2018 FIFA World Cup
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50 free 2018 FIFA World Cup trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the first to be played in Russia, and it rarely went to script. Big names fell early, favourites went home on penalties, and a host team that began among the lowest-ranked sides in the field reached the last eight. This quiz covers the whole month: qualifying and the teams that missed out, the group stage, every knockout round, and the final between France and Croatia. It also asks about the players who took the individual awards, the stadiums and host cities, the ceremonies, the rule changes, and the strange moments that fans still bring up. It is written for anyone who watched in 2018 and wants to see what stuck, for quiz hosts putting together a football round, and for newer fans catching up on a tournament they missed. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so a wrong guess still teaches you something.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which defending champions went out in the opening round of the 2018 World Cup, their earliest exit since 1938?
Germany
Germany finished bottom of its group after losing two of its three matches. It was the third World Cup in a row in which the holders fell at the first hurdle.
Q 02What kind of animal was Zabivaka, the goggle-wearing official mascot of the 2018 World Cup?
A wolf
A wolf won the public vote with 53%, beating a tiger and a cat. The designer said the orange goggles were sports glasses, because Zabivaka runs so fast that he needs eye protection.
Q 03Which protest group claimed the pitch invasion by four people dressed as police during the 2018 World Cup final?
Pussy Riot
Pussy Riot said the stunt, early in the second half, was a protest against wrongful arrests. All four intruders were sentenced to 15 days in jail.
Q 04Which item of clothing worn by England manager Gareth Southgate saw sales jump during the 2018 World Cup?
A waistcoat
A waistcoat was Southgate's touchline trademark, and Marks & Spencer reported a 35% rise in sales. Fans wore them for the semi-final on what was dubbed Waistcoat Wednesday.
Q 05Which 19-year-old became only the second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup final in 2018?
Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé struck low from 25 yards midway through the second half. He was named the tournament's best young player, and Pelé congratulated him on social media.
Q 06Where had the official match ball been before it was carried into the 2018 World Cup opening ceremony?
On a space station
It had been on a space station, sent up to the International Space Station crew in March 2018 and brought back to Earth in early June. The ball was a Telstar 18, named after the 1970 World Cup ball.
Q 07Which Hollywood actor performed Live It Up, the official song of the 2018 World Cup, before the final?
Will Smith
Will Smith performed it with Nicky Jam and Era Istrefi at the closing ceremony in Moscow. The track was produced by Diplo.
Q 08Which team reached the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup ahead of Senegal only because of fewer yellow cards?
Japan
Japan and Senegal finished their group with identical records, so the fair play rule broke a World Cup tie for the first time. Senegal had collected two more bookings.
Q 09The 2018 World Cup produced twelve of what, doubling the previous tournament record of six set in 1998?
Own goals
Own goals had never been so frequent at one tournament. One of the twelve came in the final in Moscow, the first ever scored in a World Cup final.
Q 10Which British singer gave the middle finger on camera while performing at the 2018 World Cup opening ceremony?
Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams made the gesture during his encore, and the American broadcaster Fox apologised for showing it live. He later said he regretted it.
Q 11By what score did France beat Croatia in the 2018 World Cup final, the first since 2002 settled without extra time?
4–2
France won 4–2 in Moscow, the highest-scoring final since 1966. Croatia had been taken to extra time in all three of its earlier knockout matches.
Q 12Which striker won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup with six goals, all scored before the quarter-finals?
Harry Kane
Harry Kane was the first England player to take the award since 1986. He scored twice against Tunisia in his first match, the winner arriving in stoppage time.
Q 13Which midfielder won the Golden Ball as best player of the 2018 World Cup despite losing the final?
Luka Modrić
Q 21England won a World Cup penalty shoot-out for the first time in 2018, beating which team in the last 16?
Colombia
Colombia had forced extra time with a stoppage-time header from Yerry Mina. England had lost all three of its previous World Cup shoot-outs.
Q 22Which country sacked its coach a day before the 2018 World Cup began because he had agreed to join Real Madrid?
Spain
Spain dismissed Julen Lopetegui on 13 June and put Fernando Hierro in charge. The move to Real Madrid had been announced only the day before, with the squad already in Russia.
Q 23Which team scored twice in stoppage time to beat the defending champions 2–0 at the 2018 World Cup?
South Korea
South Korea rolled its second goal into an empty net, after the opposing goalkeeper had gone upfield to join the attack and lost the ball.
Luka Modrić captained Croatia to its first World Cup final, in only its fifth appearance at the tournament. He said that, despite the defeat, the team had achieved something big.
Q 14Which World Cup debutant drew 1–1 with Argentina in 2018 after its goalkeeper saved a Lionel Messi penalty?
Iceland
Iceland was then the smallest nation by population to have reached a World Cup. Goalkeeper Hannes Halldórsson dived to his right to keep out Messi's kick.
Q 15Which country missed the 2018 World Cup after losing a play-off to Sweden, its first absence since 1958?
Italy
Italy lost the two-legged tie 1–0 on aggregate. It left the four-time champions out of the tournament for the first time in 60 years.
Q 16Which officiating aid, run from a single hub in Moscow, made its World Cup debut at the 2018 tournament?
Video assistant referees
Video assistant referees sat in one control room in Moscow, in radio contact with the referee on the pitch. A record number of penalties were awarded at the tournament.
Q 17Which player, at 33, became the oldest man to score a World Cup hat-trick, in a 3–3 draw in 2018?
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo completed it with a late free kick into the top corner. The previous oldest scorer of a World Cup hat-trick was Rob Rensenbrink of the Netherlands, aged 30 in 1978.
Q 18Which coach in 2018 became the third man to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager?
Didier Deschamps
Didier Deschamps had captained France to the title in 1998. Only Brazil's Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer had done the double before him.
Q 19Which venue, the largest at the 2018 World Cup, hosted both the opening match and the final?
Luzhniki Stadium
Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow staged seven matches in all. For the tournament its running track was removed and its artificial pitch was replaced with natural grass.
Q 20Which country, chosen at the same 2010 vote that gave Russia the 2018 World Cup, hosted the next tournament?
Qatar
Qatar staged its World Cup in November and December 2022 to avoid the summer heat. It was the first played outside the traditional months of May, June and July.
Q 24Which team beat England twice at the 2018 World Cup, in the group stage and again in the third-place match?
Belgium
Belgium won 1–0 in the group and 2–0 in Saint Petersburg to finish third, at the time the country's best result at a World Cup.
Q 25Which FIFA president announced in December 2010 that Russia would host the 2018 World Cup?
Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter read out the result in Zürich after two rounds of voting. England, bidding for a second home tournament, had gone out in the first round.
Q 26Which England football anthem returned to number one in the UK during the team's 2018 World Cup run?
Three Lions
Three Lions was written for Euro 96, which England hosted, with music by Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds and words by the comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner.
Q 27In which host city did Russia's 2018 World Cup run end with a quarter-final shoot-out defeat to Croatia?
Sochi
Sochi's Fisht Olympic Stadium had staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was then refitted for football in time for the World Cup.
Q 28The Fan ID issued to ticket-holders at the 2018 World Cup let foreign supporters enter Russia without what?
An entry visa
An entry visa was waived for anyone holding the photo pass. It also gave free rides on public transport and on trains between the host cities.
Q 29Which France forward was named man of the match in the 2018 World Cup final after scoring a penalty?
Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann ended the tournament with four goals and two assists. That earned him the Silver Boot, and he also took the Bronze Ball as its third-best player.
Q 30Which goalkeeper, who denied Neymar with a late fingertip save, won the Golden Glove at the 2018 World Cup?
Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois was a Chelsea player at the time, and his save preserved a 2–1 quarter-final win over Brazil. A few weeks later he joined Real Madrid on a six-year contract.