Football Trivia: Facts to Win the Sports Round

Football is the most-watched sport on earth, which means the football round of a quiz is usually the one people are loudest about and least prepared for. Here is what actually tends to be asked.

The World Cup

• The first tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930 — and the hosts won it.
• Brazil is the only nation to have played in every World Cup finals tournament.
• It is held every four years, and is watched by a larger audience than almost any other event on the planet.
• South American football has been dominated historically by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

Rules people get wrong

Eleven players a side, including the goalkeeper. Ninety minutes, split into two halves of forty-five, plus whatever the referee adds on. A hat-trick is three goals by one player in a single match — not, as is often assumed, three in a row necessarily.

The offside rule is the one that ruins friendships, and no quiz has ever settled an argument about it.

Players and clubs

• Pelé and Diego Maradona are the two names that anchor almost every "greatest ever" debate.
• The Ballon d’Or is awarded annually to the best player in the world.
• Real Madrid and Barcelona are among the most decorated clubs in European football.

Learn the 1930 date and the Brazil fact and you will already be ahead of most of the room.