The big sports quiz of the year 2025

Left to right: A football fan taunts Erling Haaland; Rory McIlroy after his Masters triumph at Augusta; Arsenal women’s manager Renée Slegers with the Champions League trophy. Composite: Arsenal FC/Getty Images; Augusta National/Getty Images; Getty Images

1. How did the Premier League's top four look on 1 January 2025?

   1. 1) Liverpool, 2) Arsenal, 3) Chelsea, 4) Manchester City

   2. 1) Liverpool, 2) Nottingham Forest, 3) Arsenal, 4) Newcastle

   3. 1) Arsenal, 2) Liverpool, 3) Manchester City, 4) Chelsea

   4. 1) Liverpool, 2) Arsenal, 3) Nottingham Forest, 4) Chelsea

2. 

   England won the Women's Rugby World Cup on home soil in front of nearly 82,000 fans at Twickenham. Who was player of the match in the final?

   1. Sadia Kabeya

   2. Ellie Kildunne

   3. Alex Matthews

   4. Amy Cokayne

3. In a not-so-subtle dig at Erling Haaland, Arsenal played the Kendrick Lamar song Humble after they beat Manchester City at the Emirates in February. What was the score?

   1. Arsenal 4-0 Manchester City

   2. Arsenal 5-1 Manchester City

   3. Arsenal 6-1 Manchester City

   4. Arsenal 5-0 Manchester City

4. 

   Rory McIlroy completed a career grand slam by winning the Masters. Who finished second in the tournament at Augusta?

   1. Jon Rahm

   2. Justin Rose

   3. Shane Lowry

   4. Bryson DeChambeau

5. In February, who said: "I will go home. I will rewatch the game. I will eat some nachos and drink some Fanta. Very boring for me. But the fans should enjoy themselves”?

   1. Plymouth Argyle manager Miron Muslic after his team beat Liverpool in the FA Cup

   2. Nuno Espírito Santo after Nottingham Forest's 7-0 Premier League win over Brighton

   3. Carlo Ancelotti after Real Madrid's 3-1 (6-3 agg) Champions League victory over Manchester City

   4. Arne Slot after Liverpool's 2-0 Premier League win at Manchester City

6. 

   What was remarkable about Xavier Worthy's third-quarter touchdown in the Super Bowl?

   1. He became the first Texas A&M alumnus to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

   2. It triggered a $2m bonus in Worthy's contract.

   3. It was the Kansas City Chiefs' first score of the game

   4. It meant Patrick Mahomes passed Peyton Manning's record of Super Bowl touchdown passes.

7. Why was Carolina Panthers safety Tre'von Moehrig banned for one game and fined $65,000?

   1. He punched San Francisco 49ers Juan Jennings in "the nuts"

   2. He took off his helmet and tried to hit an opponent with it.

   3. He was shown in a leaked video verbally abusing an online gamer while playing Madden.

   4. He spat on an Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.

8. 

   How many trophies did Sonia Bompastor win in her first season as Chelsea head coach?

   1. One

   2. Two

   3. Three

   4. Four

9. Who scored the winning goal as Arsenal became the first English team to win the Women’s Champions League in the WSL era?

   1. Mariona Caldentey

   2. Beth Mead

   3. Alessia Russo

   4. Stina Blackstenius

10. 

    Matheus Cunha, who was still playing for Wolves in January, had a ban reduced from three games to two games after he offered to do what?

    1. Take part in a footballing stewarding course

    2. Buy an Ipswich security guard a new pair of glasses

    3. Give a week's wages to Ipswich stewards

    4. Attend an anger-management course

11. Which team ended Liverpool’s long unbeaten Premier League run, only their second defeat of the 2024-25 campaign?

    1. Fulham

    2. Crystal Palace

    3. Chelsea

    4. Brighton

12. 

    Philip Rivers made a stunning comeback as an NFL quarterback at 44 to help out the injury-hit Indianapolis Colts. Which of these other remarkable feats is true?

    1. Rivers holds the NFL record for longest streak of consecutive games started at 321

    2. Rivers has fathered 12 children

    3. Rivers played with 2007 AFC Championship game with a torn ACL

    4. During his college career Rivers broke every Pac-12 passing record

13. Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham despite winning the Europa League, before later being sacked by Nottingham Forest. How many Premier League wins did he collect in 2025?

    1. Two

    2. Three

    3. Four

    4. Five

14. 

    What did LeBron James do on 9 April?

    1. He played his 1,561th game, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and going second on the NBA all-time appearances list

    2. He went second on the list of consecutive NBA games with double-digit points

    3. He bought a stake in Serie A club Milan

    4. He and Bronny James became the first father-son duo to play together in league history

15. Brendan Rodgers departed Celtic “by mutual consent” not long after he had compared the club’s summer recruitment policy to buying which car?

    1. Robin Reliant

    2. Tesla

    3. Honda Civic

    4. Porsche 911 GT Turbo

16. 

    Simon Yates won the Giro d'Italia but why was his victory such a surprise?

    1. Yates trailed race leader Isaac del Toro by one minute and 21 seconds going into the penultimate stage

    2. Yates had not won a Grand Tour stage since collapsing while holding a three-minute lead at the 2018 Giro

    3. Yates was drafted into the Visma–Lease a Bike team late after a teammate dropped out

    4. His brother Adam was the pre-race favourite

17. Three former Manchester United managers lost their jobs between 28 August and 1 September. Who were they?

    1. David Moyes, Erik Ten Hag and Ruud van Nistelrooy

    2. Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær

    3. Sir Alex Ferguson, Erik ten Hag and José Mourinho

    4. Ole Gunnar Solskjær, José Mourinho and Erik ten Hag

18. 

    Pauline Ferrand-Prévot became the first French winner of the Tour de France Femmes. Who was the last Frenchman to win the Tour de France?

    1. Bernard Hinault

    2. Laurent Fignon

    3. Romain Bardet

    4. Bernard Thévenet

19. In which of these sports did England win an Ashes series in 2025?

    1. Cricket

    2. Rugby league

    3. Handball

    4. Wheelchair rugby league

20. 

    Carlos Alcaraz’s epic win over Jannik Sinner in the French Open became the second longest grand slam final of all time. How long was it?

    1. Four hours and 16 minutes

    2. Five hours and 29 minutes

    3. Six hours and one minute

    4. Seven hours and 21 minutes

21. What was notable about Iga Swiatek's victory over Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final?

    1. Swiatek won with a double bagel in a match that took less than an hour

    2. Anisimova refused to shake the hand of her opponent after the match

    3. Swiatek triumphed despite having a broken wrist

    4. Anisimova won more points and more games but lost the match

22. 

    Crystal Palace won the FA Cup in May, beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final at Wembley. When was the last time the Eagles won a major trophy?

    1. A year exactly to the day

    2. 25 years ago.

    3. 100 years ago

    4. Palace have never before won a major trophy

23. Christian Horner was sacked as Red Bull’s F1 team principal in July. What did he leave with?

    1. One of the six constructors’ championship trophies he won during his tenure

    2. Nothing

    3. An £80m settlement

    4. One of Max Verstappen's helmets

24. 

    The first official sumo tournament held outside Japan in 34 years took place in October. But where was it?

    1. New York City, USA

    2. Pyongyang, North Korea

    3. Kyiv, Ukraine

    4. London, England

25. Who said this in 2025: "This is the best team they’ve had probably this century"?

    1. Barcelona manager Hansi Flick after losing the clásico to Real Madrid in October

    2. Australia's cricketing legend Ricky Ponting on the eve of the Ashes

    3. Europe's Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald

    4. Host of the FSA Awards, Victoria Derbyshire, after the Guardian Football Weekly won the podcast of the year award.

26. 

    How many times did Mondo Duplantis break the pole vault world record in 2025?

    1. Two

    2. Four

    3. Six

    4. Eight

27. What did Nick Rockett do in 2025?

    1. He has appointed manager of a football club and sacked later that day

    2. He broke a swimming world record that had stood for 86 years

    3. He became the first person to swim the length of the River Nile

    4. He won the Grand National

28. 

    Which driver won the most Formula One races in 2025?

    1. Max Verstappen

    2. Oscar Piastri

    3. Lando Norris

    4. Lewis Hamilton

29. Which of these competitions did Paris Saint-Germain not win in 2025?

    1. Champions League

    2. Ligue 1

    3. Coupe de France

    4. Trophée des champions

    5. Intercontinental Cup

    6. Super Cup

    7. Club World Cup

30. 

    The England men's and women's rugby union teams played 25 matches between them in 2025, only losing once. Who were the only team to win a match against England this year?

    1. New Zealand women

    2. Ireland men

    3. Australia men

    4. Canada women

Solutions

1:D - Liverpool were already pulling away on 45 points, with Arsenal on 39, Forest on 37 and Chelsea on 35., 2:A - The flanker didn’t get on the scoresheet but made 20 tackles in a crunching defensive display. , 3:B - It was a humbling experience for Haaland despite getting on the scoresheet., 4:B - McIlroy beat Rose – his Ryder Cup teammate – in a playoff. , 5:A - The manager had only been at the club for four weeks when he masterminded an almighty shock. He couldn't keep Argyle in the Championship, though, and left in May., 6:C - Patrick Mahomes and co. trailed the Philadelphia Eagles 0-34 until Worthy's 24-yard grab. The Eagles went on to win 40-22., 7:A - Such is Jennings' popularity around the NFL that Moehrig's actions were defended by players on other teams. "[Jennings is] a ho, and I want that known. Like I see why he got punched in the nuts," said Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Shelby Harris., 8:C - She won the WSL, Women's FA Cup and Women's League Cup, completing an incredible haul for the 2024-25 season., 9:D - Blackstenius scored the 74th-minute winning goal in Lisbon against heavy favourites Barcelona. , 10:B - The disciplinary commission were impressed by his kind offer and "sincere" apology., 11:A - Fulham beat Liverpool 3-2 at Craven Cottage on 6 April. Palace drew with Liverpool 1-1 on the final day, after Chelsea and Brighton had both beaten the confirmed champions., 12:C - He had two interceptions and no touchdowns., 13:C - Postecoglou's Spurs beat Brentford, Manchester United, Ipswich and Southampton, and he won no games as Forest’s manager., 14:A - Robert Parish is still out in front on 1,611 games., 15:C - As part of a man-management masterclass, Rodgers compared his Celtic squad to a Honda Civic attempting to keep pace with a Ferrari., 16:A - It was his second Grand Tour title after the 2018 Vuelta a España., 17:D - Solskjær left Besiktas on 28 August, Mourinho left Fenerbahce on 29 August and Ten Hag was sacked by Leverkusen on 1 September., 18:A - He won the Tour in 1985 after a close battle with Greg Lemond but the following year the American slayed ‘the Badger’ and no Frenchman has won the yellow jersey since. , 19:D - England’s 2-0 series win in the Ashes was the perfect preparation for the World Cup in Australia next year., 20:B - The longest grand slam final remains the 2012 Australian Open between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, which lasted five hours 54 minutes., 21:A - This was the first time in the open era the Wimbledon title has been won with a double bagel. The last 6-0, 6-0 result came in 1911., 22:D - It was the London club’s first major trophy in their 119-year history., 23:C - Horner could reportedly return to work in F1 as early as the spring. He is believed to want to return to the sport as soon as possible. , 24:D - The Royal Albert Hall was converted into a sumo dohyõ with a five-metre-wide pile of pounded clay and earth squatting in the middle of the venue, and a six-ton wooden roof, purpose-built for the occasion, suspended overhead. , 25:B - Australia are plotting another whitewash after going 3-0 up in the series. Only the ­all-time great side led by Steve Waugh in 2001 and 2002-03 have secured an Ashes series victory so quickly, while England are now up to 18 Test matches in Australia without a single win. , 26:B - He has broken the world record 14 times, most recently at the world championships in Tokyo, where he cleared 6.30 metres., 27:D - He was ridden by Patrick Mullins and trained by Willie Mullins for the big race. , 28:A - But Norris won the world title. , 29:G - They reached the final but were beaten 3-0 by Chelsea. , 30:B - The England men’s team won 11 of their 12 matches in 2025. The women's team are currently on a run of 33 straight wins.

Scores

1. 23 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

2. 22 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

3. 21 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

4. 24 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

5. 25 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

6. 26 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

7. 27 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

8. 28 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

9. 29 and above.

   That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

10. 30 and above.

    That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

11. 1 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

12. 2 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

13. 3 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

14. 4 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

15. 5 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

16. 6 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

17. 7 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

18. 8 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

19. 9 and above.

    Not bad. Not bad at all.

20. 10 and above.

    Not bad. Not bad at all.

21. 11 and above.

    Not bad. Not bad at all.

22. 12 and above.

    That's a great score. Happy new year.

23. 13 and above.

    That's a great score. Happy new year.

24. 14 and above.

    That's a great score. Happy new year.

25. 15 and above.

    That's a great score. Happy new year.

26. 16 and above.

    That's a great score. Happy new year.

27. 17 and above.

    That's a great score. Happy new year.

28. 18 and above.

    That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

29. 19 and above.

    That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.

30. 0 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next year.

31. 20 and above.

    That's a great score. What a way to see out 2025! Happy new year.