Only Connect: the Guardian World Cup edition

Alas Victoria Coren Mitchell isn’t presenting this edition of Only Connect, it is instead the scruffy herberts on the sport desk. Photograph: Patrick Olner/BBC/Zodiak/Patrick Olner

The Only Connect format is pretty easy to get the hang of even if you’ve never seen the show. We give you three bits of trivia from the World Cup that are linked in a sequence and all you have to do is pick the correct option for what comes fourth. Simple, eh?

1. Which tournament comes next in this sequence: Uruguay 1930, Italy 1934, England 1966 ...?

   1. West Germany 1974

   2. Argentina 1978

   3. Spain 1982

   4. France 1998

2. Which country (linked by Diego Maradona) comes next: Hungary (1982), Italy (1986), England (1986) ...?

   1. West Germany (1986)

   2. France (1986)

   3. Belgium (1986)

   4. Greece (1994)

3. Which legendary player comes next: Eusébio (9, 1966), Gerd Müller (10, 1970), Grzegorz Lato (7, 1974) ...?

   1. Teófilo Cubillas (6, 1978)

   2. Ossie Ardiles (6, 1978)

   3. Rob Rensenbrink (6, 1978)

   4. Mario Kempes (6, 1978)

4. Which match comes next: West Germany v France (5-4 in 1982), France v Brazil (4-3 in 1986), West Germany v Mexico (4-1 in 1986) ...?

   1. West Germany v France (4-2 in 1986)

   2. Belgium v Spain (5-4 in 1986)

   3. Republic of Ireland v Romania (5-4 in 1990)

   4. Argentina v Italy (4-3 in 1990)

5. Who comes fourth in this sequence: Said Belqola in 1998, Pierluigi Collina in 2002, Horacio Elizondo in 2006 ...?

   1. Howard Webb (2010)

   2. Mark Clattenburg (2010)

   3. David Elleray (2010)

   4. Mike Riley (2010)

6. Which result comes next: drew with Hungary, drew with Mexico, drew with Sweden ...?

   1. Beat Mexico

   2. Beat Hungary

   3. Lost to Brazil

   4. Lost to Sweden

7. Who comes fourth in this sequence: Brazil in 1966, France in 2002, Italy in 2010...?

   1. 2014 Netherlands

   2. 2014 France

   3. 2014 Germany

   4. 2014 Spain

8. Which game comes next: Uruguay v Brazil (1950, attendance 173,850), Brazil v Spain (1950, attendance 152,772), Brazil v Yugoslavia (1950, attendance 142,429) ...?

   1. England v West Germany (1966, attendance 138,886)

   2. Mexico v Belgium (1970, attendance 138,886)

   3. Brazil v Sweden (1950, attendance 138,886)

   4. Argentina v West Germany (1986, attendance 138,886)

9. Who comes fourth in this sequence: Pedro Monzón (1990), Gustavo Dezotti (1990), Marcel Desailly (1998) ...?

   1. Laurent Blanc (1998)

   2. Zinedine Zidane (2006)

   3. Nigel De Jong (2010)

   4. John Heitinga (2010)

10. Who comes fourth in this sequence: Argentina in 1998, Brazil in 2002, Portugal in 2006 ...?

    1. Argentina in 2010

    2. Germany in 2010

    3. Brazil in 2014

    4. England in 2014

Solutions

1:A - Yes, it is tournaments won by the host nation, which has happened six times to date., 2:C - Belgium in the 1986 semi-final – the next team to concede a goal to Diego Maradona in the World Cup., 3:D - It's Golden Boot winners – well, not technically, as there wasn't a specific award for it until 1982, but these are the consecutive top scorers at World Cups in the late 1960s and 1970s. Cubillas and Rensenbrink were runners-up to Kempes in 1975 with five goals each., 4:B - Yes, it's games decided by penalty shootouts at the World Cup. The first, after Schumacher had flattened Battiston in 1982, set the tone. Germany are the only team to face two or more shootouts at World Cups and maintain a 100% win record. , 5:A - They refereed World Cup finals. Webb was the fourth Englishman to referee the final, following in the footsteps of George Reader (1950), William Ling (1954) and Jack Taylor (1974), 6:B - Wales' sequence of results in the 1958 World Cup. Having drawn all three group games, Wales then faced a playoff with Hungary to see who progressed to the quarter-finals. Wales won the playoff, then lost to eventual champions Brazil., 7:D - This is a sequence of reigning champions who exited the following tournament at the group stage. France's performance in 2002 has started a recent dismal run for European countries trying to defend the title – which Germany continued in Russia., 8:C - The most attended matches in World Cup history. The top four all come from the 1950 tournament. Although recent tournaments have higher average attendances, the record crowds to watch Brazil play in the Maracanã in 1950 have never been topped., 9:B - Players who were sent off in World Cup finals. Heitinga became the fifth player to see red in a final in 2010, although arguably Nigel De Jong should have been sent off much earlier in that match., 10:B - The last teams to knock England out of the World Cup in the knock-out stages.

Scores

1. 1 and above.

   You failed to qualify from the group

2. 2 and above.

   You failed to qualify from the group

3. 4 and above.

   Good effort, it was quite tricky

4. 5 and above.

   Good effort. It was quite tricky

5. 7 and above.

   Well done. It was pretty tough

6. 8 and above.

   Excellent effort

7. 10 and above.

   Excellent effort

8. 3 and above.

   Good effort. It was quite tricky

9. 6 and above.

   Well done. It was pretty tough

10. 0 and above.

    You failed to qualify from the group

11. 9 and above.

    Excellent effort

• With thanks to the Only Connect production team for inventing the format, and to Eddie Robson for inspiring the idea of doing a World Cup version.