LewisGT

9. Croatia Group L UEFA (7/16) World Ranking: 11 Best Result: Final (2018) Fixtures: England (17th June, 9PM) Panama (24th June, 12AM) Ghana (27th June, 10PM) A country that constantly plays above their station, including finishing 2nd and 3rd at the last two tournaments with only a 3.9 million population. They have such an experienced side that have been here above with the core of their side all being in their 30s. People said they were past in 2022 but they proved everyone wrong and will be looking to do so again. They qualified with ease, going unbeaten and finishing 6-points above runners-up Czech Republic. They had practically qualified after their first two games where they smashed Gibraltar and the Czechs by 7-0 and 5-1 margins. Since becoming an independent team in 1990, they’ve only missed one World Cup and you should never rule them out. The Manager: Zlatko Dalić Currently in his 9th year as the national team manager, Dalić is a hero of Croatian football after leading the side to a World Cup final and another semi-final. While on the front foot against weaker sides, against the top sides he always seems to bring the best out of his players and sets up them up to be incredibly difficult to beat. He’s stayed loyal to the same core group of players and they have rewarded him tenfold. As a player, he represented many Croatian sides which his longest spell being with the now-defunct Varaždin. As a manager, his biggest success in club football came in Asia where he managed Al Faisaly, Al Hilal and Al Ain although he did manage three Croatian and one Albanian side earlier on. Key Player: Luka Modrić (AC Milan) 40-years old and still running everything from the middle for this Croatia side. Modrić is one of the greatest midfielders of all-time and his antics 8-years ago saw him win the Ballon d'Or. That felt like a ‘career award’ so for him to still be going strong is remarkable. A late bloomer, he was 27 when he left Tottenham for Real Madrid and was awarded ‘worst signing of the season’ in his first year at the Bernabeu. But there’s not many players better at picking out a pass and 394 La Liga appearances later, it’s safe to say he made the doubters look like fools. Why they're actually going to win it: They’ve beat the odds to reach 2nd and 3rd at the last two tournaments, who’s to say they can’t complete the missing position?

29th May 2026 - 31st May 2026 1. (NE) Backrooms - £4,281,936 Weeks: 1 (£4,281,936) 2. (01) Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu - £2,660,970 (-50%) Weeks: 2 (£11,329,182) 3. (02) Michael - £1,763,682 (-1%) Weeks: 6 (£48,019,081) 4. (03) Obsession - £1,565,342 (+21%) Weeks: 3 (£6,834,514) 5. (04) The Devil Wears Prada 2 - £875,713 (-24%) Weeks: 5 (£32,144,914) 6. (06) The Sheep Detectives - £711,255 (+32%) Weeks: 4 (£8,305,170) 7. (NE) Tuner - £361,457 Weeks: 1 (£361,457) 8. (09) The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - £221,621 (+81%) Weeks: 9 (£38,052,187) 9. (NE) Power Ballad - £203,650 Weeks: 1 (£203,650) 10. (07) Passenger - £148,158 (-56%) Weeks: 2 (£749,125) Falling out: Drishyam 3 (1 week) Finding Emily (1 week) The Christophers (2 weeks) It’s a great year for horror already as ‘Backrooms’ debuts at #1 with a brilliant £4,281,936. This helps it become one of the top 5 debuts for horror films of all-time in the UK and the highest non-franchise horror (3-day opening) as the only ones that beat it are ‘It’, ‘It: Chapter Two’, ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ and ‘Hannibal’. Just like every other debut horror hit of recent times, the director Kane Parsons started on YouTube and this film is actually an adaptation of his YouTube series (that was originally based on a popular Creepypasta). If you want to feel old, Parsons is currently 20-years old which surely makes him the youngest director to ever have a #1 film. With a $10 million budget and opening with over $100 million worldwide in its opening weekend, he will have the whole of Hollywood begging to release his next film. A24 were already celebrating having their biggest UK opening earlier in the year with ‘The Drama’ (£2,144,798, #3) and now they need to keep the champagne bottles popping. I’m very interested to see if this will fall quickly like ‘Iron Lung’ or ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ or continue to be massive. The second highest new entry is ‘Tuner’ (£361,457, £280k without previews). This is directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher in his narrative debut and sees Leo Woodall star as a deaf piano tuner who gets involved in crime. It’s earned great reviews and has a solid debut having only released in 180 cinemas. It’s releasing wider next weekend so has potential to build from here. The final new entry this week was released in many more cinemas (525) but didn’t have the same appeal, ‘Power Ballad’ (£203,650, £181k without previews). This comes from Irish director, John Carney whose films (‘Once’, ‘Begin Again’, ‘Sing Street’) always have a musical twist. This one stars Paul Rudd as a down-on-his-luck wedding singer whose song is stolen by a pop-star (Nick Jonas) desperate for a hit. Last week’s big new release was ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu’ and it falls to #2 this week after a 50% drop. It has now reached £10 million and is within the top 10 films of the year but isn’t looking to be the saviour of Star Wars like Disney were hoping. Last week’s other new film ‘Passenger’ drops 56% but bags another week in the top 10. I said last week that the warm weather led to a reduced box-office and the remaining holdovers are all proving this. ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ has a much more solid hold (-24%) as it remains in the top 5 for a 5th week. But, having the climb it should have had last weekend, ‘Obsession’ makes it two independent horrors killing it this summer with a 21% climb in its third weekend. We haven’t seen a film perform like this for a while and seeing who wins the war between this and ‘Backroom’s is going to be one of the stories of this year’s box office. Films that have kid-appeal had another boost this weekend as it was half-term across the country and they could fill the screens on Friday too. ‘Michael’ only drops 1% and passes £48 million to overtake ‘Wicked: For Good’ meaning that ‘A Minecraft Movie’ is the only film to have made more in 2025-2026. But the true kids films ‘The Sheep Detectives’ (+32%) and ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (+81%) are the real winners with former now looking a sure bet to hit £10 million. There are two further new entries in the #11-15 section: ‘Playboy Of The Western World: NT Live 2026’ (#11) and ‘Chardikala’ (#15). Next week sees the openings of ‘Scary Movie’, ‘Masters Of The Universe’, ‘Savage House’, ‘The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act’, ‘Madfabulous’, ‘Erupcja’, ‘Köln 75’ and ‘Being Towards Death’. We also see a re-release of ‘Bridesmaids’. Can any of them top the charts? _ Summer Box Office Top 5: 1. (01) The Devil Wears Prada 2 - £32,144,914 2. (03) Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu - £11,329,182 3. (02) The Sheep Detectives - £8,305,170 4. (04) Obsession - £6,834,514 5. (NE) Backrooms - £4,281,936 Star Wars is up to #2 but won't go any higher. Backrooms debuts at #5 knocking out 'Mortal Kombat II'.

10. Senegal Group I CAF (1/10) World Ranking: 14 Best Result: Quarter-Finals (2002) Fixtures: France (16th June, 8PM) Norway (23rd June, 1AM) Iraq (26th June, 8PM) The people’s AFCON champions, Senegal will be coming into this tournament with a bit between their teeth after being stripped by CAF of their African title in March after walking off the pitch in protest during the Final in January. They definitely looked determined in their recent friendlies where they paraded the trophy and beat Peru 2-0 and Gambia 3-1. While three of their main men, ex-Premier League stars Koulibaly, Mendy and Mané are all seeing their career’s out in Saudi Arabia, they are all still important parts of this side and they’re surrounded by top players reaching their peaks. And PSG’s teenage forward Ibrahim Mbaye could be the true wildcard, recently scoring the stoppage time goal in a 2-0 win verses Lens that secured them the French league title. They’ve been placed in the group of death but kicking off against France will bring back some great memories for Senegal. They famously beat the French in the opening game of 2002 when France were the then holders and went on to reach the quarters on their maiden appearance. The Manager: Pape Thiaw Replacing Aliou Cissé, the popular young homegrown manager to led Senegal to their first ever AFCON in 2021 after being involved with the two previous campaigns where they had fell at the final hurdle (in 2002 as a player, missing the decisive penalty and 2019 as a manager) was never going to be an easy task but Thiaw looked to have done it perfectly when he lifted the trophy in January. But, as well as being stripped of the title, he has been given a 5-game ban in CAF competition for his part in the controversial protest. But he still be able to lead the side at the World Cup and will be looking to learn from past mistakes. As a player, he also represented his country in that historic 2002 campaign and had a career across Europe, including spells in Switzerland, Spain, France and Russia, without ever really finding a home. He’s only 45 now and is inexperienced at managing level, coming straight into this job from leading ‘Senegal A’, their national side of only home-based players, winning the 2022 African Nations Championship. Key Player: Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr) At 34, he is finally starting to show signs of slowing down but he still won the Best Player award at the AFCON in January and his role in the final just proved how important of a leader he is for this Senegalese side. While the rest of the team left the pitch, Mané stayed on and eventually convinced the rest of his teammates to join him. This is the only reason they were able to kick-off again on the night and eventually score the goal that gave them the ‘win’. I know it’s proved to be in vain but it would have shambolically been forfeited on the night without him remaining calm. Mané missed the last World Cup through injury when he was still at his peak and will be grateful to get this final chance to make history. Why they're actually going to win it: They’re the best team in Africa and will be desperate to get their hands on a trophy that no one can take away.

11. Belgium Group G UEFA (8/16) World Ranking: 9 Best Result: Third-Place (2018) Fixtures: Egypt (15th June, 8PM) Iran (21st June, 8PM) New Zealand (27th June, 4AM) It feels like quite a while since you would have saw Belgium outside of the top 10 in one these lists but they’re on the last embers of their golden generation with only Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and Romelu Lukaku still surviving from that era. And they are desperate to cling on to it too with Lukaku being called up despite playing next to no club football all season (69 minutes across 7 games). They do feel like they’re already far away from the Roberto Martínez side that stayed top of the world rankings for 3-straight years, played some beautiful stuff but could never eventually get over the line and lift a trophy. They are already on their second attempt post- Martínez with young Italian manager Domenico Tedesco let go after a disappointing showing at the 2024 Euros. But it’s not all dreary for Belgium. They have been handed the dream World Cup group and a potentially favourable Last 16 tie against a third-place side should they win it. And while they may not have reached the same highs at the old squad yet, there are still some very talented, exciting players coming through in this side, like Diego Moreira and Matias Fernandez-Pardo. The Manager: Rudi Garcia In 2025, Belgium hired their third-consecutive foreign manager with the French Rudi Garcia stepping into the role. Despite only being 62, Garcia is a very experienced coach with over 30-years in management. His first role was with the now-defunct Corbeil-Essonnes in 1994 who were the same club he ended his playing career with at 28 after multiple injuries. He had spent the majority of his playing time with Lille and he became their manager too in 2008 where he led the club to a league and cup double in 2011 and was vital in the development of a young Eden Hazard. He’s had numerous mostly big European roles since then with Roma, Marseille, Lyon, Al Nassr and Napoli with the biggest success probably being at Lyon where he reached the Champions League semi-finals, knocking Guardiola’s Man City out in the process Key Player: Jérémy Doku (Manchester City) Undoubtedly, an incredibly gifted winger, Doku has been previously criticised for his lack out output and for making the wrong decisions in the final third. And he had of a slow start again this season but he’s stats have slowly been improving and he’s ended the season on fire and timed if perfectly for this tournament. When you get him running, there’s not many better on the ball. Defenders never know what he’s going to do next and how could they; he looks like he has no idea what he’s going to do next himself most of the time. It feels like he’s been around for ages and I remember him in the Belgium side at Euro 2020 but he is still only 23 and it feels like he’s now living up to all the potential and hitting his peak. Why they're actually going to win it: Not having the weight of the favourites tag should be useful and, if they can pick up some momentum with the nice-looking group and Last 16 tie, they have enough to really be a threat.

I really love it. I'm really surprised the reaction has been so mixed.

12. Morocco Group C CAF (2/10) World Ranking: 8 Best Result: Semi-Finals (2022) Fixtures: Brazil (13th June, 11PM) Scotland (19th June, 11PM) Haiti (24th June, 11PM) The only African side to ever reach the World Cup semi-finals after their historic run in 2022, if you ask CAF, Morocco are also the current African Champions so will be expected to go far this year. Their rise in the past few years has been astonishing. Nobody gave them a chance in Qatar, especially when they had Croatia and Belgium in their group as they had both finished 2nd and 3rd at the previous World Cup. But their manager, Walid Regragui, who had only been hired 3-months before the tournament, was able to turn them into a real team in such a short period of time. They currently sit in the top 10 of the world rankings but, in 2015, they were ranked in the 90s. The country has been investing billions into their football programme in preparation for their co-hosting in four-year’s time and now expect results. They hosted the AFCON this year with Regragui saying he’d resign if they didn’t win. We all know what happened there and Regragui stuck to his world, leaving the role in the aftermath of Senegal’s celebrations. If only he’d waited a few months... The Manager: Mohamed Ouahbi Just like Regragui four years ago, Ouahbi will have only had 3-months in the role before the World Cup kicks so only time will tell if the trick can be completed twice. Born in Belgium to a Moroccan family, Ouahbi fell in love with football watching Morocco reach the knock-out at the 1986 World Cup but didn’t want to become a player. Instead, he went straight into coaching and at 21, started working as a youth-team coach at his local Maccabi Brussels. His worked impressed Anderlecht who hired him to manager their under-9 side which included future Premier League players Adnan Januzaj and Charly Musonda. He eventually worked his way up to Assistant Manager of the senior side but never got the top job. In 2022, he took the job managing Morocco’s under 20s and earned worldwide headlines for leading the side to the Under 20’s World Cup title in 2025. This earned him the Under 23’s job but that only lasted 3-months because he was needed for the senior side. Key Player: Achraf Hakimi (PSG) The 2025 African Player of the Year, Hakimi is still only 27 but has a chance to earn his 100th cap for his country at this World Cup. The best RB in the world, Hakimi has one of the most impressive CVs in world football. Starting his career in the city he was born for Real Madrid, he had a 2-year loan spell at Borussia Dortmund before signing for Inter Milan and then PSG. During this time, he has won 6-conseccutive league titles (one at Inter and 5 since joining PSG), two Champions Leagues (one at Real Madrid and one at PSG with a chance to bag his third tonight) and a Club World Cup (at Real Madrid). Really solid at 1-to-1 defending, like all modern fullbacks, Hakimi is a massive threat going forward too and bagged the opening goal at last year’s Champions League final against his old club, Inter. Why they're actually going to win it: If the AFCON is anything to go by, they’ll probably just be awarded the trophy months after the World Cup actually ends.

13. Norway Group I UEFA (9/16) World Ranking: 31 Best Result: Last-16 (1938, 1998) Fixtures: Iraq (16th June, 11PM) Senegal (23rd June, 1AM) France (26th June, 8PM) Norway are back for only their fourth ever World Cup and first since 1998 thanks to their golden generation of players who did it in style. They beat Italy twice, first at home 3-0 and then away 4-1 which booked their spot on the final day. They also managed to put 11 past Moldova in a game where two players both scored 4-goals, including a substitute. So, while they have little experience at this level (they’ve only ever played at one Euros too), every time will be fearing having to play them, mainly because of one-man, Erling Haaland. As you might expect, this team is all about attack. They do have some talented defenders (Ajer and Ryerson) but it pales to that of their players further up the pitch. Norway did, amazingly, reach #2 in the FIFA World Rankings in 1993 before being knocked out in the Group Stage in 1994 when all teams finished on 4-points but this still feels like they’re best ever chance. Even their club football is in great shape with Bodø/Glimt upsetting many of the biggest teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan) in their maiden Champions League campaign. The Manager: Ståle Solbakken A Midfielder in the last Norway side at the World Cup in 1998, Solbakken was forced to retire in 2001 at the age of 33 after he suffered a heart attack in training at Copenhagen and was pronounced clinically dead for 7-minutes. Before that, he had been a star in the Norwegian top flight for Hamarkameratene and Lillestrøm before an ill-fated move to Premier League side Wimbledon only lasted 4-games after he fell out with manager Joe Kinnear. In his first 5-year spell managing Copenhagen, he won 5-league titles and a cup but he left as he was being lined up for the national team role. However, this didn’t end up happening and he had spells at Köln and Wolves where both lasted less than a year and ended with the team battling relegation, with his Wolves sacking coming after being knocked-out by non-league Luton in the FA Cup. He then had 7 more years at Copenhagen, adding 3 more titles before being sacked in 2020. His spell at Norway didn’t start well, missing out on World Cup 2022 and Euro 2024 qualification but it’s looking rosy now. Key Player: Erling Haaland (Manchester City) 49 caps, 55 goals. What more do you need to say than that? Born in Leeds while his Dad was playing for the club, Haaland was eligible to play for England but chose the country he lived in since he was three. The greatest goalscorer of this generation, he won the Gerd Müller Trophy in 2023 after scoring 52 goals in 56 that season for City where he won the treble and broke the Premier League record for most goals in a season with 36 (two more than Shearer and Cole both scored in 42-game seasons). Somehow, he only finished 2nd in the Ballon d’Or that year. It took him 111 games to score 100 Premier League goals. Despite having a ‘slow season’ this year, he’s added another golden boot after scoring 27 goals. Why they're actually going to win it: Just read Haaland’s stats above and captain Ødegaard has just had some practice lifting trophies.

Maisie debuting on the A-List. Happy to see Alessi debut too. And Ari and Olivia of course but they were never going to miss.

14. Colombia Group K CONMEBOL (3/6) World Ranking: 13 Best Result: Quarter-Finals (2014) Fixtures: Uzbekistan (18th June, 3AM) DR Congo (24th June, 3AM) Portugal (28th June, 12:30AM) Many a person’s dark horse at this tournament, Colombia missed out in 2022 after two knock-out campaigns in a row but are back and looking hungrier than ever. Not many teams had such a bipolar qualifying campaign with huge highs (beating Brazil and Argentina) being followed by deep lows. Their 3-game losing streak in between November 2024-March 2025 was starting to bring back bad memories from four years before, especially when they threw away an early 2-0 lead to draw with Paraguay in the next game. In 2022, they had a 7-game streak without winning that cost them their place but, this time, they ended strong with a 3-0 win against Bolivia and a 6-3 win at Venezuela seeing them finish third. At the 2024 Copa América, hosted in the US, they finished runners-up after a Lautaro Martínez goal for Argentina in Extra-Time saw the final finish 1-0 and they have the attacking talent to cause similar problems this time around. The Manager: Néstor Lorenzo Another Argentinian coach at this tournament, Lorenzo features for his side in the 1990 World Cup but after signing for Swindon Town(!) in the aftermath of the tournament, never played for the national team again. From 2000-2019, he worked as José Pékerman’s assistant manager and followed him to Spanish and Mexican clubs as well as the national sides of Argentina (World Cup 2006 - Quarter Finals) and Colombia (World Cup 2014 and 2018 - Quarter-Finals and Last 16). After a year in his first lead-role at Peruvian side Melgar, Colombia came calling back and gave him their main job in 2022. He joined them at a low point and guiding them to a final and World Cup qualification is an impressive job. He will now have to find the right balance with this squad and answer the James Rodríguez question. Key Player: Luis Díaz (Bayern Munich) Oh, how Liverpool have missed him this year. After winning the title in Merseyside, Díaz completed a £65.5 million transfer to Bayern Munich and has enjoyed a brilliant first season, bagging 15 league goals and 14 league assists, storming the title and becoming part of one of the most-feared top 3s in the world alongside Harry Kane and Michael Olise. He’s been in the form of his career and at 29, is at the perfect age to define his legacy with the national side while he’s still at his peak. A golden boot win in the last Copa América proves that he can delivery in the biggest tournaments. Why they're actually going to win it: If James can runback his 2014 form and Díaz plays to his best then it’s going to take a strong defence to stop them.

15. Ivory Coast Group E CAF (3/10) World Ranking: 34 Best Result: Group Stage (2006, 2010, 2014) Fixtures: Ecuador (15th June, 12AM) Germany (20th June, 9PM) Curaçao (25th June, 9PM) Despite being a giant in African football, Ivory Coast have only ever qualified for the World Cup on three occasions before and they were all consecutive between 2006-2014 where they had their golden age of talent, led by the Touré brothers, Didier Drogba and Salamon Kalou. However, the underperformed and did not make it out of any of their group stages, coming closest in 2014 when an injury time winner from Georgios Samaras saw them fall to a late defeat to Greece and finish a point behind them. At this year’s AFCON, they reached the quarter-finals and shown they have some of the most exciting attacking talent in Africa but it was the AFCON in 2023 where they hosted which was the most dramatic. Despite an opening day win, they then lost their two other group stage matches, 1-0 to Nigeria and an embarring 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea which saw them sack their manager, presumed to be out. However, some shock results in the other groups left them sneaking through as the fourth-best 3rd-placed team with 3 points and a minus 3 goal difference. In perhaps the greatest new manager boost of all-time, they turned their fortunes on their head and wins against Senegal, Mali, DR Congo and revenge against Nigeria saw them win the most remarkable title. The Manager: Emerse Faé Faé is already a national hero in Ivory Coast for stepping up from Under 23s Manager and first-team Assistant halfway through AFCON 2023 to guide the Elephants to the trophy. Born in Nantes, Faé played for the French youth teams before becoming a senior player for the African side. He played over 100 league games for his hometown club before moving to England with Reading in the Premier League. However, this move could not have gone any worse. He only played eight times for the club, caught Malaria while on international duty and was suspended for refusing to play for the reserve team. He then travelled to France, said he would never play for the club again and spent the rest of his career at Nice before retiring at 28. Key Player: Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) Still a teenager, Diomande is already set for a big summer with the rumours suggesting Liverpool and PSG are both set to battle it out for the blisteringly fast and tricky winger. He only moved to Leipzig last summer after they paid his $20 million release clause from Leganés and he’s going to go for a much larger fee this time around. He became the youngest player to score a Bundesliga hat-trick in over 60 years when he scored half the goals in a 6-0 win over Frankfurt in December. He was also eligible for hosts USA after he moved there young and came up through the DME Academy but chose his birth nation. He’s already scored at the recent AFCON in Morocco and I think he’s going to be one of the breakout stars next month. Why they're actually going to win it: Their 2023 AFCON win was the most remarkable tournament turn-around I’ve ever witnessed so this should be a walk in the park comparably.

22nd May 2026 - 24th May 2026 1. (NE) Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu - £5,291,385 Weeks: 1 (£5,291,385) 2. (01) Michael - £1,781,990 (-60%) Weeks: 5 (£44,292,051) 3. (04) Obsession - £1,284,749 (-4%) Weeks: 2 (£3,953,954) 4. (02) The Devil Wears Prada 2 - £1,149,500 (-64%) Weeks: 4 (£30,209,206) 5. (NE) Drishyam 3 - £835,968 Weeks: 1 (£835,968) 6. (03) The Sheep Detectives - £538,088 (-61%) Weeks: 3 (£6,509,177) 7. (NE) Passenger - £335,576 Weeks: 1 (£335,576) 8. (NE) Finding Emily - £212,752 Weeks: 1 (£212,752) 9. (08) The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - £121,386 (-68%) Weeks: 8 (£37,522,468) 10. (07) The Christophers - £115,477 (-71%) Weeks: 2 (£841,931) Falling out: Mortal Kombat II (2 weeks) Top Gun (40th Anniversary Re-Release) (1 week) Shrek (25th Anniversary Re-Release) (1 week) Athiradi (1 week) We have a new #1 and it’s a return to a galaxy far, far away as the first Star Wars film in 7-years, ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu’ opens to £5,291,385. This is a big-screen spin off from Jon Favreau’s world-conquering Disney+ show ‘The Mandalorian’ which introduced the world to the now cultural icon ‘Baby Yoda’ aka Grogu. This isn;t the lowest thee-days Star Wars opening of the Disney era, that remains ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (£6,061,231, £4.9 million without previews, #1, 2018), but it’s still a far way off ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ (£17,305,011, #1, 2016) when it comes to non-main films in the series. ‘Solo’ was a massive disaster and ‘Grogu’ will need to hit £20 million to ensure it beats it. Pedro Pascal and Jon Favreau reprise their roles as star and director from the show with Jeremy Allan White, Sigourney Weaver and Martin Scorcese(!) joining the ensemble. The budget and lack of behind-the-scenes drama has been a godsend for this compared to Solo though with this only having a $165 million budget against the $350 million+ that ‘Solo’ ballooned up to. As you will see below, the great weather hasn’t helped this weekend but this is still a worrying opening for Disney and the Star Wars brand in general. The second highest new entey this week is ‘Drishyam 3’ (£835,968, £492k without previews, #5). This is the third entry in the Indian crime series written and directed by Jeethu Joseph and has impressively opened with a total higher than the either of the other two films closed with. ‘Drisnhyam 2’ (£146,846, #9, 2022) could only close with £454k. This is also already the second-biggest Indian film of the year, overtaking ‘Border 2’ which earned about £660k on the last figure I can find. The biggest hit remains ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ which is the biggest Indian hit of all-time in the UK with £4.4 million. The third new entry this week is supernatural horror ‘Passenger’ (£335,576, #7) which seems unrelated to the folk-singer of ‘Let Her Go’ fame. Instead, it’s about a couple who get haunted after driving past a terrible accident on a highway. Oscar-winner Melissa Leo is one of the stars. As with most horrors, this was made on a low-budget ($15 million). A figure it was matched in its opening weekend worldwide. Not a breakout but should still end up turning a profit. The final new entry this week is British romcom “Finding Emily” (£212,752, £193k without previews, #8). About a student who tries to re-find the love of his life after she mistakenly misses out a digit on her phone number by teaming up with a psychology student who is secretly studying him. But will they end up falling in love instead??? It’s received good reviews and star Angourie Rice has been trying to promote it loads but it really hasn’t found an audience which is a shame because I want to see different kinds of British films do well. On a weekend where every other holder drops 60+% due to the warm weather, ‘Obsession’ bucks the trend and then some, losing just 3% as it climbs into third place. With £4.3 million already banked, it has climbed into the top 20 YTD and is the third biggest horror release of the year. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see it overtake the £8 million of ‘Scream VI’ to take the top spot if they strong hype remains. Although, as it’s a horror film, it probably does most of its business in the evening anyway but you feel like it must have been on track for a small increase had it been a cooler weekend. Last week’s other release, ‘The Christophers’ loses 71% (68% without previews) but is up to £840k and has been a brilliant release for Picturehouse. Losing top spot after its first difficult is ‘Michael’ (-60%). But it still adds another £1.8 million and is just short of £45 million in total. If it’s rainier next weekend, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it register a decent increase in business. ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ has a similar loss (-64%) but has hit a significant milestone at £30 million. Only 8 2025 releases hit this figure so it’s hoping to secure it’s self an EOY top 10 position for 2026 in the following weeks. The final two films are the kid’s options ‘The Sheep Detectives’ (-61%) and ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ (-68%). A lot of children are off school this week for half-term so cinemas will be begging for some cool weather this week to drive them to boost these totals. There are two further new entries in the #11-15 section: ‘Charlie The Wonderdog’ (#11) and ‘Tom & Jerry: Forbidden Compass’ (#15). Next week sees the openings of 'Backrooms’, ‘Power Ballad', 'Tuner’, ‘My Mother’s Wedding’, ‘Moss & Freud’, ‘Fairyland’ and ‘We’re Nothing At All’. We also see a re-releases of ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘Bullet In The Head’. Can any of them top the charts? ~ Jon Favreau’s openings: Made (£24,225, #17, 2002) Elf (£4,538,440, #1, 2003) Zathura: A Space Adventure (£1,317,391, #1, 2006) Iron Man (£5,465,103, #1, 2008) Iron Man 2 (£7,664,732, #1, 2010) Cowboys & Aliens (£1,777,320, #3, 2011) Chef (£605,976, #5, 2014) The Jungle Book (£9,901,921, #1, 2016) The Lion King (£16,671,764, #1, 2019) Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu (£5,291,385, #1, 2026) _ Summer Box Office Top 5: 1. (01) The Devil Wears Prada 2 - £30,209,206 2. (02) The Sheep Detectives - £6,509,177 3. (NE) Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu - £5,291,385 4. (NE) Obsession - £3,953,954 5. (03) Mortal Kombat II - £3,256,212 Star Wars and Obsession are new to the top 5 which means that Billie Eilish and Hokum are out of this summer's list.

1. Maisie Peters - Questions (1) 2. Maisie Peters - Old Fashioned (2) 3. Maisie Peters - Flat Earther (3) 4. Maisie Peters - Vampire Time (4) 5. Maisie Peters - Girl's Just Flying (5) 6. Maisie Peters - My Regards (1-1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-4-4-4-4-6) 7. Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead (1-2-2-1-1-7) 8. Maisie Peters & Julia Michaels - Kingmaker (1-3-2-2-8) 9. Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (9) 10. Megan Moroney - Traitor (Roles Reversed) (10) 11. Alessi Rose - Skin (11) 12. Kim Petras - Need For Speed (3-1-3-3-12) 13. Maisie Peters - Houses (13) 14. Kacey Musgraves - I Believe In Ghosts (5-5-5-14) 15. Madison Beer - lovergirl (14-7-15) 16. Kacey Musgraves - Mexico Honey (6-6-6-16) 17. Kacey Musgraves - Back On The Wagon (9-9-8-17) 18. Gracie Abrams - Hit the Wall (10-18) 19. Kacey Musgraves - Abilene (8-8-9-19) 20. ITZY - Motto (20) Bonus unofficial #21-30 because it's such a busy week! 21. LISA, Anitta & Rema - Goals 22. Maisie Peters - You Then Me Now 23. Zara Larsson, Madison Beer & BAMBII - The Ambition 24. Kylie Cantrall - Carrie Bradshaw 25. LIA - Asylum 26. Charli xcx - Rock Music 27. Maisie Peters - Mary Janes 28. Charli xcx - SS26 29. Maisie Peters & Marcus Mumford - If You Let Me 30. Maisie Peters - Nothing Like Being In Love Falling Out This Week Are: Charli xcx - Rock Music (12-11) Zara Larsson, Madison Beer & BAMBII - The Ambition (13-7-12) Madison Beer - somehow i got lucky (11-13) Kylie Cantrall - Carrie Bradshaw (3-3-6-10-13-14) Ella Langley - Be Her (7-7-10-15) Madison Beer - locket theme (16) Jorja Smith - What's Done Is Done (17) Laufey - Madwoman (4-5-5-11-15-18) AJ Tracey - Quaresma (18-(x1)-19) Kim Petras - Jeep (18-20) Retro Top 10 1. Reneé Rapp - Leave Me Alone (1) 2. Alessi Rose - Same Mouth (1-2) 3. ROSÉ - Messy (1-2-3) 4. Kylie Cantrall - Denim (11-4-6-3-3-4) 5. Tate McRae - Miss possessive (15-12-13-17-(x9)-5) 6. Stormzy - SORRY RACH! (4-4-6) 7. Kylie Cantrall feat. ILLIT - See U Tonight (8-6-7) 8. Hailee Steinfeld - Dangerous (3-1-1-2-5-8) 9. Kylie Cantrall - Goodie Bag (20-(x10)-7-7-9) 10. Tate McRae - Revolving door (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 This Week's Number One Highest New Entry (not number one)

1. Maisie Peters - Questions (1) 2. Maisie Peters - Old Fashioned (2) 3. Maisie Peters - Flat Earther (3) 4. Maisie Peters - Vampire Time (4) 5. Maisie Peters - Girl's Just Flying (5) 6. Maisie Peters - My Regards (1-1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-4-4-4-4-6) 7. Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead (1-2-2-1-1-7) 8. Maisie Peters & Julia Michaels - Kingmaker (1-3-2-2-8) 9. Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (9) 10. Megan Moroney - Traitor (Roles Reversed) (10) 11. Alessi Rose - Skin (11) 12. Kim Petras - Need For Speed (3-1-3-3-12) 13. Maisie Peters - Houses (13) 14. Kacey Musgraves - I Believe In Ghosts (5-5-5-14) 15. Madison Beer - lovergirl (14-7-15) 16. Kacey Musgraves - Mexico Honey (6-6-6-16) 17. Kacey Musgraves - Back On The Wagon (9-9-8-17) 18. Gracie Abrams - Hit the Wall (10-18) 19. Kacey Musgraves - Abilene (8-8-9-19) 20. ITZY - Motto (20)

1. Maisie Peters - Questions (1) 2. Maisie Peters - Old Fashioned (2) 3. Maisie Peters - Flat Earther (3) 4. Maisie Peters - Vampire Time (4) 5. Maisie Peters - Girl's Just Flying (5) 6. Maisie Peters - My Regards (1-1-1-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-4-4-4-4-6) 7. Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead (1-2-2-1-1-7) 8. Maisie Peters & Julia Michaels - Kingmaker (1-3-2-2-8) 9. Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (9) 10. Megan Moroney - Traitor (Roles Reversed) (10) 11. Alessi Rose - Skin (11) 12. Kim Petras - Need For Speed (3-1-3-3-12) 13. Maisie Peters - Houses (13) 14. Kacey Musgraves - I Believe In Ghosts (5-5-5-14) 15. Madison Beer - lovergirl (14-7-15) 16. Kacey Musgraves - Mexico Honey (6-6-6-16) 17. Kacey Musgraves - Back On The Wagon (9-9-8-17) 18. Gracie Abrams - Hit the Wall (10-18) 19. Kacey Musgraves - Abilene (8-8-9-19) 20. ITZY - Motto (20)

I imagine Michael's going to be pretty consistent and sell about 30k again so Maisie needs another 10k or so which I think will be slightly too much to do unfortunately.

16. Switzerland Group B UEFA (10/16) World Ranking: 19 Best Result: Quarter-Finals (1934, 1938, 1954) Fixtures: Qatar (13th June, 8PM) Bosnia & Herzegovina (18th June, 8PM) Canada (24th June, 8PM) Perennially a reach-the-knockouts-but-not-much-further side, Switzerland have qualified from the group at their last 6-tourmanents (World Cup and Euros) since 2014 but have only made two Quarter-Finals (at the 2020 and 2024 Euros). But after a very-favourable group draw and simple qualifying campaign, they will feel like this is their opportunity to get further. It was only a penalty shoot-out defeat to England(!) that stopped them reaching the semis two years ago and they’ve mainly retained all the stars from that team. They’ll be a challenge for anyone but do they have that little spark to doing something special? This World Cup is defined by the many icons who will be making their final appearances (Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Ochoa) but this is also the first time we won’t be seeing another legend of the tournament, Xherdan Shaqiri, who retired from international football in the wake of Euro 2024 after playing in four World Cups. The Manager: Murat Yakin I remember before Euro 2024, there was a lot of talk about whether Yakin was the right man for the job after terrible pre-tournament form but he silenced all of his critics with Switzerland playing some of their best ever football, impressively dismantling Italy in the Last 16 before their loss to England where they were the better side. A centre-back by trade during his playing career, Yakin’s best spell came at hometown club Basel where he was captain and won three league titles. But he also had spells earlier in his career in Germany (Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern), Turkey (Fenerbahçe) as well as winning his first two Swiss titles with Grasshoppers at a young age. As a manager he added some more titles with Basel, managed a handful of other Swiss sides as well as a quick spell in Russia at Spartak Moscow. Key Player: Granit Xhaka (Sunderland) I think most people were shocked when Xhaka signed for newly-promoted Sunderland this time last year from a Bayer Leverkusen side where he had won an unbeaten title (the club’s first) in this first season. But with Sunderland bagging a Europa League spot on Sunday, their first European adventure for 52-years, his decision is looking very vindicated. A tough tackling, all-action midfielder who also has great technical ability, he is the heartbeat of this Swiss side and when he plays well, the team does too. The one criticism in his career has been his temperament and frequent ref cards. Who can forget when he was stripped of the captaincy at Arsenal after reacting badly to being booed off the pitch? But he has matured into a great leader and even managed to become a fan-favourite at Arsenal which looked impossible at one point. Why they're actually going to win it: They’re always solid and have plenty of experience. It feels like they’re bound to go far one day so why not this time?

17. USA Group D CONCACAF (1/9) World Ranking: 16 Best Result: Third-Place (1930) Fixtures: Paraguay (13th June, 2AM) Australia (19th June, 8PM) Turkey (26th June, 3AM) The final of three hosts to make an appearance, USA have not had a plain-sailing four years since the last tournament but will have a huge advantage of a majority of the World Cup being hosted in their country. Since their last-16 exit to Netherlands in 2022, USA have let Gregg Berhalter run his contract out (after Claudi Reyna reported a 1992 domestic incident to their FA in retaliation of his son not getting enough game time), rehired and then fired him. They were desperate for this opportunity not to go to waste and hired a very big-name foreign manager to lead them in this home tournament. It’s going to be fascinating to see how much the country buys into them this tournament. The Manager: Mauricio Pochettino Not unanimously popular in the Statues due to his continuous flirting with Tottenham and comments he’s made in press conferences playing down the quality of his side, Poch has started to turn results after a poor start. The highlight was their 5-1 demolition of Uruguay last November but defeats against Belgium and Portugal in March suggest that their still not the full package. A CB by trade, Pochettino made 20 appearances for Argentina and spent the majority of his career at Newell’s Old Boys, Espanyol then PSG. However, it’s as a manager where he has really made his name. Starting at Espanyol, he kept them afloat after some difficult seasons and led Southampton to their highest Premier League points total. This got him on the radar of Tottenham and he turned their fortunes around. He turned them into proper league contenders, building a strong core of Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Eriksen, Dele Alli, Son and Kane and reaching their first Champions League final. Subsequent spells at PSG and Chelsea haven’t been as successful but he still remains the dream re-hire in North London. Key Player: Weston McKennie (Juventus) Pulisic is obviously the poster-boy but I honestly think he’s the most overrated footballer in the world and his form at Milan has fallen of a cliff this year so I’m going to his fellow-Serie A star McKennie as the key man. Joining Juventus (originally on loan) in 2020, McKennie was not an instant hit in Italy with some serious injuries and had an ill-fated loan to Leeds United in January 2023 in a bid to re-find form and fitness. But this year has been the best of his career which has aligned with a change of position. Previously a defensive midfielder, McKennie has been pushed out wide this season and has found his shooting boots, scoring in three-consecutive Champions League games. Why they're actually going to win it: I’m sure Trump will do everything in his power to ensure that it happens. Can you really see him handing the trophy to anyone else?

24th May 2026 - 30th May 2026 Combined DVD & Blu Ray 1. (RE) Fight Club (1999) 2. The Bride! (2026) 3. The Dollars Trilogy (1964-1966) 4. (4) Shelter (2026) 5. (2) It: Welcome To Derry: The Complete First Season (2025) 6. (1) Wuthering Heights (2026) 7. (3) Cold Storage (2026) 8. (5) Goat (2026) 9. (7) 28 Years: The Bone Temple (2026) 10. (RE) The Da Vinci Code (2006) 11. Over The Garden Wall (2014) 12. (11) Wicked: For Good (2025) 13. (14) Predator: Badlands (2025) 14. (8) Send Help (2026) 15. (RE) Leaving Las Vegas (1995) 16. (15) Hamnet (2025) 17. (10) Return To Silent Hill (2026) 18. (16) The Running Man (2025) 19. Some Like It Hot (1959) 20. Grace: Series Six (2026) 21. (6) The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026) 22. (17) Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) 23. (34) Mortal Kombat (2021) 24. (22) Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) 25. (19) Sisu: Road To Revenge (2025) 26. (27) Sinners (2025) 27. Hammer: Volume Seven: Ships & Giggles (1959-1961) 28. (30) F1: The Movie (2025) 29. (28) Wicked: 2-Film Collection (2024-2025) 30. The Anacondas (2025) 31. (26) Primate (2025) 32. (23) Song Sung Blue (2025) 33. The General (1926) 34. (24) The Housemaid (2025) 35. (29) Anaconda (2025) 36. (32) Superman (2025) 37. (31) Zootropolis 2 (2025) 38. Ellis: Series 2 (2026) 39. (39) Tron: Ares (2025) 40. (35) Whistle (2025) 41. (42) Mercy (2026) 42. (44) A Minecraft Movie (2025) 43. (36) Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 (2025) 44. (38) 28 Years Later: 2-Movie Collection (2025-2026) 45. (53) Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022) 46. (46) Weapons (2025) 47. (41) Dune: Part Two (2024) 48. (RE) The Fifth Element (1997) 49. (50) Nobody 2 (2025) 50. (43) The Choral (2025) 51. (47) Top Gun: Maverick (2022) 52. (52) The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) 53. (59) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season Three (2025) 54. (63) Harry Potter: The Complete Collection (2001-2011) 55. (45) One Battle After Another (2025) 56. (58) I Swear (2025) 57. (33) Beyond Paradise: Series Four (2026) 58. (51) The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants (2025) 59. (RE) Hell Or High Water (2016) 60. (79) Alien: Romulus (2024) 61. Hi, Mom! (1970) 62. (9) Invaders From Mars (1953) 63. Aesthetics Of A Bullet (1973) 64. (55) Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025) 65. (62) Mission Alarum (2025) 66. (60) Paprika (2006) 67. (96) Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) 68. (49) The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) 69. (RE) Top Gun: 2-Movie Collection (1986-2022) 70. (57) Marty Supreme (2025) 71. (71) Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025) 72. (75) How To Train Your Dragon (2025) 73. (66) Sisu: 2-Movie Collection (2022-2025) 74. Taxidermia (2006) 75. (56) Surrender (2025) 76. (72) Ballerina: From The World Of John Wick (2025) 77. (67) Ghost In The Shell (1995) 78. (87) Gladiator II (2024) 79. (100) Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2023) 80. (RE) Thunderbolts* (2025) 81. (48) The Nice Guys (2016) 82. (78) The Long Walk (2025) 83. (74) Dune (2021) 84. Jeanne La Pucelle (1994) 85. (82) Interstellar (2014) 86. (97) Karate Kid: Legends (2025) 87. (89) Moonwalker (1988) 88. (64) Zootropolis: 2-Movie Collection (2016-2025) 89. (81) Dracula (2025) 90. (RE) The Batman (2022) 91. (90) 28 Years Later (2025) 92. (68) The Naked Gun (2025) 93. (RE) Leon (1994) 94. (73) Possession (1981) 95. (80) Nobody (2021) 96. (RE) Drive (2011) 97. (RE) The Lord Of The Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (2001-2003) 98. Cécile Is Dead (1944) 99. (94) Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up (2024) 100. (RE) Schitt’s Creek: The Complete Collection (2015-2020) Falling Out: Hammer: Heroes, Legends And Monsters (2024) Red Beard (1965) Forbidden World (1982) Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) Mona Lisa (1986) The Marlow Murder Club: Series 3 (2026) The Strangers: 3-Film Collection (2024-2026) Arcade (1993) A Star Is Born (2018) Secret Service (2026) Watch The Skies (2022) Rounders (1998) Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025) Innerspace (1987) Practical Magic (1988) Minority Report (2002) Now You See Me: 3 Film Collection (2013-2025) Giant (2025) H Is For Hawk (2025) 86 Eighty Six: The Complete Season (2021) Five Nights At Freddy’s: 2-Movie Collection (2023-2025) Point Blank (1967) Ready Or Not (2019) Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection (1975-1979) Ben-Hur (1959) DVD The Bride! (2026) Shelter (2026) Wuthering Heights (2026) It: Welcome To Derry: The Complete First Season (2025) Goat (2026) Cold Storage (2026) Grace: Series Six (2026) Wicked: For Good (2025) 28 Years Later: Bone Temple (2026) Hamnet (2025) Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026) Send Help (2026) Predator: Badlands (2025) The Running Man (2025) The Anacondas (2025) Return To Silent Hill (2026) Ellis: Series 2 (2026) Wicked: 2-Film Collection (2024-2025) Song Sung Blue (2025) Anaconda (2025) Zootropolis 2 (2025) The Housemaid (2025) Mercy (2026) Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) Primate (2025) Whistle (2025) Sisu: Road To Revenge (2025) Sinners (2025) The Choral (2025) Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 (2025) Beyond Paradise: Series Four (2026) A Minecraft Movie (2025) 28 Years Later: 2-Movie Collection (2025-2026) The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants (2025) F1: The Movie (2025) Mission Alarum (2025) Harry Potter: The Complete Collection (2001-2011) Surrender (2025) Nobody 2 (2025) I Swear (2025) Mortal Kombat (2021) Superman (2025) Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025) Zootropolis: 2-Movie Collection (2016-2025) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season Three (2025) How To Train Your Dragon (2025) Schitt’s Creek: The Complete Collection (2015-2020) The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) One Battle After Another (2025) Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022) Five Nights At Freddy’s: 2-Movie Collection (2023-2025) Karate Kid: Legends (2025) Call The Midwife: Series Fifteen & Christmas Special (2025-2026) Weapons (2025) Death In Paradise: Series Fifteen (2026) The Naked Gun (2025) Tron: Ares (2025) Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up (2024) Sisu: 2-Movie Collection (2022-2025) Giant (2025) Nobody (2021) Gladiator II (2024) Kangaroo (2025) Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection (1975-1979) Ballerina: From The World Of John Wick (2025) The Long Walk (2025) Lilo & Stitch (2025) Twenty Twenty Six (2026) Dune: Part Two (2024) Marty Supreme (2025) Dracula (2025) Top Gun: Maverick (2022) The Cure (2026) Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025) Watch The Skies (2022) Paprika (2006) Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) Moonwalker (1988) H Is For Hawk (2025) 28 Years Later (2025) Dead Of Winter (2025) Practical Magic (1988) The Complete Open All Hours: Series One - Four (1976-1985) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) Roofman (2025) Now You See Me: 3 Film Collection (2013-2025) Thunderbolts* (2025) The Equalizer: 3-Movie Collection (2014-2023) Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (2023) The Marlow Murder Club: Series 3 (2026) Predator: Wastelands (2025) Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (2025) The Strangers: 3-Film Collection (2024-2026) Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025) Wicked (2024) Bottom 1-3 (1991-1995) House Of The Dragon: The Complete Second Season (2024) The Equalizer 3 (2023) Blu Ray Fight Club (1999) The Dollars Trilogy (1964-1966) The Bride! (2026) Over The Garden Wall (2014) The Da Vinci Code (2006) Leaving Las Vegas (1995) Some Like It Hot (1959) It: Welcome To Derry: The Complete First Season (2025) Hammer: Volume Seven: Ships & Giggles (1959-1961) The General (1926) 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) Cold Storage (2026) Mortal Kombat (2021) Return To Silent Hill (2026) The Fifth Element (1997) Shelter (2026) Predator: Badlands (2025) Tron: Ares (2025) Hi, Mom! (1970) Hell Or High Water (2016) Invaders From Mars (1953) Aesthetics Of A Bullet (1973) The Running Man (2025) Taxidermia (2006) Send Help (2026) Superman (2025) F1: The Movie (2025) Sinners (2025) Sisu: Road To Revenge (2025) Jeanne La Pucelle (1994) Dune: Part Two (2024) Wuthering Heights (2026) The Nice Guys (2016) Top Gun: 2-Movie Collection (1986-2022) Possession (1981) Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022) Weapons (2025) The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) Ghost In The Shell (1995) Interstellar (2014) Cécile Is Dead (1944) Alien: Romulus (2024) Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) Top Gun: Maverick (2022) Drive (2011) Wicked: For Good (2025) Hammer: Heroes, Legends And Monsters (2024) Innerspace (1987) Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Leon (1994) Memories Of A Murder (2003) Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Hamnet (2025) Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2023) Minority Report (2002) Ben-Hur (1959) Dune (2021) X-Cross (2007) The Lord Of The Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (2001-2003) Heat (1995) Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003) The Batman (2022) My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) Red Beard (1965) Paprika (2006) Thunderbolts* (2025) Primate (2025) Blade Runner (1982) The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season (2023) The Hitcher (1986) Point Blank (1967) Dogma (1999) Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Aliens (1986) Prey (2022) Dog Soldiers (1999) Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025) Goat (2026) Pulp Fiction (1994) Excalibur (1981) Witness (1985) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season Three (2025) Marty Supreme (2025) One Battle After Another (2025) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Mission: Impossible: 2-Movie Collection (2023-2025) Alien (1979) Cowboy Bepop: The Movie (2001) Trace Of Stones (1966) Strange Days (1995) Nobody 2 (2025) The Strangers: 3-Film Collection (2024-2026) Avatar (2009) The Thing (1982) Bring Her Back (2025) The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season (2019) A Minecraft Movie (2025) Parasite (2019) Top Gun (1986) Moonwalker (1988)

18. Japan Group F AFC (1/9) World Ranking: 18 Best Result: Last 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022) Fixtures: Netherlands (14th June, 9PM) Tunisia (21st June, 5AM) Sweden (26th June, 12AM) The first nation to qualify for this tournament outside of the hosts, Japan have already had 14-months to prepare for this tournament and their March friendlies where they beat Scotland and England shown that they’ve taken full advantage of the time. They’re always an exciting team full of hardworking, unselfish players who also always seem to have some pace about them. Just watch their goal against England and you can see how devastating they are on the counter. However, they have lost their star (and scorer of that goal) Kaoru Mitoma through injury which will be a hard loss to recover from. They’ve reached the last-16 of the previous two tournaments and have been desperately unlucky in both. In 2018, they took a two-goal lead before eventually succumbing to the golden generation of Belgium after Chadli scored a 90+4th minute winner and in 2022 they lost a penalty shoot out to Croatia after dominating the game. Belgium and Croatia both went on to finish 3rd in the respective tournaments. I think they won a lot of people’s hearts four-years ago where they beat Germany and Spain to top their group. The Manager: Hajime Moriyasu A no-nonsense defensive midfielder making 35 appearances for Japan between 1992-1996, Moriyasu played for the side before they became a heavyweight in Asia and was out of the picture before Japan qualified for their first World Cup in 1998. He had a thirteen-year spell as a regular in Japan’s top flight. As a manager, he led Sanfrecce Hiroshima to two league titles and coached Japan’s (under 23) side at their home 2020 Olympics where they just missed out on a bronze medal. After being the assistant manager in Japan’s 2018 World Cup side, he was given the main job after Akira Nishino’s resignation. As you can see, he did juggle being the first team manager and under-23’s manager for three years which helped him introduce a whole new generation to the senior side. Key Player: Ritsu Dōan (Eintracht Frankfurt) With Mitoma being injured, it isn’t easy to pick who Japan’s new main man is going to be. But there is undoubtedly going to be a lot of pressure on Dōan to step up in his absence. Dōan made a name for himself at the last World Cup where he came off the bench against both Germany and Spain to score instant equalisers in games they went on to win and, last year, made the biggest move of his career joining Frankfurt. His season hasn’t been brilliant and there’s already reports that he wants to move but he was top scorer at Freiburg the season before and he brings a lot of the same strengths (pace, agility, good finishing) as the missing Mitoma. Why they're actually going to win it: They’ve proved that they can be effective against the biggest sides and their high-energy style of play is capable of blowing anyone else away.

Brighton 3-1 Man Utd Burnley 1-1 Wolves Crystal Palace 2-2 Arsenal Fulham 0-1 Newcastle Liverpool 2-2 Brentford Man City 1-1 Aston Villa Nottingham Forest 2-3 Bournemouth Sunderland 3-1 Chelsea Tottenham 1-1 Everton West Ham 2-1 Leeds

19. Mexico Group A CONCACAF (2/6) World Ranking: 15 Best Result: Quarter-Finals (1970, 1986) Fixtures: South Africa (11th June, 8PM) South Korea (19th June, 2AM) Czech Republic (25th June, 2AM) There’s been times over the past-few years where it has looked like this tournament was going to be a disaster for Mexico. They were knocked out in the group stage in 2022, the first time they hadn’t been seen in the knock-outs since they were banned in 1990, and suffered the same fate in the 2024 Copa América before losing the 2025 Gold Cup to the USA. They felt like a team that were just drifting towards this tournament without showing any signs of life. However, in March they got morale boosting draws with Portugal and Belgium and people are starting to believe again. This will be a record-breaking third time hosting for Mexico and their other two times (1970, 1986) have both seen their best ever results, reaching the quarter-finals. Between 1994-2018, they were knocked out in the Last 16 for seven consecutive tournaments and with a tasty looking group, they look like they will probably reach that round again. The Manager: Javier Aguirre Aguirre was rehired last July for his third-spell as Mexico boss and will lead them into his third World Cup after their previous two managers, Diego Cocca and Jaime Lozano have failed to impress. Both of his previous campaigns ended in Last 16 defeats, against USA in 2002 and Argentina in 2010. At club level, he has mainly managed in Spain, leading Osasuna to the Champions League before stints at Atlético Madrid, Real Zaragoza, Espanyol, Leganés and Mallorca. In between them, he has tried two other international roles. He was sacked by Japan in 2015 after he had been indicated in a match-fixing scandal and Egypt let him go in 2019 after they were knocked out in the last 16 of the AFCON they were hosting. Aguirre also had a successful playing career in Mexico and USA, making 59 caps for Mexico and becoming their first ever player to be sent off at a World Cup in 1986. Key Player: Raúl Jiménez (Fulham) The bridesmaid for Mexico for three World Cups, at 35 it looks like Jiménez is finally going to be the main man up top this time around and doing it on home soil will be special. He will be incredibly familiar to Premier League fans due to his prolific spell at Wolves where he bagged 40 league goals becoming their top ever Prem goalscorer. There was a spell where he formed an electric partnership with Diogo Jota and Adama Traore that fired Wolves into Europe and made them everyone’s bogey side. But he had a horrific clash of heads with David Luiz in 2020 where he fractured his skull and was out for nearly a year. He has never able to find the same form again at Wolves but was rejuvenated after moving to Fulham and has now had three seasons as their main striker, holding off the pressure from Rodrigo Muniz. Why they're actually going to win it: Their best results have come on home soil where they have one of the most passionate fanbases in the world. If World Cup fever takes over, they will be very hard to beat.

Team Maisie this week!!! I think Michael Jackson will be too far ahead but hopefully a third top 3 album will be on lock.

20. Ecuador Group E CONMEBOL (4/6) World Ranking: 23 Best Result: Last 16 (2006) Fixtures: Ivory Coast (15th June, 12AM) Curaçao (21st June, 1AM) Germany (25th June, 9PM) They didn’t qualify until 2002 but Ecuador only missed two tournaments since then and go into this tournament on the back of a very impressive qualifying campaign where they finished 2nd in South America, despite being deducted 3-points for using false documentation to play Byron Castillo in the previous campaign. Over their 18-games, they only conceded 5-goals and had 2-losses which shows the strength of this side. Ecuador are incredibly difficult to beat. They have two brilliant centre-backs in Arsenal’s Piero Hincapié and PSG’s Willian Pacho and Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo sits just ahead of them, sweeping up any danger. Even though they’ve only reached the knock-outs once, they have always won at least once in every World Cup and impressed in 2022 where they beat Qatar in the opening game of the tournament and then drew with Netherlands. But the big question mark about this side is whether they will have enough in attack to cause the better teams problems. Nine of their eighteen matches (exactly half) ended 0-0 in qualifying which involved a run of four-straight games. 36-year-old Enner Valencia has scored goals at previous World Cups but should he really still be leading the line in 2026? The Manager: Sebastián Beccacece A young Argentinean coach, Beccacece never played professionally and joined the youth set-up at Newell’s Old Boys while still a teenager. Most of his career has been as an assistant, starting with Jorge Sampaoli where he followed him to Coronel Bolognesi, Sporting Cristal, O’Higgins, Emelec and Universidad de Chile, where he won two league titles and two cups and eventually became first-team manager. He has been assistant manager at two World Cup’s previously, with Chile in 2014 and Argentina in 2018. At Chile, he was part of their first ever Copa América title winning team in 2015. As the main man, his record is much patchier and he has a relegation with Elche on his CV. But you cannot argue with the results he’s gained with Ecuador. Key Player: Moisés Caicedo (Chelsea) There are not many defensive midfielders who sell for more than £100 million but Chelsea were convinced to spend that to bring Caicedo from Brighton in 2023, famously beating Liverpool in the process. He really struggled in that first season and the price-tag looked like it was weighing heavy but in the past two seasons, he has probably been their most consistent player and is starting to justify the huge outlay. With his country, he’s been exceptional too and is a key factor in why they hardly ever concede a goal. Why they're actually going to win it: José Mourinho has certainly won a lot of trophies and Ecuador are the new masters of the park-the-bus mentality that brought him so much success.

Personally, I would have went with: Pickford, Henderson, Trafford Shaw, Maguire, James, Guehi, Konsa, Hall, O'Reilly, Alexander-Arnold Rice, Bellingham, Palmer, Mainoo, Wharton, Gibbs-White, Rogers, Anderson Kane, Rashford, Saka, Watkins, Bowen, Eze, Gordon

Because we don't have a thread for it yet, I'll post it here but, my god, I thought England had a legit chance this year but this squad Tuchel's announcing tomorrow is horrendous. Dan Burn, Jordan Henderson, Noni Madueke, Jarell Quansah, John Stones and Ivan Toney should be nowhere near the side. Harry Maguire, Morgan Gibbs-White, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, Adam Wharton are all more deserving and Cole Palmer mightn't be deserving but it a lot better than Madueke at least.