Super-hero v the soccer heroes

The intricate webs woven by the English and Irish soccer teams are likely to see off super-hero Spider-Man this weekend.

Fears are emerging that the launch of the muchhyped film could be disappointing because fans would rather stay at home for the games on Saturday and Sunday.

It is estimated that Spider-Man's opening weekend box office take may be down by a third from the £10 million it had been expected to earn.

Dominic Crosthwaite of Cantor Movies, a City bookmaking firm, said: "The record of 24 million viewers for Argentina v England during France '98 could be broken and that on its own would put a dent in Spider-Man's box office takings, let alone if they win and everyone spends the weekend celebrating."

Cantor is now taking bets on Spider-Man initially grossing between £6.8million and £7.1million, whereas it was reckoning between £9.6 million and £9.9 million.