This traffic report is adapted from theTop 25 Report, prepared with commentary byStormy clouds (June 24 to 30, July 15 to 22) andIgordebraga (July 1 to 7, July 8 to 14).

Soccer!"'Football', said the rest of the fucking world."Bilbo Baggins is my spirit animal. Once again, the report is dominated by football, as theWorld Cup continues to infect Wikipedians worldwide like a chaotically cascading contagion. World Cup fever is tangible, especially across thepond. Apparently,it's coming home.They're even dropping'arry and losing intentionally to dodgeBrazil, the madlads.ShiaLaBeouf seems to be excelling at this game of 4-D chess he's playing. With a"handy" run to the semi-finals, hopefully he can put it awaythis time.

Anyway,other stuff has the audacity to occur during the World Cup, including death, Google Doodles, retirement, and other intrigues, diversifying the report to a certain extent. However, it is dwarfed by the swarms of interest provoked by World Cup fever. Agreat manager once said that football is much more important than life or death. This iteration of the report lays credence to that claim. I hope you enjoy it.

Without further ado, for the week of June 24 to 30, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia as determined from theWP:5000 report were:

As expected, the FIFA World Cup is still dominating. And given recent developments in the Russian fields, you might notice my attempts at venting offtournament frustrations (myWelsh andIrish Report colleagues have already done it, so why not me?). The only entries not related to football are superheroes out of Hollywood (both live-action from Marvel and animated from Cartoon Network), action star biopics out of Bollywood, basketball stars gone Hollywood, holidays out of the U.S., historical figures out of Google Doodles, and those out of the2018 deaths category.

For the week of July 1 to 8, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from theWP:5000 report were:

One last FIFA World Cup-heavy list, even if the final happening on a Sunday ensures next week will still feature some more of the tournament. Along with a blockbuster transaction that happened after a superstar was out of the Russian fields, football is even present in an incident where a Thai team was stranded in a flooded cave. Otherwise, we have tennis in Wimbledon, American politics, celebrities and blockbusters, Indian movies and Netflix shows, and that death list that just won't go.

For the week of July 8 to 15, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia as determined from theWP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes
1	2018 FIFA World Cup		2,424,759		The most beloved month for football fans ended today in Moscow with the French team winning their second title. Plenty of good moments happened, though the organization should be ashamed of the cruel and unusual punishment that is featuring "Seven Nation Army" in every game.
2	Croatia		2,259,554		A former Yugoslav nation smaller than41 of the U.S. states and less than half the population ofLondon, Croatia is gathering huge attention for the unexpected success of its national football team. In the meantime, people have discovered many interesting things about the country, such astheir blonde president who went to the World Cup out of her own salary and therallying cry withfascist roots.
3	Hailey Baldwin		2,122,321		This model, daughter of actorStephen (and subsequently niece ofAlec and cousin to another model,Ireland), has announced her engagement toJustin Bieber (#21). Hope she canput some reason into his head!
4	Brett Kavanaugh		1,804,185		The newest proposed member of theSupreme Court of the United States,nominated by President Trump to replace the retiringAnthony Kennedy.
5	Cristiano Ronaldo		1,353,021		CR7 was not in the World Cup final (and seems unlikely he'll lead Portugal there in 2022, when he'll be 37), but still gathered loads of views through the week as it was confirmed he is going to Juventus (#16) for an incredible €100 million ($113 million) plus additional expenses.
6	List of FIFA World Cup finals		1,140,242		Croatia (#2, #10), became the 13th country to contest for the World Cup; and the victorious French team (pictured) got its second title, matching two teams they beat in the playoffs (Argentina and Uruguay).
7	FIFA World Cup		1,120,613		The 21st edition ended today.The next one is sadly more than "just" 4 years from now, given it will be in November–December so that the players don't get boiled by the scorching Middle Eastern summer (just one ofthe many, many downsides of giving the hosting rights toQatar!).
8	Ant-Man and the Wasp		927,310		Aftera high stakes interplanetary war that does not end well, Marvel decided to just let viewers have fun again at their movies with a return to this size-shifting superhero, now joined by size-shifting superheroine with wings and blasters, fighting among other adversariesan intangible girl.Ant-Man and the Wasp got great reviews and is already nearing $300 million worldwide (numbers that will only grow as it hits European markets that decided to release the movie after the World Cup was over).
9	Stephen Baldwin		919,838		Stephen's career might be in a downfall (fromBorn on the Fourth of July andThe Usual Suspects toChristploitation films such asGod's Club andFaith of Our Fathers‽), but the fact his daughter (#3) is marrying Justin Bieber (#21) brought in some attention.
10	Croatia national football team		829,225		Known for their checkered shirts (compared to either tablecloths or racing flags), the Croats have a distinction of having surprised the football world twice. In their 1998 debut,Davor Šuker and friends went all the way to the World Cup semifinals against hosts France and scored first before a comeback, but then won the third place match. Twenty years later, the squad led byLuka Modrić (#13) managed to go one stage and position further: Croatia won a comeback in the semifinals against England before losing the final against that same France. Part of it must have been exhaustion: all the previous knockout games went to extra time, meaning the Croats played the equivalent of seven games in six!

L'équipe de France a gagné la Coupe du Monde pour la deuxième fois dimanche dernier, et je crois que personne ne s'étonnera de constater que le foot est encore une fois le sujet dominant de la semaine.

To avoid causing further offence to any aghastFrancophones with my abhorrent standard ofla langue française, I will switch to a strictlyanglophilic perspective hereafter. As with the last several iterations of the report, football is dominant, with the French victory in theLuzhniki Stadium resonating throughout the week, and accounting for a large bulk of the items in the list. Mysoccer(Ugh) aficionado has been left bored in the absence of the footy, but withmonster transfers andmassive pre-season friendlies, I need not despair. Aside from the football, the list is populated by television shows, deaths (real and fictional), andsublime acting. Hopefully next week, we will have a new contender at number one, without the necessity of ashockingdeath. We await eagerly, but for now let us rejoice in the elegance and formidability of theBleus (last one, I promise!).

Without any further delay, for the week of July 15 to 21, 2018, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia as determined from theWP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes
1	2018 FIFA World Cup		1,932,942		And, as swiftly as it arrived on the collective television screens of the world, the football fiesta is finito, with France finding their way to a second victory, having already tasted glory as hosts in1998. The French team, captained by goalieHugo Lloris (thePremier League'ssecond best sweeper keeper), swept aside the Croatian challengewith a two-goal margin in a convincing 4–2 win, capping off a great tournament and hoisting thefabled trophy once again.
2	Croatia		1,732,037		Finishing as the second most-read article of the week are the defeated finalists of #1. Readers of Wikipedia were propelled by the football to research the Balkan state, which finally received just attention and plaudits for their soccer exploits, led by captainLuka Modrić (#9). Croatia's road to the final is remarkably impressive for a wide array of reasons—the country was forced to qualify for the tournament through the dreadedplay-offs and has a miniscule population of merely 4.1 million. Theyoung nation has had atumultous, turbulent infancy, and many of thestars of the team were refugees. They deserve immense praise for overcoming such odds to reach the pinnacle of the game.
3	Kylian Mbappé		1,717,026		The newestwunderkind on the footballing block, Mbappé ascended to world stardom owing to his supreme performances in theWorld Cup, where he was integral to the French victory. The perfect blend of speed and skill, the nineteen year old is already capable of decimating defences, and, in a frankly ridiculous twist of events, is making€180 million ($203 million) look like a bargain forParis Saint-Germain. He will doubtless claim many more accolades to accompany hisnewest title.
4	List of FIFA World Cup finals		987,029		As we see out the twenty first tournament, many Wikipedians sought a concise list of all of the quadrennial contests. The list dates back to1930, where the first iteration of the footballingtourney was won by the hosts,Uruguay—the first of two victories for the smallCONMEBOLnation.
5	Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović		919,210		With the exception of Mbappé, noBLP article drew more readers following the World Cup than that of theCroatian President, who attended the final alongside her Frenchcounterpart to cheer for the boys in red and white. The fact that viewers watching the largest sports event on the planet were more interested ingoogling the gorgeous politician in the stand than the play on the pitch says a significant amount about the degree to whichfilthy casuals watch the World Cup. All I can say is thatwe live in a society.
6	FIFA World Cup	(Obviously)	915,497		Attentive fans of the Top 25 Report should be more than acquainted with this article, which has lurked in the top ten for the guts of a month at this stage. While the majority of readers gravitated towards the2018 article, curiosity for the general topic, and the intriguing history of theJules Rimet Trophy and theFIFA presidentbehind it, has remained persistent, and did so in the wake of the tournament's conclusion.
7	France national football team		889,159		During theirlink race through Russia-related articles, football fanatics would doubtlessly have investigated the victors, who claimed victory under the astute stewardship of Didier Deschamps. Their glory inMoscow allowed thecockerel to avenge their loss toEder in thefinal of the Euros two years ago. Looking at the abundant talent and youth of the squad, plenty more wins lie in the future of French football. At least now, they have put to bed the rumour that Frenchmen can'tsucceed in Russia—they just need to do so in thesummer.
8	Rowan Atkinson		874,908		"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Twain's famous quip (so famous, in fact, thathe never said it) proved accurate once again this week as a hoax circulated online claiming that the seminal British comedian, who portrayedMr. Bean andBlackadder, had met his end. Thankfully, this was false, and Atkinson is entirely healthy, and prepared to don the tuxedo of a clumsy English spyonce more.
9	Luka Modrić		821,664		Now we turn our attention to two of the stars of the World Cup, both of whom participated in thefinal last Sunday, with vastly variant degrees of success. Both share multiple similarities, from the fact that they play theirclubfootball in theSpanish capital to their propensities to hitsublimegoals from outside the18-yard box. However, it was theFortnite-loving Frenchman who claimed victory indubious circumstances. Nonetheless, Modrić's performances were recognised as he received theGolden Ball. Guess Antoine should just take the L on this one; not that he'll mind.
10	Antoine Griezmann		793,075

• These lists exclude the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such asredlinks), 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 theTop 25 Report talk page if you wish.
• Exo (band) – EXO-Ls,explicitly leaving remarks that you're gonna try to game the system is not a good idea. We will simply continue to ignore the article as long as views are gamed, so your efforts are futile.

Disappointed that "we live in a society" wasn't linked toGeorge Costanza. ~Amory(u •t •c)01:30, 1 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Amory: Sofixit? :) — OwenBlacker(talk; please {{ping}} me in replies)10:44, 11 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]