 Article display preview: | This is a draft of a potential Signpost article, and should not be interpreted as a finished piece. Its content is subject to review by the editorial team and ultimately by JPxG, the editor in chief. Please do not link to this draft as it is unfinished and the URL will change upon publication. If you would like to contribute and are familiar with the requirements of a Signpost article, feel free to be bold in making improvements!
| ||||
Traffic report
The grass was greener, the light was brighter
- This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, CAWylie, Bkissin, Marinette2356, Ollieisanerd and ButterCashier
Football, football, football!
Wikipedia Football Club!
Santa Maradona priez pour moi!
I feel a hot wind on my shoulder, I dial it in from south of the border (June 14 to 20)
[edit]| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |  |
4,606,880 | _I.jpg)
|
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 | .jpg)
|
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 | .jpg)
|
"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\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 help her recovery), and 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 | _01.jpg)
|
Football's greatest event, and the 48 teams of #1 include 7 of its 8 past champions (shame on you, Italy!). Next edition will be the centennial one, and FIFA decided to complicate regarding hosts, with games in 6 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. nearly has a federal holiday every calendar month. This one, combining "June" and "nineteenth", commemorates Texas abolishing slavery on June 19, 1865 (announced by 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup | |
7,055,972 | 
|
The past 7 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 | .jpg)
|
4th times 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 a 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 | _40_(cropped)_2.jpg)
|
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 less 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 5 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 6 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 6 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... |
Exclusions
[edit]- These lists exclude the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the Top 25 Report talk page if you wish.
Discuss this story
(This allows for greater visibility of discussions, makes archiving easier, and prevents discussions becoming disconnected from articles during the publication process)