The Beautiful Quiz: A World Cup Game
Written by Kevin McCaffrey
Last updated · 3 min play time
Every four years, the best soccer players on Earth come together to find what team is the best in the world. Here's 12 questions about the world's biggest sporting event.
12 questions about the players, teams, and history that makes the World Cup the biggest sporting event on Earth.
Quiz written by
Kevin McCaffreyKevin McCaffrey is a comedian and radio/podcast host with an excellent outside shot and a mild hangover. His album “Nice & Drunk” debuted at #1, and you can hear him talk baseball on the “Away Games Podcast,” about Sex and the City on “Sex and the Cidiots,” and about everything else on “Celebrate!” on Sirius XM Channel 99.
The World Cup Quiz Questions
12 Questions · 1.2K Plays · No comments
Question 1
Teams in the World Cup represent what?
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ACities
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BCountries
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CLeagues
Countries
The top tournament among club teams is UEFA Champions League. But the World Cup is a competition among the best national teams in, you know, the world.
Question 2
Which of these World Cup records did Pele NOT set?
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AYoungest Hat Trick
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BYoungest Cup Winner
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CYoungest Red Card
Youngest Red Card
Just keep the good ones here, and get rid of the bad. It’s Pele we’re talking about. He had the youngest World Cup hat trick, at 17. He was the youngest Cup winner, and youngest two-time winner, but he did NOT get a red card.
Question 3
What nickname was given to the first goal Diego Maradona scored in the 1986 semi-final vs. England?
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AThe Un-goal
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BHand of God
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CThe Great Goal
Hand of God
Sure, punching a ball into the net is illegal. But “illegal” is kind of what Maradona does! Without VAR, the refs missed it, and Maradona explained it was scored “with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”
Question 4
What is the only women’s soccer team to finish top-3 at every World Cup?
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AUSA
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BGermany
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CBrazil
USA
When you think “soccer,” you think “USA". Probably because we’re one of the only places that calls it that, yes, but also because American women have been dominant: only the US has finished top-3 every time since ‘91.
Question 5
How many teams are included in each group during the first round of World Cup play?
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A12
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B6
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C4
4
In both men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments, the group stage involves 4 teams, each playing each other once, before the top two teams advance.
Question 6
Which of these players scored the most career World Cup goals?
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ALionel Messi
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BRonaldo
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CCristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo, but WHICH Ronaldo? It’s the one who went by a single name, whose 15 World Cup goals put him second all-time, behind Germany’s Miroslav Klose.
Question 7
At the World Cup, the Golden Ball is given to what player?
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ATop goalkeeper
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BTop player
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CTop scorer
Top player
The boot goes to the scorer, the gloves go to the goalkeeper. The ball goes to the player voted best overall by the media. Messi won in ‘14, and Luka Modric in ‘18, even though they both lost in the finals.
Question 8
Which of these is NOT represented on England’s team crest?
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ARoses
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BCrowns
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CLions
Crowns
England’s national soccer team is nicknamed the Three Lions, for the Lions on their badge. Those lions are surrounded by 10 roses. The lions had crowns way back in the day, but they removed them in 1949.
Question 9
Who scored the winning goal for the US women's team to give them their first World Cup?
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AMichelle Akers
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BAbby Wambach
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CBrandi Chastain
Michelle Akers
You remember Chastain’s penalty kick, and her celebration. That was to beat China in ‘99. The US women first won in 1991, when Akers scored both goals to beat Norway.
Question 10
What nation has been selected to host the World Cup more than any other?
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AMexico
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BBrazil
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CFrance
Mexico
No country has played World Cup host more than twice, but that will change in 2026 When Mexico hosts Cup games for the third time. Mexico, Canada, and the US will make a three-headed host.
Question 11
What player scored the most goals in one World Cup?
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APelé
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BJust Fontaine
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CRoberto Baggio
Just Fontaine
His performance was just...Fontaine. France’s Just Fontaine dominated the 1958 Cup with 13 goals, and somehow, his team only finished third.
Question 12
What nation has appeared in the World Cup the greatest number of times without being eliminated in group play?
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APortugal
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BIreland
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CArgentina
Ireland
Of teams with 100% records advancing to the knockout round, it’s Ireland with the most appearances. The Irish have made the World Cup three times, and always have made it past the group stage.
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