LewisGT

USA 3-1 Australia Scotland 0-3 Morocco Brazil 4-1 Haiti Turkey 2-1 Paraguay

Really disappointingly low-quality game settled by a goalkeeping mistake. But it does mean that Mexico have won Group A and made the glamour tie against England at the Azteca in the last 16 looks likely.

Two red cards really ruined any chance of it being a game. The second red and (what appears to be a) leg break seemed so innocuous when watching it live. This is how I expected the group to go bit surprised it took until the second game for it to start to happen.

Switzerland didn’t look good until the subs came on. Bosnia still have a chance of getting through but will need to beat Qatar.

Czech Republic looked great for about 5 minutes. Shocking after that. South Africa were really poor too. Missed opportunity for both sides. Schick is having a Lukaku 2022 tournament so far!

(40-51) Sabrina Carpenter - Taste (4-14-20-34-49-52) Little Mix - Break Up Song (41-53) Madison Beer - 15 MINUTES (18-9-13-30-42-54) J. Cole - t h e . c l i m b . b a c k (32-44-55) JISOO - All Eyes On Me (35-38-46-56) Baby Queen - Want Me (9-17-25-33-43-57) Chloe x Halle - Forgive Me (21-28-37-50-58) Tyler, The Creator feat. YoungBoy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla $ign - WUSYANAME (20-26-35-45-59) Fredo feat. Dave - Money Talks (29-39-51-60) Tate McRae - what would you do? - (10-22-33-44-55-61) Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - Rain On Me (69-30-40-52-62) Madison Beer - Sour Times (NE) Maisie Peters - Audrey Hepburn (42-53-64) Rebecca Black - Sick To My Stomach (NE) Reneé Rapp - Leave Me Alone (54-66) Renée Rapp & Megan Thee Stallion - Not My Fault (31-34-45-56-67) Pete & Bas & Fumez The Engineer - Plugged In (16-28-37-46-59-68) AJ Tracey feat. MoStack - Dinner Guest (NE) Ariana Grande - dandelion (64-70) ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT. - (56-57-71) Maisie Peters - Holy Revival (57-58-72) Maisie Peters - Guy On A Horse (NE) HAIM - Relationships (29-44-55-63-74) Chlöe - Have Mercy (NE) Alessi Rose - That Could Be Me Five songs from 2025 make their debuts in this section, coming from Alessi Rose, HAIM, Ariana Grande, Maisie Peters and Reneé Rapp. It’s a shame when an artist debuts with their strongest song and then spends the rest of their (solo in this case) career trying to live up to it but that’s what Chlöe did with Have Mercy which this being her sole UK Top 100 entry (#72) and only real Billboard hit (#28). It was the perfect way to introduce herself as a solo artist and shred the more child-appropriate image she gained as part of the duo with her sister. The Murda Beatz production is killer (I really enjoy the slightly-extended version in the music video) and the sample is used brilliantly. A perfect pop/R&B blend! On my first listen of Guy On A Horse, I thought it was going to be the first Maisie song that I didn’t like. The production is messy, the vocals are awkward and the chorus is so disorientating and off-putting at first but after I acclimatised, that started to become its greatest strength. It’s so unique that you can’t help but remember it. It’s punky in a way but still has an absolutely massive crowd-sing-a-long chorus. These last two tracks are so connected in my head. They were both off the deluxe version of ‘The Good Witch’ and took it turns having spells at #1 in my chart. The only thing that gives Holy Revival the slight advantage is that I heard it performed live before it was released. I do love how she added some oddities for the deluxe tracks, including the use of a cowbell in this. The Andrew line will live on forever as being one of her most iconic. ROSÉ recruited Bruno for APT.; the biggest K-Pop solo track of all-time and the biggest BLACPINK related song worldwide. And she did it by releasing a distinctly non-K-Pop sounding track that shares more elements with a ‘Mickey’ by Toni Basil than anything else. But it does keep a Korean flavour with the interpolation of the Korean drinking game. It’s a pretty basic song really, relying on that insane catchy hook but I think that’s why it connected with so many. It’s a shame that she went back to her standard ballad type tracks for the majority of the rest of her album. Ah, 6 years ago when UK Rap was a chart force and ‘Push The Feeling On’ samples were everywhere! In fact, MIST & Fredo released their collab adapting the same source on the same day as Dinner Guest! You have to shout out The Elements for making the production here sound so fresh despite the done-to-death sample. AJ and MoStack are a combo that don’t miss and I think we really needed this little slice of fun during the lockdowns. It’s a crime that the original upload of Pete & Bas's Plugged In was taken down. There is absolutely no irony in my love of this song. I legitimately think its some of the best rapping of the decade that does the Fugees/Enya beat justice. Bas’s vocals are pure butter, they’re like silk on the ears and Pete has great bars. When they go back and forth, line-by-line, the chemistry is off the charts. The whole track is so quotable (the Turkish Barber line being my particular favourite, Abra would be jealous of that) and was well worth the 20 million+ views that the original video used to have. I think I would have a good shot of rapping this from start to finish had I ever be in a position that I need to. Rachel McAdams is big shoes for anyone to fill but Renée did s a sterling job in the musical remake of ‘Mean Girl’s and captures the character of Regina well in Not My Fault. The chorus does sound a tad clunky with it trying to fit in the quote from the film (“It’s not my fault you’re like in love with me[...]”) but the bouncy production makes it work. Megan really shows up with her feature too. You wouldn’t blame her for half-arseing a feature for a soundtrack but this is actually one of my favourite verses from her. She does claim to be ‘the black Regina George’ and, on this basis, I’m happy to give it to her. Rebecca Black bagged a shock EOY top 10 hit for me in 2023 with this wonderful slice of subdued synth-pop. Sick To My Stomach was released on the latter stages of the 80s-inspired revival we had in the early 2020s and was one of the strongest of the whole bunch. Really raw compared to the hyper-pop excellence of her other two entries, this shown a different side to her and was a sign of a good artist. I hadn’t gone back to this for a while and it’s really sounding good today. Released on my 22nd birthday in 2022, I listened to and enjoyed the Life Support album but it didn’t become a regular in rotation for me at the time and Sour Times was not an instant highlight. But then Madison did an online concert and posted a video of her performing this and ‘Follow The White Rabbit’ on to YouTube. FTWR was a favourite of mine so I watched the video and it was instead her performance of this song that completely won me over and convinced me that I needed to see her live on her next tour. Four concerts later, multiple songs still to come in this list and ‘Life Support’ now being one of the most important albums in my life, it’s fair to say that was an impactful YouTube watch lol. I’m still a little salty that this was one of the options for the surprise song at my stop of her tour last weeks but the fan chose ‘Default’ instead. Big name collabs have a tendency to struggle to live up to the hype but Rain On Me certainly delivered. Coming a year after ‘thank u, next’ and just before Ari released ‘positions’, she was firmly in her R&B era so to get this pure pop banger with actual choreography was a very welcome treat, especially coming right in the middle of lockdown. Still makes you want to move to this day. what would you do? is the highest Tate song and he only EOY top 10 hit so far, perhaps influenced by her reluctance to include it in recent tours, it would no longer be my go-to Tate track. However, I still love the little beat switch in the bridge where it gets a lot rockier and punchier. The video features a cute little narrative of her being a valet on the run but also some b-scenes of her doing some of her most provocative dance moves in a skintight outfit which feels like an odd combination. has become an underrated gem amongst her discography. If the last music video feels inconsistent in tone, Money Talks’s video is expertly crafted and feels like an award-winning short movie in itself. The whole video plays in reverse but it’s no gimmick, it’s the perfect way to tell the story of a £50 note and its murky journey throughout the London nightlife. It’s epic and thankfully the song that goes with it can match it. Dave produces the beat and goes back and forth with Fredo with verses that carry on getting better throughout. Dave pairs up with anyone but his Fredo connection is special. He always forced Fred to bring his A-game. Talking about inspiring artist to bring their A-game, NBA Youngboy isn’t an artist that usually inspires much hope but he sounds like butter on WUSYANAME. This song and this song only is what he was born to do. I’m a sucker for a pitched sample and this is about as good as it gets with Ty’s crooning vocals over the top adding another layer that elevates the song further. It’s only 2 minutes long but they make full advantage of every second. It’s the perfect summer anthem. To show how perfectly performed this song is, Tyler’s opening line is ‘Girl, you look malnourished’ but it’s still the smoothest thing you’ve heard all year and you have no doubt that he’s going to get the girl. They’ve both had solo hits in this list but my favourite song from the sisters, Forgive Me, came when they were still a duo where their differing styles (Halle’s angelic vocals and Chloe’s fierce, bolder delivery) complement each other so perfectly. You can feel the togetherness between them which helps their harmonies sound effortless. The chorus is such an earworm too which kept it on rotation. One of the strongest one-hit wonders in my chart, Want Me came to my attention as I saw Baby Queen perform as the support act for Olivia Rodrigo. The rest of her set was decent but it was this closing track that really caught my attention. The French bridge was intriguing but the chorus was undeniable. A proper crowd-pleaser. It’s rare for me that a song completely wins me over on first listen but this did that night in Manchester. I’m yet to have the same connection with any of her other songs. It was an agonisingly long wait to get solo music from my favourite BLACKPINK member and I was bound to love whatever we got. And what we got was two songs that couldn’t sound much different to each other. With the classically catchy chorus, EDM dance break and English, All Eyes On Me felt like the obvious lead single and, you know what, it probably should have been. This would have been a bigger single because it’s just a really solid, traditional pop song but you have to admire the ambition of going with FLOWER. t h e . c l i m b . b a c k is everything I love about Cole and why he is my favourite rapper ahead of Kendrick. There’s an air of simplicity and effortlessness in his music, especially when it comes to the hooks, that rarely exists in Kendrick’s work. Cole produced this beat himself and it’s the exact sound I love. Bass-heavy with the pitched sample but still dreamy and smooth, it’s the perfect accompaniment for the bars. It feels quite nostalgic in the way just to hear Cole spit two brilliantly crafted verses full of intricate entendres with a great viewpoint that brings you into the picture he’s painting. The outro is probably my favourite of the 20s too. Conversely to her other song in this section, 16 MINUTES was a song that I was delighted did get played in her recent show, especially as it was cruelly left off the album. It felt like a brilliant development of the sound she carved out on ‘Make You Mine’. She sounds gorgeous as ever with the moody, punchy production being the song’s secret weapon. It’s a banger. The particular style of 80s synth revival that ‘Blinding Lights’ brought about in the early 20s already sounds dated, but I’m glad Little Mix jumped on the trend with Break Up Song to get a decent sized hit in this. Not particularly innovative but, as with all of their songs, the vocals really deliver and you can’t help but be won over by the blinding optimism and positivity of their messages. There was a reason why this style was so dominate and that’s because it just sounds good. Sabrina’s 2024 was something special and Taste was an example of an artist right at the top of her game. The lyrics melodies are great and the lyrics were made to go instantly viral, especially when paired with a campy, kitsch, uber-violent video starring another extremely on-trend celebrity in Jenna Ortega.

Czech Republic 2-1 South Africa Switzerland 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina Canada 2-0 Qatar Mexico 2-1 South Korea

Just for fun, this is how the Last 32 would look based on the tables after the first games: South Korea v Canada Scotland v Japan Germany v Brazil Sweden v Morocco Ivory Coast v France Norway v Netherlands Mexico v Spain England v Portugal New Zealand v Czech Republic USA v Qatar Uruguay v Austria DR Congo v Ghana Switzerland v Belgium Australia v Iran Argentina v Saudi Arabia Colombia v Ecuador And eliminated would be: South Africa Bosnia & Herzegovina Haiti Turkey Paraguay Curaçao Tunisia Egypt Cape Verde Senegal Iraq Jordan Algeria Uzbekistan Panama Croatia

I don’t think Colombia were all that impressive despite their win. They will need to be a lot better to justify their dark horse tag. They just had to bag a third in the last minute to ruin my 2-1 prediction.

Panama look more compact than 8-years ago but still look weak up top. Ghana look to have regressed from past squads but had enough. Semeydo was invisible. I can’t believe Iñaki Williams didn’t get on.

Great result for England. A lot to take away, both positive and negative, with the performance but you can't argue with 4 goals and a win!

DR Congo were probably the better side overall. This one doesn’t register as a shock to me. DR Congo are a very strong side.

Portugal 2-1 DR Congo England 1-1 Croatia Ghana 2-1 Panama Uzbekistan 1-2 Colombia

1. Maisie Peters - Questions (1-2-3-1) 2. Ariana Grande - hate that i made you love me (1-1-2) 3. Maisie Peters - Old Fashioned (2-3-2-3) 4. Maisie Peters - Flat Earther (3-5-4-4) 5. Kim Petras - Brutalist (6-5-5) 6. Maisie Peters - Vampire Time (4-4-6-6) 7. Maisie Peters - Girl's Just Flying (5-7-7-7) 8. aespa - LEMONADE (13-8) 9. Megan Moroney - Traitor (Roles Reversed) (10-11-8-9) 10. Olivia Rodrigo - u + me = <3 (10) 11. Olivia Rodrigo - expectations (11) 12. Maisie Peters - My Regards (1-1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-4-4-4-4-6-10-9-12) 13. Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (9-8-11-13) 14. Kim Petras - Need For Speed (3-1-3-3-12-15-16-14) 15. Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead (1-2-2-1-1-7-12-10-15) 16. Olivia Rodrigo - stupid song (16) 17. Alessi Rose - Skin (11-9-12-17) 18. Maisie Peters & Julia Michaels - Kingmaker (1-3-2-2-8-14-17-18) 19. Gracie Abrams - Hit the Wall (10-18-13-14-19) 20. Maisie Peters & Marcus Mumford - If You Let Me (20) Falling Out This Week Are: Taylor Swift - I Knew It, I Knew You (15) Madison Beer - lovergirl (14-7-15-17-18) Maisie Peters - Mary Janes (19) Maisie Peters - Houses (13-16-20) Retro Top 10 1. Sabrina Carpenter - Manchild (1-1) 2. Addison Rae - Fame is a Gun (2-2-2) 3. Megan Moroney - Am I Okay? (5-3) 4. The Favors - The Little Mess You Made (7-4) 5. Reneé Rapp - Leave Me Alone (1-1-3-5) 6. Alessi Rose - Same Mouth (1-2-4-6-6) 7. Tate McRae - Just Keep Watching (3-4-7) 8. Hailee Steinfeld - Dangerous (3-1-1-2-5-8-9-12-8) 9. AJ Tracey - Outta Sight (9) 10. Megan Moroney - Man on the Moon (10) Album of the Week 2026: 7th January 2026: Laufey - A Matter of Time 14th January 2026: Laufey - A Matter of Time 21st January 2026: Madison Beer - locket 28th January 2026: Madison Beer - locket 4th February 2026: Madison Beer - locket 11th February 2026: J. Cole - The Fall-Off 18th February 2026: J. Cole - The Fall-Off 25th February 2026: Megan Moroney - Cloud 9 4th March 2026: BLACKPINK - DEADLINE (EP) 11th March 2026: J. Cole - The Fall-Off 18th March 2026: Megan Moroney - Cloud 9 25th March 2026: J. Cole - The Fall-Off 1st April 2026: Megan Moroney - Cloud 9 8th April 2026: Megan Moroney - Cloud 9 15th April 2026: Laufey - A Matter of Time 22nd April 2026: Megan Moroney - Cloud 9 29th April 2026: Megan Moroney - Cloud 9 6th May 2026: Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere 13th May 2026: Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere 20th May 2026: Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere 27th May 2026: Maisie Peters - Florescence 3rd June 2026: Maisie Peters - Florescence 10th June 2026: Maisie Peters - Florescence 17th June 2026: Maisie Peters - Florescence This Week's Number One Highest New Entry

1. Maisie Peters - Questions (1-2-3-1) 2. Ariana Grande - hate that i made you love me (1-1-2) 3. Maisie Peters - Old Fashioned (2-3-2-3) 4. Maisie Peters - Flat Earther (3-5-4-4) 5. Kim Petras - Brutalist (6-5-5) 6. Maisie Peters - Vampire Time (4-4-6-6) 7. Maisie Peters - Girl's Just Flying (5-7-7-7) 8. aespa - LEMONADE (13-8) 9. Megan Moroney - Traitor (Roles Reversed) (10-11-8-9) 10. Olivia Rodrigo - u + me = <3 (10) 11. Olivia Rodrigo feat. Chappell Roan - expectations (11) 12. Maisie Peters - My Regards (1-1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-4-4-4-4-6-10-9-12) 13. Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (9-8-11-13) 14. Kim Petras - Need For Speed (3-1-3-3-12-15-16-14) 15. Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead (1-2-2-1-1-7-12-10-15) 16. Olivia Rodrigo - stupid song (16) 17. Alessi Rose - Skin (11-9-12-17) 18. Maisie Peters & Julia Michaels - Kingmaker (1-3-2-2-8-14-17-18) 19. Gracie Abrams - Hit the Wall (10-18-13-14-19) 20. Maisie Peters & Marcus Mumford - If You Let Me (20)

1. Maisie Peters - Questions (1-2-3-1) 2. Ariana Grande - hate that i made you love me (1-1-2) 3. Maisie Peters - Old Fashioned (2-3-2-3) 4. Maisie Peters - Flat Earther (3-5-4-4) 5. Kim Petras - Brutalist (6-5-5) 6. Maisie Peters - Vampire Time (4-4-6-6) 7. Maisie Peters - Girl's Just Flying (5-7-7-7) 8. aespa - LEMONADE (13-8) 9. Megan Moroney - Traitor (Roles Reversed) (10-11-8-9) 10. Olivia Rodrigo - u + me = <3 (10) 11. Olivia Rodrigo - expectations (11) 12. Maisie Peters - My Regards (1-1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-4-4-4-4-6-10-9-12) 13. Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (9-8-11-13) 14. Kim Petras - Need For Speed (3-1-3-3-12-15-16-14) 15. Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead (1-2-2-1-1-7-12-10-15) 16. Olivia Rodrigo - stupid song (16) 17. Alessi Rose - Skin (11-9-12-17) 18. Maisie Peters & Julia Michaels - Kingmaker (1-3-2-2-8-14-17-18) 19. Gracie Abrams - Hit the Wall (10-18-13-14-19) 20. Maisie Peters & Marcus Mumford - If You Let Me (20)

Austria were not entirely convincing but got the job done in the end. More like the team that lost to Turkey than the one that excitingly beat the Netherlands at the last Euros. I think their goal that was ruled out for handball should have stood.

Messi hat-trick it is then. Crazy how he’s at his 6th World Cup and he’s looked better and better at each one.

Like Sweden, I think Norway are very front-heavy and their defence will be their weakness against the best sides. But they should continue to be fun to watch!

At least all the goals that happened afterwards mean that the focus won't all be on the poor decision not to give the penalty.

France 1-1 Senegal Iraq 0-2 Norway Argentina 3-1 Algeria Austria 2-1 Jordan

Herve Renard does make the World Cup after all after taking over Tunisia for their final two group stage games.

4 draws out of 4 it is then today. New Zealand showed a lot more threat than they did against England and Iran managed to show some strength despite everything that’s happened. Not sure a point will be enough for either in the end.

Two pretty poor sides I think. Saudi Arabia did well when you consider how disastrous their preparation for this tournament has been. I wonder if this could be a group where you can get through without winning, like in England’s group at the last Euros.

Fair result in the end. I think these two will both escape the group and think Belgium might end up doing better than most expect.