World Cup Quiz
This World Cup is unique because it has 48 teams for the first time.
Why did Fifa want to increase the number of teams?
Fifa said they wanted to grow the sport in new football countries … however many people think Fifa did this to make more money. Fifa’s dream is for China or India to qualify so they can get a billion new football fans
Do you think this is a good change?
By increasing the number of teams, it will be more common for 2-3 countries to host the World Cup together.
Which countries will host the 2030 and 2034 World Cups?
2030 - Spain, Portugal, Morocco
2034 - Saudi Arabia
Spain, Portugal and Morocco are all Meditarranean countries that are close together.
Saudi Arabia has to renovate 4 stadiums and build 11 new ones before the World Cup starts. All have amazing designs.
Can you describe these 2 stadiums:
Mohammad Bin Salman stadium will be built on the side of a mountain. One side won’t have stands so fans can enjoy the mountain view
Saudi Arabia is building a “line city” next to the sea. Neom Stadium will be on the roof, 350 metres above the sea.
When the Japan team arrived in Mexico, they were all given cowboy hats as a present from Monterrey city. How many players wore the hats?
a) 2 of them
b) 11
c) all of them
Only Nagatomo and Sugawa (Southampton) wore the hats.
Why do you think so few wore the cowboy hats?
This liqueur is named after a country that is playing at the World Cup. Can you guess the team?
Curacao “Coo-ra-sao” (キュラソー島) is a small island nation. Where do you think it is?
Curacao the drink is made from oranges that grow on the island. The climate means the oranges don’t taste nice to eat but the skin is made into a clear liqueur. Blue colouring is added to represent the blue waters around the island.
Where do you think Cape Verde (カーボベルデ) is?
Cape Verde is a group of 10 islands that are 450 kilometres west of Senegal. They were uninhabited until the Portugese found them in 1456. It became a Portuguese colony.
uninhabited = no humans live there
Curacao is just above Venezuela however it is part of North America (The Caribbean). It is a Dutch Colony so most of their players grew up playing football in the Netherlands.
Dick Advocaat is a legendary Dutch football manager. At 78 he is the oldest ever manager to manage a World Cup team. He came out of retirement and took the job for the challenge and because Curacao is a beautiful place to take a vacation.
Match the place to the population
| Country | Population |
|---|---|
| Cape Verde | 148,000 |
| Curacao | 154,000 |
| Musashino | 530,000 |
What did Brazil do to their plane before the team flew to the US?
Brazil used “holy water” to bless the planes. This will protect them and the team from bad luck.
bless a person/thing = do a Catholic ritual to protect it from bad luck
Only 8 countries have won the World Cup. Can you name all 8 countries?
5) A________
6) E______
7) F_____
8) S____
1) U______
2) I____
3) G______
4) B_____
Which country has won the most (5 times)?
2 groups of fans started fighting in Times Square before their match. Which countries do you think they were from?
a) Algeria and Argentina
b) Croatia and England
b) Haiti and Scotland
The first big fight of this world up was between Argentina and Algeria fans in Times Square. Dozens of police came in to control the crowds.
Which country’s fans have drunk the most beer this World Cup?
Scottish fans have been drinking the most (with English fans 2nd and Australian fans 3rd). When Scotland played in Boston, several Boston bars and their suppliers ran out of beer.
One bar said it sold 4 times more beer than on the 4th of July.
Another bar said it sold 3 times more beer than on St. Patrick’s Day.
On what day do Americans drink the most beer?
a) Independence day (4th of July)|
b) St. Patrick’s Day
c) New Year’s Eve
d) Super Bowl Sunday
In bars Americans drink the most beer on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th)
At home, Americans drink the most beer on the 4th of July. Father’s Day is the 4th highest day of beer sales
New Year’s Eve is the highest day for alcohol sales (not only beer)
8 players at this World Cup are over 40.
5 of them play in the same position. What position is that?
Ronaldo is 41 years old and the 2nd oldest player at the 2026 world cup (The oldest is Scotland’s 2nd choice goalkeeper)
He now plays for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Messi plays for Inter Miami in the U.S.
If we look at each player’s base salary, can you match the player to their salary per minute?
| Player | Salary per minute |
|---|---|
| Christiano Ronaldo | ¥800 |
| Lionel Messi | ¥21,000 |
| Shohei Ohtani | ¥72,000 |
Ohtani makes the least (¥800) because his salary is deferred. He will make a lot of money at the END of his contract.
Messi makes ¥21,000 and Ronaldo makes the most at ¥72,000
Match the player to Annual Sponsorship salary
| Player | Annual Sponsorship salary |
|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | $65,000,000 |
| Lionel Messi | $70,000,000 |
| Shohei Ohtani | $125,000,000 |
Vozinha, the Capo Verde keeper, is 40 years old and played his World Cup debut against Spain. He made 7 saves so his team could draw 0-0.
He was playing for a League 2 team in Portugal last season but his contract wasn’t renewed.
Before the World Cup, he had 43,000 instagram followers. How many do you think he has now?
a) 1 million
b) 5 million
c) 18 million
At the end of the 90 minutes he had 1 million followers.
By the end of that night he had 5 million.
Currently he has over 18 million
Why do you think so many people, mainly Brazilians, started following him?
options
a) his nickname, Vozinha, means “little grandmother” in Brazil
b) a popular sports streamer, Casimiro, asked his followers to follow him
c) people knew he didn’t have a club anymore so wanted to help him get sponsors in the future
Vozinha’s mother was unable to watch her son play at the World Cup because she couldn’t afford an American Visa. She and many Cape Verde fans have to pay a deposit of $15,000 (about ¥2.5 million) to enter the country. Why?
The US imposes a $15,000 visa deposit on low-income visitors from 50countries to stop people overstaying their VISA. You get the full deposit back after returning to your home country.
Can you guess any of the other 6 World Cup countries that have the same visa law as Cape Verde?
Haiti
Tunisia
Georgia
Algeria
Côte d'Ivoire
Cuba
Vozinha’s mother could visit the US for Cape Verde’s 2nd game because of public anger at the situation.
Officially, direct relatives of players don’t have to pay for a visa.
In reality, it’s not the case.