Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Don't miss these
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

12 World Cup Movie Lookalikes

Features
By Total Film published 28 June 2010

Football stars and their Hollywood shadows

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Julio Cesar

Julio Cesar

The Character: The porky-but-loveable psychic copper from super-show Heroes, Matt Parkman.

What do they have in common?: Thought-stealer Parkman uses his superpowers to read the brains of enemies, just as Cesar reads the intentions of striker to stop goals from happening. Yeah, that’s pretty weak but they look exactly the same .

Page 1 of 12
Page 1 of 12
Xabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso

The Character: Michael Bluth, the calm centre of the circus that is Arrested Development’s Bluth family. Film version is still on for 2011…

What do they have in common?: Excellent chins, very slightly ginger beards, and kind eyes.

Page 2 of 12
Page 2 of 12
Elano

Elano

The Character: Dave Kleinfeld, Sean Penn’s sweaty, puff-permed lawyer to gangland boss Carlito Brigante.

What do they have in common?:
Bad hair and basically nothing else.

Page 3 of 12
Page 3 of 12
Robert Green

Robert Green

The Character: Pob – the raspberry-blowing ‘80s kids TV puppet. Admittedly not a big-screen star, but the resemblance is uncanny.

What do they have in common?: Just like England’s world cup plans after Green’s fateful blunder, things have a habit of unravelling around Pob (which only makes sense if you remember the title sequence in which a stray thread of wool from Pob’s jumper lures his celeb guest inside every week. No? Good).

Page 4 of 12
Page 4 of 12
Franck Ribry

Franck Ribry

The Character: Dropped-baby-turned-mashed-patty-of-muscle Sloth, from ‘80s kiddie epic The Goonies.

What do they have in common?:
Get ready to wince: both overcame childhood accidents (Ribéry’s scars come from a car crash suffered when he was two) to become heroes in later life. If eating a twinkie and screaming can be called heroic, and we say yes it can.

Page 5 of 12
Page 5 of 12
Peter Crouch

Peter Crouch

The Character: Spindly-limbed boss of Christmas-jacker and boss of Halloween, Jack Skellington.

What do they have in common?: Both Jack and Crouchy defy their insectoid physiques to pull of some excellent dance moves.

Page 6 of 12
Page 6 of 12
Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez

The Character: The latest mean-ass Mexican portrayed by real-life hardman Danny Trejo: Machete Cortez.

What do they have in common?: Tevez angered Manchester United fans by crossing the city at the start of last season, and fans are likely to be similarly upset by the character Machete, who moves from the happy Spy Kids trilogy to this grizzly crime caper.

Page 7 of 12
Page 7 of 12
Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney

The Character: Giant-headed, money-printing ogreberk, Shrek.

What do they have in common?:
Both star in fairytales gone horribly wrong, the only difference being that, unlike Rooney’s world cup, Shrek always gets a happy ending.

Page 8 of 12
Page 8 of 12
Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas

The Character: The talent-absorbing supervillain Sylar, as played by Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto.

What do they have in common?: Cesc is an excellent all-rounder, and like the clock-mending abomination he really keeps things ticking over in the middle of the park. He reads the game like Sylar reads minds, and eats brains at half time. Probably.

Page 9 of 12
Page 9 of 12
Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil

The Character: Peter Lorre’s trembling child-killer Hans Beckert in Fritz Lang’s classic thriller M.

What do they have in common?: Both are naturalised Germans (Ozil’s family, as bleating world cup commentators tell us repeated, are Turkish, while Lorre moved to Berlin from his native Hungary) and Ozil killed England’s world cup dreams just as dead as those little girls in M.

Page 10 of 12
Page 10 of 12
Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello

The Character: Grumpy flyaway pensioner Carl Frederickson from Pixar’s Up.

What do they have in common?: Enormous underbites, troublesome youthful companions (23 in Fabio’s case) and a deadening sense that all their plans will forever go unfulfilled.

Page 11 of 12
Page 11 of 12
Emile Heskey

Emile Heskey

The Character: Tony Todd, most famous for playing slasher antihero Candyman.

What do they have in common?: You mean aside from the same face? Both are hitmen of sorts, although the Candyman has a significant better strike record, and tends to finish the job when he’s one on one.

Page 12 of 12
Page 12 of 12
Total Film

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Share by:
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Whatsapp
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Latest in Movies
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, holding a baby
The first Avengers: Doomsday trailer is now officially online, as the Russo Brothers explain why they brought Cap back
 
 
Super Mario Galaxy movie
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie star Jack Black says fans of the classic game will be "very pleased" with the new movie
 
 
Stephen Lang as Quaritch in Avatar: Fire and Ash
An Avatar video game DLC may have just spoiled Quaritch's fate in Avatar 4
 
 
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One star Mads Mikkelsen says the script for the Star Wars movie was "surprisingly unfinished"
 
 
Jack Black as Doug and Paul Rudd as Griff in Anaconda (2025), peering out from behind some leaves
Anaconda stars Jack Black and Paul Rudd on their meta comedy reboot of a mid-90s B-movie: "It's just funny as hell"
 
 
KPop Demon Hunters still of Rumi and the blue demon tiger
Hideo Kojima says KPop Demon Hunters was "so good" and that he "ended up bawling my eyes out"
 
 
Latest in Features
Freddy Stroma as Vigilante, meeting himself in Peacemaker season 2
Peacemaker season 2 delivered the best joke of 2025 — and solidified Vigilante as DC’s answer to Deadpool
 
 
Macaulay Culkin in Fallout season 2
Fallout season 2 episode 2 explained: What is Caesar's Legion?
 
 
Pluribus
Pluribus season 2 release date speculation, story, and everything else we know so far
 
 
Atsu holds a sword, lit by flame, in Ghost of Yotei, with a badge saying 'GamesRadar+ Best of 2025'
2025 is the year PS5 came into its own with fantastic exclusives, but is it too little too late?
 
 
Peak screenshot showing small characters on a cliff edge with a tornado in the background
Peak put friendslop on the map in 2025, but neither of its 2 studios expected it to blow up
 
 
Jujutsu Kaisen season 3
New anime in 2026: the biggest upcoming and ongoing shows, including release dates
 
 
  1. Scythe box on a wooden surface, slightly off to one side
    1
    This alt-history board game is still a gold standard for modern strategy
  2. 2
    Skate Story review: "A beautiful and unique skateboarding game with great, stylized visuals set in a grungy underworld"
  3. 3
    Octopath Traveler 0 review: "The strongest entry in this retro-styled JRPG series yet, I love the greater focus on tactical battles"
  4. 4
    Sleep Awake review: "An all-timer horror premise is let down by tired stealth that I feel like I'm sleepwalking through"
  5. 5
    Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review: "The series' atmosphere has never been better, while being dragged down by a boring overworld and clunky psychic powers"
  1. Oona Chaplin as Varang in Avatar: Fire and Ash
    1
    Avatar: Fire and Ash review: "Still a technical marvel, with some of the year's best action filmmaking"
  2. 2
    Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review: "We have waited two years for a Five Nights at Freddy's 1.5"
  3. 3
    Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review: "Brings Knives Out back to its roots for a sequel that's almost on a par with the original"
  4. 4
    Wicked: For Good review: "Builds to an incredibly cathartic conclusion, but isn't quite as captivating as Part 1"
  5. 5
    The Running Man review: "Some fun action and Glen Powell's star power aren't enough to energize this disappointing Stephen King adaptation"
  1. Power Armor in Fallout season 2
    1
    Fallout season 2 review: "A hell of a lot of fun despite being overcrowded and convoluted"
  2. 2
    Stranger Things season 5 volume 1 review: “Can the Duffer brothers stick the landing? It’s sure looking like they will”
  3. 3
    Pluribus season 1 review: "Easily one of the year's best dramas"
  4. 4
    The Witcher season 4 review: "The Henry Cavill-less fourth season is the best yet"
  5. 5
    IT: Welcome to Derry review: "A supremely confident step back into the history of Stephen King's cursed town and killer clown"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...