Fantastic FIFA (World Cup) Factoids 1930-2026 Quiz

Answer: Uruguay

Stars have been used officially by international teams since 1970, when Brazil added three stars above their badge, following their third World Cup victory in that year's competition. Following their third World Cup victory in 1982, Italy added three stars to their badge, while Germany did likewise in 1996, to commemorate their three victories (1954, 1974 and 1990). Since then, each winner of the World Cup has added a star to their badge, with France being the first new winner to add a star, and England being the last to add one to commemorate a previous victory. The addition of a star for World Cup winners is now specified as part of FIFA's regulations for playing equipment.

In 1992, Uruguay added stars to their badge. However, rather than adding two stars, to represent their two victories at the World Cup, they instead added four stars, with the additional two representing their wins in the Olympic football tournaments of 1924 and 1928. Unlike Olympic tournaments prior to and subsequently to these two instances, the 1924 and 1928 competitions were open to all players, including professionals. In addition, they were organised directly by FIFA; because of this, and the open nature of the competitions, each of these is recognised by FIFA as being a genuine world championship for football, with status equivalent to the World Cup. As a result, Uruguay's association has successfully argued their entitlement to wear four stars, as they have won four recognised world titles.

Answer: Germany

For the first seventy years of the World Cup's history, hosting duties alternated between Europe and the Americas, with nine held in Europe and seven in the Americas. During that period, four European teams reached the final in the Americas (Italy twice in 1970 and 1994; Czechoslovakia in 1962, Netherlands in 1978 and West Germany in 1986), each of whom were unsuccessful in their effort to win the competition. In the same period, just two teams from the Americas reached a final on European soil (Brazil twice, in 1958 and 1998, and Argentina in 1990), with Brazil winning the 1958 tournament in Sweden. It was only in 2014, when the tournament was held in Brazil for the second time, that a European side finally achieved victory in the Americas, when Germany beat Argentina to win their fourth title. Spain matched the achievement in 2026 by winning what was their second World Cup, which was played across North America.

Although Europe and the Americas have hosted the majority of World Cup tournaments, in the 21st century the other continental federations have been given the opportunity to host, with the first being in 2002, when the tournament, which was held in Japan and South Korea, was won by Brazil. Since then, it has been held in South Africa (2010, won by Spain) and Qatar (2022, won by Argentina), meaning that a European side had not won a World Cup hosted in Asia.

Answer: Germany

Of the continental championships, the Copa America is the one that has the longest history, with a lineage that can be traced back as far as 1916, while the UEFA European Championships only began in 1960. However, although the UEFA competition began much later than its CONMEBOL equivalent, it was 1974 that saw the first instance of a national team doing the double of continental and world title, when West Germany, which had won the European Championships in 1972, won their second World Cup when they beat the Netherlands in the 1974 final. Since then, Spain (twice) and France also achieved the double.

Despite its considerably longer history, starting as the South American Football Championship, it was only in 1997 that Brazil, who had won the World Cup three years earlier, became the first South American side to hold the Copa America at the same time when they defeated Bolivia in the final. Since then, Brazil have achieved the feat again, winning the World Cup in 2002, and Copa America in 2004 and 2007, while Argentina also did the double of World Cup in 2022, and Copa America in 2021 and 2024.

Answer: Stade Yves du Manoir (Paris)

The Stade Yves du Manoir was originally opened in 1907, and served primarily as the home of football club Racing Club de France and rugby union side Racing 92. However, following the selection in 1921 of Paris to host the 1924 Summer Olympics, the stadium underwent a major renovation to allow it to serve as the primary venue for a number of events during the three weeks of competition, including the final of the football competition between Uruguay and Switzerland. Fourteen years after the 1924 Olympics, France hosted the third FIFA World Cup, with the Stade Yves du Manoir being one of two venues in Paris to be used during the tournament. The stadium ultimately hosted three games, including the final, which saw Italy become the first team to retain the World Cup, which they did by beating Hungary 4-2.

Since 1938, a total of six venues have pulled double duty by hosting the World Cup final and serving as the main stadium for a Summer Olympics - Wembley Stadium in London (1948 Olympics, 1966 World Cup); the Olympiastadion in Munich (1972 Olympics, 1974 World Cup); the Stadio Olimpico in Rome (1960 Olympics, 1990 World Cup); the Stade de France in Paris (1998 World Cup, 2024 Olympics); the Olympiastadion in Berlin (1936 Olympics, 2006 World Cup); and the Luznikhi Stadium in Moscow (1980 Olympics, 2018 World Cup).

Answer: London

White City Stadium was London's first Olympic Stadium, built in just ten months to host the 1908 Summer Olympics, in which it served not just as the venue for the track and field competitions, but the vast majority of events to be held across the six months that the games went on. Following the end of the Olympics, the stadium went on to be used for a variety of different sports, including stock car racing, speedway, greyhound racing, track and field, and football - Queen's Park Rangers occupied the stadium for two different spells in its history.

When England was selected as the host of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the showpiece venue for the tournament was Wembley Stadium. The stadium was scheduled to host all of the games in Group 1, which was the group containing the hosts, plus a quarter-final, a semi-final, the third-place play-off and the final. But, one of the games in Group 1 was scheduled for Friday 15 July 1966; at the time, Wembley hosted a regular Friday night greyhound racing meeting, which the stadium's owners were reluctant to cancel. Unlike modern tournaments, where the venues are turned over to FIFA's use for the duration, in 1966 the owners retained control, which made Wembley unavailable for the game between Uruguay and France. Rather than move the game to one of the numerous large club grounds in London, the tournament organisers elected to use the 60,000 capacity White City Stadium for the game, which attracted a crowd of more than 45,000.

Answer: Sweden

During the 1950s, Swedish football achieved a significant degree of success when considered against the country's relative standing, having finished third in the 1950 World Cup and the 1952 Summer Olympics. In 1953, the Swedish Football Association placed a ban on overseas based professionals playing for the national team, which led to them not qualifying for the 1954 World Cup. This ban was subsequently lifted in time for Sweden's hosting of the tournament in 1958. The team won their opening group, before beating the USSR and West Germany to become the third host nation to reach a World Cup final (after Uruguay 1930 and Italy 1934). However, despite taking a fourth minute lead, the Swedes were unable to get past a Brazilian side inspired by the 17-year old Pele, and ultimately lost the game 5-2.

Although Sweden were the first host nation to lose a World Cup final, they were not the first to lose the World Cup on home soil. Eight years previously, Brazil had been favourites to win the 1950 tournament - this was the first and only World Cup not to feature a final, with instead the winners of each of the opening groups qualifying for a second, final group stage, where the team that finished top would win the tournament. As luck would have it, the last scheduled group game was between Brazil and Uruguay, who were the top two in the group, which led to the fixture assuming a role as the de facto 1950 World Cup final. Despite Brazil only needing a draw to finish top of the final group, Uruguay achieved a famous victory to pip the hosts to the title, leading to the game being referred to as the "Maracanaço" (roughly "Maracana smash") in Brazil.

Answer: Colombia

In June 1974, at the then biannual FIFA Congress meeting, Colombia was chosen as the hosts of the 1986 World Cup. At the time, the tournament was intended to follow the then standard pattern, consisting of a total of 16 teams; five cities were then earmarked for the tournament - Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Pereira and Bucaramanga, with Barranquilla also named as a potential venue. However, four years after the tournament was awarded to Colombia, and just prior to the start of the 1978 World Cup, FIFA announced that, from 1982, the size of the tournament would be increased to 24 teams, and that the requirements expected of the hosts would be altered.

Upon the announcement of the new requirements, President Julio Ayala, newly elected in 1978, displayed a reluctance to continue support for Colombia's hosting in 1986, although he grudgingly gave support by 1980. At the end of the 1982 World Cup final in Spain in July, a message was prominently displayed saying "Nos vemos en el Mundial Colombia 86" ("See you at the World Cup Colombia 86"). But, just three months later, with little work having been undertaken to prepare for the tournament, and a realisation that the country could not afford FIFA's enhanced requirements, President Belisario Betancur, who was elected in August 1982, announced Colombia's withdrawal from hosting duties. This left FIFA having to find a new host just three and a half years before the start of the tournament. From four candidates in the Americas (Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the USA), FIFA ultimately chose Mexico which, following its hosting of the 1970 tournament, became the first country to host the World Cup twice.

Answer: Czechoslovakia

The national team of the newly independent state of Czechoslovakia played its first game in June 1919, when, as part of the Inter-Allied Games, a multi-sport event organised to celebrate the end of the First World War, they played in a group against Belgium, the USA and Canada, ultimately beating all three to reach the final against France, who they also beat in a dramatic fixture 3-2. Czechoslovakia joined FIFA in 1923, and took part in the World Cup for the first time in the 1934 tournament, which they qualified for by winning a two-team qualifying group against Poland. During the tournament, the team played exclusively against European opposition, defeating Romania, Switzerland and Germany en route to their first World Cup final. Despite taking the lead against the hosts Italy with just 19 minutes left to play, Czechoslovakia ultimately lost the game 2-1 after extra time. The team subsequently qualified for all but one of the next five tournaments, reaching the final once again in 1962. Again taking the lead, they were once again pegged back, this time by a Brazilian side inspired by Garrincha, who ultimately won their second successive tournament. The Czechoslovak team played in the World Cup for the last time in 1990, and was dissolved following the break-up of the country in 1993.

Of the other sides that are no longer in existence, East Germany only qualified for the World Cup once. However, this was the 1974 tournament held in West Germany, the draw for which saw the two Germanies play each other in what proved to be their only senior international meeting, with the East Germans famously winning 1-0. The USSR qualified for the first time in 1958 and played in a total of seven tournaments, with their best result being a fourth-place finish in 1966, and their last appearance coming in 1990. Yugoslavia played in the very first World Cup in 1930 and had two forth-place finishes, in 1930 and 1962. Yugoslavia's last appearance in its first incarnation as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia came in 1990. However, a second incarnation, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, subsequently continued and qualified in 1998. This team was renamed as Serbia and Montenegro, with its final World Cup appearance coming in 2006. After this World Cup, the country was dissolved and split into two teams: Montenegro and Serbia.

Answer: Argentina

As with any football tournament, the World Cup is not immune to the odd player being dismissed. The very first sending off came in the 1930 tournament, when Peru's captain, Placido Galindo, was dismissed during his team's group game against Romania. Actual red cards to indicate a player had been sent off were introduced for the first time in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, although no players were sent off during that tournament, meaning the first player to be shown an actual red card was Carlos Caszely for Chile against West Germany in 1974. From 1930 to 2026, a total of 192 players representing 65 different national teams had been sent off at the World Cup.

Despite the large number of dismissals overall, only six players have received red cards in the World Cup final. The first two of these came in the 1990 final, when Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti, both of Argentina, were sent off in the 1990 World Cup final against West Germany, leaving their team to finish the match with nine men. A third Argentine player, Enzo Fernandez, was sent off in the 2026 World Cup final against Spain. Of the remaining three, Marcel Desailly (1998 v Brazil) and Zinedine Zidane (2006 v Italy) were representing France, while the last was John Heitinga of the Netherlands, who was dismissed in the 2010 final against Spain.

Answer: France

The genesis of the FIFA World Cup came following the success of the open football competitions at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, with FIFA president Jules Rimet proposing, in May 1928, a world championship. The first tournament was scheduled to be held in Uruguay, with every member of FIFA invited to take part; and being given a deadline to February 1930 to accept or not. Ultimately, a total of 13 teams took part, with four teams from Europe, and the tournament scheduled to begin on Sunday 13 July 1930.

On the first day of the competition, two games were scheduled to kick-off at the same time, 3.00pm UYT. These were France v Mexico, as the opening game in Group 1, and USA v Belgium, as the first game in Group 4. After 19 minutes, French striker Lucien Laurent volleyed the ball into Mexico's net, thus entering the history books as the first ever goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup. Just four minutes later, Bart McGhee became the second when he scored for the USA. Since then, more than 3,000 goals have been scored at the World Cup; both the record total goalscorer and the record for goals in a single tournament also belong to French players, with Just Fontaine scoring a record 13 goals for France in the 1958 World Cup, and Kylian Mbappe having scored a total of 22 goals in his three tournament appearances between 2018-2022-2026.