to protect a challenge to Keir Starmer's leadership, blocked his candidacy. The scandal that followed allowed the Green Party to secure its first by-election win and caused it to skyrocket in opinion polls. Burnham is (at least currently) viewed as an affable, competent and popular alternative to the current PM, especially following his work turning around the Greater Manchester area, with an ideology aptly named Manchesterism. Whether Manchesterism can be applied nationwide remains to be seen.

Lionel Messi

1,412,019

He plays that sport, quite well I think. Scored in all his games of #1, including one he didn't start.

FIFA World Cup

1,369,195

#1 included the landmark 1,000th match on football's biggest stage, eight years after the most recent milestone (900th) set at the 2018 final. That means, we've now seen over 1,000 matches since the very first FIFA World Cup match of the inaugural tournament in 1930, hosted by Uruguay–the same country that got eliminated on the last day of this Report, after a dirty match that concluded with a red card for Agustín Canobbio for injuring Spain's Nico Williams.

Cape Verde

1,330,323

An archipelago of fewer than 500,000 people that got its independence from Portugal in 1975, and most of the world only really discovered at #1. Riding the heroics of goalkeeper Vozinha, the "Blue Sharks" tied three games against former champions Spain and Uruguay and future hosts Saudi Arabia and managed to qualify for the knockout rounds in their first World Cup! They're facing right away the Argentina of #3, but even if they fall it was already a historic run.

2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

1,272,782

Due to #1 having 48 teams, the playoffs were expanded to have a round of 32 and returned the repechage that qualified teams that finished third in the group stage. This led to the first knockout appearances of co-hosts Canada, the Bosnian squad they tied in their first game, and five African squads, three surprises (#5, South Africa and DR Congo) and two who had bad luck in their previous three Cup appearances (Ivory Coast and Egypt). The round of 32 starts with Canada x South Africa on Sunday, and then three games every day from Monday to Friday, leading to the round of 16 starting on a Saturday that is a national holiday in another host.

Cristiano Ronaldo

1,207,004

Messi's hat trick also meant he matched rival Cristiano Ronaldo as being the only player with goals in five World Cups. CR7 then managed to isolate himself in the record again, as at the age of 41 he became the first with goals in six tournaments, scoring twice in a 5-0 massacre of Uzbekistan. That was also only Portugal's good game so far, struggling in ties against DR Congo (last seen in the tournament in 1974 still under the name of Zaire) and Colombia.

List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

1,124,399

Took until the 21st century for Gerd Müller getting 14 across 1970 and 1974 (as champion in the latter) to be overcome. First with a Brazilian in Germany and a German in Brazil, namely Ronaldo (who unlike the Portuguese Ronaldo, has managed to both win a Cup and be its top scorer) in 2006 and then Miroslav Klose in 2014 (worth noting that Klose was born in Poland, and surpassed the Brazilian scoring against Brazil). And now #3 got to the top of the list with six in just three games of #1 that led to an overall tally of 19, that might only grow.

Erling Haaland

1,063,378

Ro!🚣 Ro!🚣 Ro!🚣
The Viking Row chant of Norwegian fans motivated the team through their first two winning matches against Iraq and Senegal, granting Norway a spot in #6. The Man City star scored two goals in each match, along the way becoming the first Norwegian in history to score a double. Norway ultimately lost their final group stage match against France, though neither Haaland nor Kylian Mbappé scored during that one. They'll be facing Ivory Coast on June 30.

Deaths in 2026

941,359

I need you here,
I need you here to wipe away my tears,
To kiss away my fears, no
If you only knew,
How much I wanna run to you...

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	2026 FIFA World Cup	5,713,713	This Report marks the middle of the 23rd edition of football's biggest tournament going from the 72-game group stage into the 32-team knockout phase, leaving us with teams that were both highly expected (Spain, France, England...) but also genuine surprises such as Cape Verde, an archipelago with land area of about 4,033 square kilometres whose existence most people only just learnt about after their incredible performances, with three draws (including one for their match with Uruguay pictured to the left) and a narrow defeat in the knockout stage by defending champions Argentina in extra time.
2	Cape Verde	2,418,706
3	FIFA World Cup	1,320,235	Next edition marks the centennial of the tournament that biggest winners Brazil are the only ones to attend all 23 editions. The 2030 FIFA World Cup could just then return to where it started at Brazil's neighbors Uruguay – and also Argentina and Paraguay, to accomodate the expansion to 48 teams. Instead that seemed too straightforward for FIFA, and those three will only host a match each before the championship resumes in Spain, Portugal and Mexico.
4	Cristiano Ronaldo	1,271,925	This football legend played against another football legend (both now over 40 years old) on Friday, with Ronaldo finally scoring his very first goal of #1, though only due to a penalty kick. Nonetheless, after the controversial decision of overturning Joško Gvardiol's goal, the match marked the end of Modrić's World Cup career whereas Portugal is now through to the next round, set to play against Spain on July 6.
5	Kylian Mbappé	1,259,275	Two more football players. The upper one, who tends to be compared to an animated character pictured to the left across social media memes, is currently tied with #8 with seven goals at #1 so far (and only one behind him on #10), the most recent being the winning goal against Paraguay on the last day of this Report in a match filled with the latter's dark arts and 13 fouls, leading to Mbappé rejecting the handshake with their goalkeeper. The one below, also a victim of memes that instead compare him to an anime character (also to the left), is currently tied with Harry Kane for the second place with five goals. (The ones he scored in the Sunday after the week of this Report had him catch up with Mbappé and Messi and are the reason this here writer is supporting Kane against Haaland in the quarterfinal.)
6	Erling Haaland	1,255,015
7	Obsession (2025 film)	1,148,422	Currently the 8th highest grossing movie of the year, US$400 million not having a budget of 7 digits, and hit video on demand to make people scared of both "Freaky Nikki" and the guy who caused her personality change at the comfort of their homes.
8	Lionel Messi	1,143,249	Argentina took over the top spot of FIFA's ranking of national teams shortly before the start of #1 on the back of their captain Leo Messi, who during the not as easy as it seemed to be match against #2 (whose team is only 64th in the ranking) managed to score his record-extending 20th World Cup goal (including the record-breaking 12th for the knockout stage). Messi did make sure to pause his team's celebrations to embrace goalkeeper Vozinha and apparently swapped shirts with him after the final whistle.
9	FIFA Men's World Ranking	964,956
10	List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers	955,172

Rank

Article

Class

Views

Image

Notes/about

2026 FIFA World Cup

5,713,713

This Report marks the middle of the 23rd edition of football's biggest tournament going from the 72-game group stage into the 32-team knockout phase, leaving us with teams that were both highly expected (Spain, France, England...) but also genuine surprises such as Cape Verde, an archipelago with land area of about 4,033 square kilometres whose existence most people only just learnt about after their incredible performances, with three draws (including one for their match with Uruguay pictured to the left) and a narrow defeat in the knockout stage by defending champions Argentina in extra time.

Cape Verde

2,418,706

FIFA World Cup

1,320,235

Next edition marks the centennial of the tournament that biggest winners Brazil are the only ones to attend all 23 editions. The 2030 FIFA World Cup could just then return to where it started at Brazil's neighbors Uruguay – and also Argentina and Paraguay, to accomodate the expansion to 48 teams. Instead that seemed too straightforward for FIFA, and those three will only host a match each before the championship resumes in Spain, Portugal and Mexico.

Cristiano Ronaldo

1,271,925

This football legend played against another football legend (both now over 40 years old) on Friday, with Ronaldo finally scoring his very first goal of #1, though only due to a penalty kick. Nonetheless, after the controversial decision of overturning Joško Gvardiol's goal, the match marked the end of Modrić's World Cup career whereas Portugal is now through to the next round, set to play against Spain on July 6.

Kylian Mbappé

1,259,275

Two more football players. The upper one, who tends to be compared to an animated character pictured to the left across social media memes, is currently tied with #8 with seven goals at #1 so far (and only one behind him on #10), the most recent being the winning goal against Paraguay on the last day of this Report in a match filled with the latter's dark arts and 13 fouls, leading to Mbappé rejecting the handshake with their goalkeeper. The one below, also a victim of memes that instead compare him to an anime character (also to the left), is currently tied with Harry Kane for the second place with five goals. (The ones he scored in the Sunday after the week of this Report had him catch up with Mbappé and Messi and are the reason this here writer is supporting Kane against Haaland in the quarterfinal.)

Erling Haaland

1,255,015

Obsession (2025 film)

1,148,422

Currently the 8th highest grossing movie of the year, US$400 million not having a budget of 7 digits, and hit video on demand to make people scared of both "Freaky Nikki" and the guy who caused her personality change at the comfort of their homes.

Lionel Messi

1,143,249

Argentina took over the top spot of FIFA's ranking of national teams shortly before the start of #1 on the back of their captain Leo Messi, who during the not as easy as it seemed to be match against #2 (whose team is only 64th in the ranking) managed to score his record-extending 20th World Cup goal (including the record-breaking 12th for the knockout stage). Messi did make sure to pause his team's celebrations to embrace goalkeeper Vozinha and apparently swapped shirts with him after the final whistle.

FIFA Men's World Ranking

964,956

List of FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

955,172

The grass was greener, the light was brighter

I feel a hot wind on my shoulder, I dial it in from south of the border (June 14 to 20)

With a lot of love, with emotion, with explosion, GOAL! (June 21 to 26)

Singing songs underneath the Sun, let's rejoice in the beautiful game (June 28 to July 4)

Exclusions

Discuss this story