Have a Shot at This Soccer History Quiz

How much do you know about the Beautiful Game? Take the quiz below to find out

By Google Arts & Culture

Commemoration of the fourth goal in Brazil over Italy. (1970) by Heidtmann / Picture-Alliance / DpaThe Football Museum

Association Football (known as 'football' or 'soccer') is the world's most popular sport, watched and played by countless millions around the globe. But how well do you know its history? Scroll on to put your soccer knowledge to the test.

Spo Foot SoccerLIFE Photo Collection

Question 1

Time for kick-off. In what year was the sport of Association Football officially invented?

Answer: 1863

Forms of soccer were played long, long before it was codified as a sport, but the first official rules were written at the Freemasons’ Tavern in Blackheath, England, 1863. Some of these rules still exist but many have been heavily modified or removed over the years.

Adamache defends kick, but did not prevent third Brazilian victory. (1970) by Keystone / CorrespondentThe Football Museum

Question 2

Spot quiz: in what year were penalty kicks first added to the rules of the game?

1891

A penalty kick is when an attacking side is awarded a free shot at goal from a marked distance (these days 12 yards) if a foul is committed by the defending team in the penalty area. They were originally called ‘kicks of death’. It’s shame that name didn’t catch on!

Brazilian national team in FIFA 2010 World Cup (2010) by Marcello Casal Jr/ABrThe Football Museum

Question 3

Soccer is now the world's most popular sport, but when and where was the first World Cup tournament held?

1930 in Uruguay

These days the World Cup is one of the world’s great sporting occasions. Every national team enters and plays through a system of qualifying rounds to reach the final tournament, held every four years in a different host nation. Uruguay hosted, and won, the first. 

World Cup (1966-07) by Arthur RickerbyLIFE Photo Collection

Question 4

The referee's whistle blows! When was the dreaded Red Card first introduced to the game?

1970

Players can be sent from the field for committing a variety of offences, such as dangerous play, preventing a goal-scoring opportunity, or accumulating two yellow cards for less serious offences. The ref will show a Red Card to the offending player.

Charles Miller entre os companheiros do S.P.A.C. (1894/1900) by Centro Britânico SPThe Football Museum

Question 5

These days international football has a busy calendar with the World Cup and individual continental tournaments, but the idea didn't take off immediately. Can you name the year the first ever international football match was played and by which two nations?

1872, Scotland vs. England

These two still contest a very heated rivalry!

Olympic Park Soccer (1956)Melbourne & Olympic Parks

Want to know more?

If you would like to discover more about Association Football, or soccer as it is commonly known, then you can click here

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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