And here are the answers to my World Cup quiz.

(The questions relate only to the World Cup Finals, not the qualification stage).

1. Which nation scored the very first World Cup goal?
   France.
2. Which nation won the inaugural World Cup in 1930?
   Uruguay.
3. US player, Bert Patenaude, was the first player to do what in a World Cup match?
   Score a hat-trick. (It was in the USA’s second match in 1930, versus Paraguay).
4. Who, in 1934, became the first African nation to play at a World Cup?
   Egypt. 
5. Why did the Austrian ‘wunder’ team withdraw from the 1938 World Cup?
   Because Germany had ‘unified’ the two countries.
6. Which nation qualified in 1950 but withdrew when FIFA refused their request to play barefoot?
   India.
7. England won their first World Cup game in 1950 but famously lost their second. To whom?
   The USA.
8. Ferenc Puskas played for his native Hungary in 1954 and for which adopted country in 1962?
   Spain.
9. Which was the one World Cup tournament where all four British nations were represented?
   1958.
10. In 1958, 17-year-old Pele became, and remains, the youngest player to score a World Cup goal – against who?
    Wales.
11. Which nation hosted the 1962 World Cup Finals?
    Chile.
12. For how many days did the Jules Rimet trophy go missing for before the 1966 World Cup in England?
    Seven. 
13. Which nation did North Korea famously beat during the group stage in the 1966 World Cup?
    Italy.
14. Geoff Hurst scored a hat trick for England in the 1966 World Cup final but who scored the other goal?
    Martin Peters.
15. Why were England grateful to Tovik Bakhramov in 1966?
    Bakhramov was the ‘Russian linesman’ who allowed England’s controversial third goal during the final.
16. What was the final score of the 1970 Italy v Brazil World Cup final?
    Brazil 4, Italy 1.
17. West Germany won the World Cup in 1974 but to whom did they lose in the group stage?
    East Germany.
18. First used in 1974, the new World Cup trophy has on its underside a list of winners, with enough space to last up to when?
    2038.
19. Who scored two of Argentina’s goals during the 1978 World Cup Final?
    Mario Kempes.
20. The first World Cup penalty shoot-out took place between whom in 1982?
    France and West Germany. (Will accept ‘Germany’).
21. In 1982, Italy’s Dino Zoff became the oldest player to win the World Cup. In years, how old was he?
    40.
22. Who, in 1982, is the only team to have scored double figures in a World Cup game?
    Hungary, 10-1 v El Salvador
23. Which country was the first to host the World Cup twice?
    Mexico (1970 and 1986).
24. Which two countries have been runners-up in two consecutive Football World Cup tournaments?
    The Netherlands (1974 and 1978) and West Germany (1982 and 1986). (Half a point for each. Will accept Germany).
25. In 1994, Russia’s Oleg Salenko scored a record five goals in one match – against who?
    Cameroon.
26. Against whom did Cameroon’s Roger Milla score to become the World Cup’s oldest goalscorer?
    The Soviet Union (will accept Russia).
27. Lothar Matthaus of West Germany played a record how many World Cup games?
    25 games.
28. Who missed the vital penalty in the 1994 World Cup Final penalty shoot-out to hand the trophy to Brazil?
    Roberto Baggio.
29. Which nation, in 1998, became the first to win a World Cup game on the Golden Goal rule?
    France – Laurent Blanc v Paraguay.
30. Which player scored two goals in the 1998 World Cup final?
    Zinedine Zidane of France v Brazil.
31. Who, in 2002, was the first Asian nation to play in a World Cup semi-final?
    South Korea.
32. Turkey’s Hakan Sukur holds the World Cup record for what?
    The fastest World Cup goal – 11 seconds for Turkey v South Korea, 2002.
33. Who is the only player to play in three consecutive World Cup finals?
    Cafu, Brazil: 1994, 1998 and 2002.
34. What is the smallest country to have won the World Cup?
    Uruguay.
35. What was the last World Cup tournament in which no one was sent off?
    1970.
36. Who were the first host country to be knocked out at the group stage?
    South Africa, 2010.
37. In which year did the World Cup have its first game under covers?
    1994 – USA v Switzerland.
38. Which player has scored the most goals in a single World Cup tournament?
    Just Fontaine of France – 13 goals in 1958.
39. With an average of 5.4 goals per match which World Cup tournament remains the highest scoring?
    1954.
40. Which nation, in 1991, won the inaugural Women’s FIFA World Cup?
    The USA.

Taken from the book The World Cup: A Short History.