Football quiz: test your recall of World Cup qualifying shocks and drama

Johan Cruyff, Jan Tomaszewski, Thierry Henry Composite: AP, Getty Images

1. In 1973, Poland goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski produced a string of saves at Wembley to deny the hosts a place at the 1974 World Cup – having been labelled 'a circus clown with gloves' by which English manager?

   1. Alf Ramsey

   2. Brian Clough

   3. Don Revie

   4. Ron Greenwood

2. France's greatest World Cup embarrassment came in 1993, when they failed to qualify after losing their last two games at home to Israel and ...

   1. Bulgaria

   2. Romania

   3. Sweden

   4. Luxembourg

3. Who did Gerard Houllier hold responsible for France's defeat, calling him 'the murderer' of their World Cup hopes?

   1. Eric Cantona

   2. David Ginola

   3. Bernard Lama

   4. Didier Deschamps

4. In 2006, which two African countries made their only World Cup appearances to date after denying Senegal and Nigeria in qualifying?

   1. Togo and Angola

   2. Botswana and Zambia

   3. Libya and Tanzania

   4. Mali and Ethiopia

5. Italy, the four-time world champions, have failed to qualify for the finals since 2014. Who eliminated them from the playoffs in 2022?

   1. Sweden

   2. Switzerland

   3. Portugal

   4. North Macedonia

6. Which team qualified ahead of Mexico for the 1982 World Cup, only to lose their opening game 10-1?

   1. Canada

   2. Cuba

   3. El Salvador

   4. Honduras

7. The 1982 finals had a few surprise qualifiers. Which team booked their only World Cup appearance to date with an 89th-minute leveller against New Zealand?

   1. Haiti

   2. Iraq

   3. Kuwait

   4. United Arab Emirates

8. You'll probably remember that a Thierry Henry handball helped France qualify at the Republic of Ireland's expense in 2009. But who did Henry set up to score?

   1. Nicolas Anelka

   2. Karim Benzema

   3. William Gallas

   4. Sidney Govou

9. The only men's World Cup Argentina have tried and failed to qualify for came in 1970. Which team took their place?

   1. Brazil

   2. Colombia

   3. Peru

   4. Uruguay

10. Roman Torres' 88th-minute winner against Costa Rica earned a dramatic World Cup 2018 spot for which team?

    1. Honduras

    2. Mexico

    3. Panama

    4. Uruguay

11. What role did Peter Hore play in Australia's away-goals defeat to Iran in a playoff for the 1998 World Cup?

    1. Known as a serial prankster, Hore ran onto the field and damaged a goal net with Australia leading 3-1 on aggregate. The break in play allowed Iran to get back into the game and score two late goals

    2. Socceroos centre-back Hore scored a last-minute own goal that sent Iran through to the finals at Australia's expense

    3. As Australia's foreign minister, Hore prevented the team from travelling to Tehran, resulting in a 3-0 defeat they could not overturn in Melbourne

    4. Hore was a former Australia assistant who joined Iran's coaching staff before the playoff games

12. Australia finally ended their long wait for a second World Cup appearance by beating which side on penalties in 2005?

    1. Iran

    2. Japan

    3. Peru

    4. Uruguay

13. The Dutch side whose 'Total Football' shook the world in 1974 nearly didn't qualify, rescued by a controversial offside flag against ...

    1. Belgium

    2. Czechoslovakia

    3. England

    4. Yugoslavia

14. Back in 2009, who scored a last-minute winner for Argentina against Peru in driving rain to revive their qualifying bid?

    1. Gonzalo Higuaín

    2. Javier Mascherano

    3. Lionel Messi

    4. Martín Palermo

15. In the infamous 'Davide Gualtieri game' in 1993, how many goals did England need to beat San Marino by to have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup?

    1. Three

    2. Five

    3. Seven

    4. 10

Solutions

1:B - Cloughie was admonished by Brian Moore for repeatedly labelling Tomaszewski a clown, as the unconventional keeper kept England at bay despite breaking a finger early in the game. Poland went on to finish third at the 1974 World Cup, powered – according to 'Tomek' himself – by 'cigarettes and wine'., 2:A - Emil Kostadinov's last-minute winner at the Parc des Princes sent Bulgaria through at France's expense. They made the most of qualifying, beating Germany on their way to fourth place at World Cup '94., 3:B - Ginola's decision to cross towards Cantona rather than keep the ball in the corner allowed Bulgaria to break – but in fairness, there was still work to do. The defeat saw Houllier sacked and replaced by Aime Jacquet, who went on to win the 1998 World Cup., 4:A - Powered by Emmanuel Adebayor's goals, Togo beat Senegal at home and drew 2-2 away before a comeback win over Congo in Brazzaville sealed their place. Angola lacked a star striker but Akwá's late winner in Rwanda saw them edge out the Super Eagles on head-to-head record. Sadly, neither team won a game at the finals in Germany., 5:D - Fresh from winning Euro 2020, the Azzurri came second in their group to Switzerland, setting up a likely playoff final against Portugal – only to lose 1-0 to North Macedonia in their home semi-final, 6:C - The 1981 Concacaf Championship doubled as World Cup qualifying, with hosts Honduras winning it after a goalless draw with Mexico to end their round-robin campaign. El Salvador snuck through in second after beating Haiti 1-0, but suffered a historic embarrassment against Hungary in Spain., 7:C - Sami al-Hashash's late header delighted fans in Kuwait City, and left New Zealand needing to beat Saudi Arabia by five goals to force a playoff against China. Remarkably, they did so, then won the playoff to join Kuwait at the finals., 8:C - Henry admitted after the game that he had controlled the ball with his hand before crossing for Gallas to score from close range, earning France a 2-1 win on aggregate., 9:C - Argentina opened with defeats to Bolivia and Peru and ended up needing to beat the latter side in Buenos Aires to escape their group. Instead, they were held to a 2-2 draw., 10:C - Torres' late strike earned Panama their World Cup debut and eliminated the USA, who finished fifth in the six-team Concacaf group., 11:A - Straight after Aurelio Vidmar had scored at the MCG to give Terry Venables' side a two-goal cushion, Hoare's antics caused a 10-minute delay. Iran fought back to draw 2-2 and advance on away goals., 12:D - John Aloisi scored the decisive spot kick as the Socceroos prevailed 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw in a bad-tempered battle for a place at the 2006 finals., 13:A - It was neighbours Belgium. Needing to win in Amsterdam, they scored in the 89th minute – only for Jan Verheyen's header to be incorrectly ruled out for offside. The rest is history., 14:D - 'Another miracle of Saint Palermo' was manager Diego Maradona's verdict – after diving into a puddle to celebrate the dramatic late goal., 15:C - It's fair to say that going behind after eight seconds wasn't part of the plan. England eventually won 7-1, but the Netherlands' win in Poland made the result academic.

Scores

1. 10 and above.

   Back of the net! You're off to the World Cup

2. 5 and above.

   Unlucky, you've just missed out on qualifying

3. 0 and above.

   Nowhere near a place in the finals – better luck next time