World Cup
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87 free World Cup trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet, and this quiz covers all of it: the first tournament in 1930, the stolen trophies, the 1950 Maracanazo, the 1966 final at Wembley, Just Fontaine's record haul, and the expanded 2026 tournament across three North American countries whose winner conceded a single goal all summer. There is a full set of questions on FIFA the organisation too: where it was founded, who runs it, how many members it has, and which body actually writes the Laws of the Game. Easy questions ask which nation has won the most titles and which country hosted in 2022; the hard end gets into trophy designers, first presidents, the only coach to win it twice and which team Messi scored against to break Miroslav Klose's record. It works for a pub quiz, a watch party or a fan who wants to see how much of the 2026 tournament they can remember. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on the World Cup, the 2026 tournament and FIFA, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 87 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which country hosted the inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament?
Uruguay
Uruguay hosted and won the first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1930, celebrating the centenary of its first constitution.
Q 02Which nation has won the most FIFA World Cup titles?
Brazil
Brazil's five titles (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) lead the table, ahead of Germany and Italy with four each.
Q 03Which nation won the 2018 World Cup in Russia?
France
France won the 2018 World Cup, beating Croatia 4-2 in the final at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on 15 July 2018, their second title after 1998.
Q 04Which country has reached three World Cup finals, more than any other nation never to have won it, and lost all three?
Netherlands
The Netherlands lost to West Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 2010, the last of them in extra time in Johannesburg.
Q 05Who found the stolen World Cup trophy under a hedge a week after its 1966 theft in London?
A collie dog named Pickles
The trophy was found by a collie dog named Pickles, wrapped in newspaper under a hedge in Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, on 27 March 1966, a week after its theft from Westminster Central Hall.
Q 06Which player scored a hat-trick in the 1966 final at Wembley as England beat West Germany 4-2?
Geoff Hurst
Geoff Hurst's controversial 101st-minute goal put England 3-2 up, and he completed his hat-trick in the last minute of extra time for a 4-2 win.
Q 07Which nation stunned England 1-0 at Belo Horizonte in the 1950 World Cup?
United States
The United States beat England 1-0 in Belo Horizonte on 29 June 1950, Joe Gaetjens heading the only goal in one of the World Cup's greatest upsets.
Q 08What caused the cancellation of the scheduled 1942 and 1946 World Cups?
The Second World War
The Second World War forced FIFA to abandon the 1942 and 1946 tournaments; Germany and Brazil had both bid to host 1942 before war broke out in 1939.
Q 09The competition was renamed in 1946 for which FIFA president, who set up the first tournament?
Jules Rimet
Jules Rimet, FIFA president from 1921 to 1954, drove the creation of the 1930 tournament; the trophy was renamed the Jules Rimet Cup in 1946 for his 25 years in office.
Q 10How many teams took part in the 2026 World Cup, the first expansion of the finals since 1998?
48
The 48 teams were split into 12 groups of four, and a brand-new round of 32 was added to the knockout stage.
Q 11Which stadium hosted the 2026 World Cup final on July 19?
MetLife in East Rutherford
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home of the NFL's Giants and Jets, staged the final on 19 July 2026; the United States hosted 78 matches, including every quarterfinal and both semifinals.
Q 12Which is the only stadium to have staged matches at three different World Cups (1970, 1986 and 2026)?
Estadio Azteca
Mexico became the first country to host the tournament three times, and the Azteca opened the 2026 edition with Mexico's first group match on June 11.
Q 13Zayu, one of the three official mascots of the 2026 World Cup, is what kind of animal?
A jaguar
Q 21How many national associations belong to FIFA, more than the United Nations has member states?
211
FIFA has had 211 member associations since Gibraltar and Kosovo joined in 2016, against 193 UN member states, because non-sovereign entities such as England, Scotland, Hong Kong and Macau belong in their own right.
Q 22Which Italian designer created the World Cup Trophy introduced in 1974, one of 53 entries?
Silvio Gazzaniga
Silvio Gazzaniga of Milan won a contest of 53 entries; he described his trophy as two athletes rising in spirals to receive the world, and it stands 36.8 cm tall.
Q 23In which year was the original World Cup trophy, retired after 1970, stolen for good and never recovered?
1983
Zayu is a jaguar representing Mexico, alongside Maple the moose for Canada and Clutch the bald eagle for the United States; the trio was unveiled in September 2025.
Q 14What was the name of the Adidas match ball used at the 2026 World Cup?
Trionda
Trionda combines the Spanish words for three and wave; the ball carries a maple leaf, an eagle and a star for Canada, Mexico and the United States, the three host nations.
Q 15The United 2026 bid beat which rival country's bid at the 2018 FIFA Congress?
Morocco
Morocco lost the vote 134 to 65 but was later chosen as a co-host of the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
Q 16Which country co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea?
Japan
Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea, the first tournament held in Asia and the first shared by two nations; the final was played in Yokohama.
Q 17In which city was FIFA founded on 21 May 1904?
Paris
FIFA was founded in Paris on 21 May 1904 at the headquarters of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, which is why its French name and acronym survive.
Q 18In which Swiss city is FIFA headquartered?
Zurich
FIFA has been based in Zurich since 1932 and opened its Home of FIFA headquarters on the Zürichberg in 2007; the IOC and UEFA sit in Lausanne and Nyon.
Q 19Who was the first president of FIFA?
Robert Guérin
Robert Guérin, a French journalist, was FIFA's first president from 1904 until 1906, when he was replaced by England's Daniel Burley Woolfall.
Q 20Who was elected FIFA president in February 2016 after Sepp Blatter's suspension?
Gianni Infantino
Infantino was UEFA's general secretary at the time and pushed the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams.
The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from the Brazilian confederation's Rio de Janeiro headquarters in December 1983; Brazil had kept it permanently after its third title in 1970, and thieves are believed to have melted it down.
Q 24The FIFA World Cup Trophy is made of solid gold of what purity?
18 carat
The trophy is 18 carat gold with a malachite base and weighs 6.175 kg; winners hold the original only at the ceremony and keep a gold-plated bronze replica.
Q 25Which French forward scored the first goal in World Cup history, on 13 July 1930?
Lucien Laurent
Lucien Laurent volleyed France's opener against Mexico after 19 minutes in Montevideo, the first goal in World Cup history; France won 4-1.
Q 26Just Fontaine's record of 13 goals at a single World Cup was set at which tournament?
1958
Just Fontaine scored 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, including four against West Germany in the third-place match; he never played at another World Cup.
Q 27Who is the only head coach to have won two World Cups?
Vittorio Pozzo
Vittorio Pozzo led Italy to back-to-back titles in 1934 and 1938; Scolari, Schön and Parreira each won once.
Q 28Along with Beckenbauer and Deschamps, which Brazilian won the World Cup as both a player and a head coach?
Mário Zagallo
Zagallo won as a player in 1958 and 1962 and then coached the celebrated 1970 team, later serving as assistant when Brazil won again in 1994.
Q 29From 1994 to 2006 the World Cup's best-goalkeeper prize was named after which keeper?
Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin, nicknamed the Black Spider, won the Ballon d'Or in 1963; the prize bearing his name was renamed the Golden Glove for the 2010 tournament.
Q 30In which year was the World Cup first shown on television?
1954
The 1954 tournament was the first shown on television, with some matches broadcast live across Europe through the newly launched Eurovision network.