Football quiz: can you pick the oldest or youngest players in these quartets?

Who’s older: Jan Vertonghen or Jamie Vardy? Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

1. Which of these footballers is the eldest?

   1. Cristiano Ronaldo

   2. Leighton Baines

   3. Gary Cahill

   4. Scott Carson

2. Three of these former players were born in the 1950s. Who is the only one born in the 1960s?

   1. Nigel Spink

   2. Mirandinha

   3. Lee Chapman

   4. Diego Maradona

3. Which of these legendary strikers was born first?

   1. Robbie Fowler

   2. Andriy Shevchenko

   3. Ruud van Nistelrooy

   4. Patrick Kluivert

4. Three of this quartet were born in the 1970s – but who was born in the 1960s?

   1. Steve Stone

   2. Cafu

   3. Dennis Bergkamp

   4. Brad Friedel

5. Who is the youngest of these four players?

   1. Dean Ashton

   2. Ben Foster

   3. Glenn Murray

   4. David Bentley

6. Four more forwards here – but who is the eldest?

   1. James Beattie

   2. Emile Heskey

   3. Thierry Henry

   4. Miroslav Klöse

7. These four players were born in different years. Can you pick out the youngest?

   1. Olivier Giroud

   2. Aaron Lennon

   3. Jonny Evans

   4. Phil Bardsley

8. Three of these players were born within nine days of one another, in August 1988. Who wasn't?

   1. Gylfi Sigurdsson

   2. Nemanja Matic

   3. Erik Pieters

   4. Willian

9. Four players beginning with J here – who's the youngest?

   1. Joe Hart

   2. Jamie Vardy

   3. Jan Vertonghen

   4. Juan Mata

10. Who is the oldest player in this continental quartet?

    1. Lars Bohinen

    2. Tomas Brolin

    3. Robert Prosinecki

    4. Uwe Rösler

11. These four were all born within five months of one another. Who is the eldest?

    1. Chris Kirkland

    2. Peter Odemwingie

    3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

    4. Shaun Wright-Phillips

12. Four more Js here. They were all rising stars at one point and may be a little older than you thought. Who is the eldest?

    1. Jonjo Shelvey

    2. Jack Wilshere

    3. Jesse Lingard

    4. Jack Rodwell

13. Who is the eldest of this quartet?

    1. Chris Armstrong

    2. Rob Jones

    3. Shaun Goater

    4. Jari Litmanen

14. Who is the youngest of these youthful players?

    1. Trent Alexander-Arnold

    2. Ismaïla Sarr

    3. Declan Rice

    4. Christian Pulisic

15. Finally, which of these legends was born first?

    1. Pelé

    2. Bobby Charlton

    3. Eusébio

    4. Franz Beckenbauer

Solutions

1:B - The Everton full-back was born on 11 December 1984 – the remaining three were all born in 1985, with Cahill the youngest., 2:D - The Argentinian legend was born on 30 October 1960 – the remaining three were born between July and December 1959., 3:A - The former Liverpool forward was born on 9 April 1975 – the remaining three were born the following year., 4:C - The Dutchman was born 10 May 1969 – Cafu was born in June 1970, Friedel in May 1971 and Stone is the youngest, having been born in August 1971. , 5:D - The former Blackburn and Spurs player retired in 2014 at the age of 29. He was born in August 1984 – the others were born in 1983., 6:C - The Frenchman was born 17 August 1977 – the remaining three were all born between January and June 1978., 7:C - Evans was born 3 January 1988 – Bardsley was born in 1985, Giroud in 1986 and Lennon in 1987., 8:A - The Iceland international was born over a year later, in September 1989 – Matic, Pieters and Willian were born on 1, 7 and 9 August 1988., 9:D - Mata's another to have been born in 1988 – the other three were born in 1987., 10:D - The former striker was born in 1968 – the remainder were born the following year., 11:A - They are in fact in age order – Kirkland was born on 2 May 1981, Odemwingie on 15 July that year, Ibrahimovic on 3 October and Wright-Phillips on 25 October., 12:D - Rodwell was born in March 1991, Wilshere in January 1992, Shelvey in February 1992 and Lingard is the youngest, born in December 1992., 13:C - The former forward, born in 1970, was still playing in Bermuda in 2010, although the career of Litmanen (born 1971) went on a year longer. The remaining pair were also born in 1971 – Armstrong's playing career ended in 2005, while Jones's was cruelly curtailed by injury in 1999., 14:C - The versatile West Ham youngster was born in January 1999. The other three were born in 1998., 15:B - Charlton was born 11 Oct 1937. Pelé was born in 1940, Eusébio in 1942 and Beckenbauer – who was voted best young player at the 1966 World Cup – was born in 1945.

Scores

1. 2 and above.

   It's the taking part that counts

2. 4 and above.

   It's the taking part that counts

3. 5 and above.

   You're a glass-third-full kind of quizzer

4. 6 and above.

   Good in a box of eggs, not so hot in a quiz that's out of 15

5. 7 and above.

   Agonisingly short of half

6. 8 and above.

   Well it's more than half

7. 9 and above.

   That "just shy of double-figures" feeling

8. 10 and above.

   Two-thirds of the way to astonishing

9. 11 and above.

   Very decent indeed

10. 12 and above.

    Losing the fourth-place play off

11. 13 and above.

    Winning the fourth-place play off

12. 14 and above.

    Almost suspiciously good

13. 15 and above.

    All that time in Championship Manager finally paid off

14. 0 and above.

    Well, thanks for coming anyway

15. 1 and above.

    It's the taking part that counts