Sports quiz of the week: World Cup, US Open, Wimbledon and Royal Ascot

Hervé Renard, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams. Composite: Getty Images, Reuters

1. Lionel Messi has become the oldest player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. Whose record has he broken?

   1. Cristiano Ronaldo

   2. Thomas Müller

   3. Geoff Hurst

   4. Pelé

2. 

   Messi has equalled Miroslav Klose’s record of scoring 16 goals at World Cups. Which player is third on the all-time list with 15 goals?

   1. Ronaldo Nazario

   2. Gary Lineker

   3. Just Fontaine

   4. Jürgen Klinsmann

3. Hervé Renard managed Morocco at the 2018 World Cup and Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup. Who is he managing at this World Cup?

   1. Côte d’Ivoire

   2. Tunisia

   3. Cape Verde

   4. Ghana

4. 

   Two England players have scored in three World Cups: David Beckham and Harry Kane. What do they have in common?

   1. They were born in the same hospital

   2. They went to the same school

   3. They played for the same grassroots club

   4. All of the above

5. What colour are most of the players’ boots at the World Cup?

   1. Pink

   2. White

   3. Yellow

   4. Blue

6. 

   Why did Yasin Ayari not celebrate after he scored for Sweden against Tunisia at the World Cup?

   1. He says scoring goals is his job – and a postman doesn’t celebrate delivering letters

   2. The Sweden goalkeeper is his best friend

   3. His dad is from Tunisia

   4. He is engaged to a Tunisian and will be marrying her after the tournament

7. In which event has the American athlete Noah Lyles set a new world record?

   1. 100m

   2. 150m

   3. 200m

   4. 400m

8. 

   England set a record for the highest score in a Women’s T20 World Cup match in their win against Sri Lanka. How many runs did they score?

   1. 163

   2. 199

   3. 219

   4. 302

9. Shinnecock Hills is hosting the US Open this week. Brooks Koepka won the event when it was last played at the course in New York in 2018. What was unusual about that tournament?

   1. It went to an 18-hole playoff – the last of its kind in a major

   2. The top 20 finishers were all American – but Europe won the Ryder Cup the following week

   3. No player finished the tournament under par

   4. It was Koepka’s third straight US Open win but he has never won another major

10. 

    Serena Williams has been given a place in the women’s doubles at Wimbledon. Which veteran player will be her partner?

    1. Ashleigh Barty

    2. Venus Williams

    3. Marion Bartoli

    4. Simona Halep

11. Which of these players did not make their England debut in the Test against New Zealand at the Oval this week?

    1. Jordan Cox

    2. Sonny Baker

    3. James Rew

    4. Matt Fisher

12. 

    The rugby union player Benhard Janse van Rensburg is on the bench for England’s match in France on Friday night. Why is that controversial?

    1. He was born in France and previously said he “would 110% prefer to play for them”

    2. He was involved in a ruckus with Ben Stokes in a Chelsea nightclub earlier this month

    3. He is from South Africa and is ineligible to play for England in Test matches

    4. He has not played once for his club this season

13. Donald Trump hosted a UFC event at the White House last weekend. Which former US president lost sight in an eye while boxing at the White House?

    1. Ronald Reagan

    2. Theodore Roosevelt

    3. Richard Nixon

    4. Lyndon Johnson

14. 

    England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all have to win playoffs to qualify for the Women’s World Cup next year. Which country will host the tournament?

    1. Greece

    2. Brazil

    3. Japan

    4. Canada

15. Trawlerman won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot last year. What was unusual about his appearance at the race this year?

    1. He turned up wearing a ski mask

    2. His feet carried a sponsor’s logo – like the soles of Julius Francis’s shoes in his fight against Mike Tyson

    3. He arrived on the starting line wearing an England football shirt

    4. He did not race – becoming the first winner not to defend the title in 40 years

Solutions

1:A - Ronaldo was 33 when he scored a hat-trick against Spain at the 2018 World Cup. He’s still going – just about., 2:A - Ronaldo was in the Brazil squad when they won the World Cup in 1994 but he did not make it on to the pitch. He filled his boots in the next three tournaments, though, scoring four goals in 1998, eight when Brazil won it in 2002, and three at his final World Cup in 2006., 3:B - Renard was in charge of Saudi Arabia when they beat Argentina at the last World Cup and he led them to qualification this time around but was sacked a few months before the tournament began. Not to worry: he was not unemployed for long. When Tunisia lost their first game, they sacked Sabri Lamouchi and appointed Renard as his replacement., 4:D - They were born in Whipps Cross hospital, went to Chingford foundation school, played for Ridgeway Rovers and ended up captaining England at World Cups. Uncanny., 5:A - Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Puma all released new boots before the tournament and they were all pink. If the idea was to stand out, it hasn’t worked., 6:C - Ayari was born in Stockholm to parents from Tunisia and Morocco. Tunisia tried to select him in 2021 but he wanted to play for Sweden., 7:B - Lyles clocked 14.67sec in the rarely contested distance, smashing the previous mark of 14.92sec set by the Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson earlier this year. , 8:C - Danni Wyatt-Hodge scored 105 of them., 9:C - Shinnecock is the only venue to have hosted the US Open in three different centuries: 1896, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2018 and now 2026. When Koepka won it in 2018, he finished with a score of one over par., 10:B - The Williams sisters have won the event six times: in 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2016., 11:D - It’s a tricky question. Fisher had played for the team only once before this week – and that was four years ago., 12:C - Janse van Rensburg, who was born and raised in South Africa, will qualify for England on residency grounds later this summer. He can play in this match, though, as it is not a full Test. , 13:B - “When I was president I used to box with one of my aides, a young captain in the artillery,” recalled Roosevelt years later. “One day he cross-countered me and broke a blood vessel in my left eye. I have never been able to see out of that eye since. I thought that​, as only one good eye was left​, I would not box any longer.” , 14:B - This will be the last Women’s World Cup contested by 32 teams, with Fifa expanding the tournament to 48 teams from 2031. , 15:A - “He has a weird problem with his eyes in that he becomes very sensitive to light,” said John Gosden, the horse’s trainer. “He’s been going out and doing a lot of his work in ski goggles, which he’s going to be allowed to wear in the paddock and cantering down to the start. But they won’t let him race in them, understandably – for fear he thinks he’s on a slope or something.”

Scores

1. 1 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next time.

2. 3 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next time.

3. 2 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next time.

4. 4 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next time.

5. 5 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next time.

6. 6 and above.

   Not bad. Not bad at all.

7. 7 and above.

   Not bad. Not bad at all.

8. 8 and above.

   Not bad. Not bad at all.

9. 9 and above.

   Not bad. Not bad at all.

10. 10 and above.

    Nice work. Well played. Have a good weekend

11. 11 and above.

    Nice work. Well played. Have a good weekend

12. 12 and above.

    Nice work. Well played. Have a great weekend

13. 13 and above.

    Nice work. Well played. Have a great weekend

14. 14 and above.

    Nice work. Well played. Have a great weekend

15. 0 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next time.

16. 15 and above.

    Nice work. Well played. Have a great weekend