Sport is the round that most divides a team, and the one where a small amount
of systematic preparation goes furthest — because most sport questions are not
about watching sport. They are about records, rules, nicknames and trophies, all
of which can be learned by someone who has never seen a match.
The four seams
Records and firsts. Who has the most, who was first, what the fastest
was. These date slowly and are asked constantly.
Rules and scoring. How many players, how long, what the terms mean,
what happens in the tie-break. Snooker, darts, cricket and rugby carry
vocabularies that setters mine heavily, and knowing the scoring system of a
sport you do not follow is one of the cheapest points available.
Nicknames and colours. Club nicknames, national team nicknames, the
colours a team plays in. Almost entirely a memory task, and British quizzes are
full of them.
Trophies. What the prize is called, and what it looks like — the
Ashes urn, the Claret Jug, the Green Jacket, the Venus Rosewater Dish.
The Ashes urn in particular is asked about
the way few objects are.
The stories everyone asks about
A modest set of sporting episodes appears in quizzes out of all proportion to
their number: the Hand of God,
the four-minute mile,
Leicester at 5000-1,
Red Rum,
the Fosbury flop,
Eddie the Eagle,
the longest tennis match,
the Miracle on Ice, and
the 1904 Olympic marathon,
which is asked purely because the story is unbelievable. Read them once and they
stay.
Men's World Cup winner 1998?
Answer France (hosts)
Men's World Cup winner 1934?
Answer Italy
Men's World Cup winner 2014?
Answer Germany (7–1 vs hosts Brazil in semi)
Men's World Cup winner 2010?
Answer Spain (in South Africa)
The Ashes are contested between?
Answer England and Australia
Where were the first Commonwealth Games held?
Answer Hamilton, Canada, 1930
Men's World Cup winner 1958?
Answer Brazil (17-year-old Pelé)
Bafana Bafana — 'the boys, the boys' in Zulu — is which country's football team?
Answer South Africa
Men's Euros winner 2016?
Answer Portugal
Men's World Cup winner 1966?
Answer England (hosts)
Summer Olympics 2024 host?
Answer Paris
Men's Euros winner 1988?
Answer Netherlands (van Basten volley)
Men's World Cup winner 1978?
Answer Argentina (hosts)
Men's Euros winner 2004?
Answer Greece (the great shock)
Men's Euros winner 1992?
Answer Denmark (late replacements for Yugoslavia)
Summer Olympics 2028 and 2032 hosts?
Answer Los Angeles, then Brisbane
London has hosted the Summer Olympics how many times?
Answer Three: 1908, 1948, 2012
First Premier League champions (1992–93)?
Answer Manchester United
The Masters is always played at which course?
Answer Augusta National, Georgia
Which Premier League club are the Toffees?
Answer Everton
Men's World Cup winner 1930?
Answer Uruguay (hosts Uruguay)
Only club to go a whole Premier League season unbeaten?
Answer Arsenal, 2003–04 ('The Invincibles')
Which two teams contest the Ryder Cup, and how often?
Answer Europe and the USA, every two years
Boxing: who beat Foreman in the 'Rumble in the Jungle' (1974)?
Answer Muhammad Ali (Kinshasa, Zaire)
Summer Olympics 2016 host?
Answer Rio de Janeiro
First city to host the modern Olympics (1896)?
Answer Athens
5,000-1 outsiders who won the Premier League in 2016?
Answer Leicester City
Summer Olympics 2000 host?
Answer Sydney
Highest checkout in darts?
Answer 170 (T20, T20, bull)
Which country's footballers are the Super Eagles?
Answer Nigeria