Football is the world's game, and with that comes 100 years of history, controversy and unforgettable moments. How well do you really know it?
World Cups, Ballon d'Or winners, all-time records and the rules of the game. 10 questions to find out if you truly know football.
Pick your level
Football is the world's game. No other sport comes close in terms of reach, passion or history. From the first World Cup in 1930 to the modern era of Messi and Mbappé, the sport has produced moments that have stopped entire nations in their tracks. This quiz covers the milestones, the records and the players who defined the game.
The normal quiz covers World Cup winners, Ballon d'Or records, iconic clubs and the rules every fan should know. Hard mode is a history test: the 1966 final, the first European Cups, the great nights and the great upsets that people still argue about in pubs. If you know the game beyond last season, five out of ten there is a very good score.
Records in football change every season, and a quiz that says "the most" or "the latest" can be wrong by the next summer. Both modes stick to settled history wherever they can, and when a number could still move, the question says which period it covers.
The first World Cup was played in Uruguay in 1930, and the first European Cup kicked off in 1955. Hard mode spends most of its time between those early tournaments and the turn of the century, with a few British nights along the way, because that is where the stories that still get retold were written.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: 90 minutes
Two halves of 45 minutes make 90, and the referee adds on any time lost.
Correct answer: The goalkeeper
The goalkeeper, and only inside their own penalty area.
Correct answer: Les Bleus
Les Bleus, after the colour of their shirts.
Correct answer: Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane, with two headers against Brazil. Emmanuel Petit added the third goal late on.
Correct answer: Red
Red. Two yellow cards in the same match have the same effect.
Correct answer: Argentina
Argentina. He was born in Rosario and joined Barcelona as a teenager.
Correct answer: Portugal
Portugal. He was born in Funchal, on Madeira, and started out at Sporting CP.
Correct answer: Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé, though France still lost to Argentina on penalties.
Correct answer: Spain
Spain, 1-0 after extra time against Argentina. It is their second title after 2010.
Correct answer: Every 4 years
Every four years since 1930, apart from 1942 and 1946, when the war stopped it.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: 11
A football team has 11 players on the pitch, including the goalkeeper. This means a total of 22 players start each match at kick-off.
Correct answer: Brazil
Brazil, champions in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. They are also the only nation to have played at every World Cup finals since 1930. Italy and Germany each won their fourth title in 2006 and 2014.
Correct answer: 1998
France won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final at the Stade de France. Zinédine Zidane scored twice with headers.
Correct answer: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, with eight: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Cristiano Ronaldo, his great rival through the 2010s, won five.
Correct answer: Real Madrid
Real Madrid, who won the first five editions of the European Cup from 1956 to 1960 and have more than twice as many titles as the next club on the list, seven-time winners AC Milan.
Correct answer: Madrid
The Santiago Bernabéu is Real Madrid's home ground, located in Madrid. It holds more than 80,000 fans and was renovated between 2019 and 2023 with a retractable roof.
Correct answer: Ronaldo Nazário
Ronaldo Nazário, also known as R9, carries the nickname "O Fenômeno". A two-time Ballon d'Or winner and two-time World Cup champion, he is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time.
Correct answer: France
France won the 2018 World Cup by beating Croatia 4-2 in the final in Moscow. Kylian Mbappé, aged 19, scored and became only the second player after Pelé to net in a World Cup final at that age.
Correct answer: Offside
Offside, one of football's most debated rules. A player is offside if, when a teammate plays the ball, any part of the body they can score with is nearer the goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent, who is usually the last outfield defender because the goalkeeper counts too.
Correct answer: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi finally won the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar, the only major trophy missing from his cabinet. Argentina beat France on penalties after a dramatic final that ended 3-3 after extra time.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Geoff Hurst
Geoff Hurst, in England's 4-2 win over West Germany at Wembley. His second goal bounced down off the crossbar and is still argued about, and his third came as fans spilled onto the pitch, prompting the famous "They think it's all over" commentary.
Correct answer: Real Madrid
Real Madrid, who beat Stade de Reims 4-3 in Paris and went on to win the first five editions. Reims's star Raymond Kopa signed for Real shortly afterwards.
Correct answer: Quarter-final
The quarter-final in Mexico City. Four minutes after the handball, Maradona dribbled past half the England team for a goal later voted the goal of the century. Argentina went on to win the tournament.
Correct answer: Celtic
Celtic, in 1967, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon. Every player in that side, the Lisbon Lions, was born within about 30 miles of Celtic Park. Manchester United followed a year later.
Correct answer: Greece
Greece, coached by Otto Rehhagel, who beat hosts Portugal in both the opening game and the final. Denmark had pulled off a similar shock at Euro 1992 after being called up at the last minute.
Correct answer: Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia. Antonín Panenka chipped the decisive penalty down the middle to beat West Germany in the Euro 1976 final shoot-out, and every chipped spot kick since carries his name.
Correct answer: 2018
2018 in Russia. Its first World Cup intervention awarded France a penalty against Australia, converted by Antoine Griezmann. Goal-line technology had arrived four years earlier in Brazil.
Correct answer: Jerzy Dudek
Jerzy Dudek, wobbling on his line in homage to Bruce Grobbelaar, after Liverpool came back from 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan. He saved from Pirlo and Shevchenko. Dida was in goal for Milan.
Correct answer: Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin of Dynamo Moscow and the Soviet Union, in 1963. The "Black Spider" always played in black, and the prize for the best goalkeeper now handed out at the Ballon d'Or ceremony carries his name.
Correct answer: Ajax
Ajax, the home of Total Football under Rinus Michels and then Stefan Kovács. Feyenoord had actually been the first Dutch winners in 1970, a year before Ajax started their run.