There’s always a moment in any pub quiz when the table goes silent. Not because someone’s being thoughtful. Because everyone’s suddenly realised they’ve been chatting nonsense for ten minutes, and now a question has landed that feels weirdly personal.
Something like: What sport is best known as the “king of sports”? Half the table shouts “football” instantly. One mate insists it’s boxing because “that’s what my grandad called it.” Someone else starts Googling under the table like they’re defusing a bomb. And the quizmaster, smug as anything, just watches the panic unfold.
That’s the joy of Sports Trivia Questions when they’re done right. They’re not just facts. They’re little traps for overconfidence. They pull out old memories. They start arguments about who’s “actually” the greatest. They also reveal who’s been pretending to understand cricket for years. You know the one.
This set is built for real-life use. Pub quizzes. Family nights. That awkward gap before the match starts. It leans UK-friendly, but it doesn’t live in a bubble. And where stats matter, they’re based on widely cited records, like the Premier League’s all-time scoring charts and official F1 standings.
One important note before you fire these at your mates. Sports records can change. Especially anything “current”. For example, the 2025 F1 drivers’ champion was Lando Norris, according to Formula 1’s official 2025 standings.
So if someone tells you, “Lando Norris won 2025,” and someone else says, “No, it was someone else,” you’ve got the receipts.
General Sport Knowledge
Q: Which sport is called the “king of sports” more than any other?
A: Football (soccer).
Q: Which sport is known as “the sport of kings”?
A: Horse racing.
Q: In which sport can “love” mean you’ve scored absolutely nothing?
A: Tennis.
Q: On a football pitch, how many players does one team have on the field at once?
A: 11.
Q: In a normal round of golf, how many holes are you meant to play?
A: 18.
Q: Which sport uses that little feathered thing people always call a shuttlecock?
A: Badminton.
Q: A marathon is how many miles, roughly?
A: 26.2 miles.
Q: In which sport would you hear someone shouting about the coxswain?
A: Rowing.
Q: What’s the biggest number you can score with three darts if you hit it perfectly?
A: 180.
Q: At the start of a snooker frame, how many reds are on the table?
A: 15.
Football And Premier League
Q: Who’s still the Premier League’s all-time top scorer?
A: Alan Shearer.
Q: Who played the most Premier League matches in total?
A: Gareth Barry.
Q: When the Premier League first started in 1992–93, who won it?
A: Manchester United.
Q: Which keeper has the most clean sheets in Premier League history?
A: Petr Čech.
Q: Who holds the record for the fastest Premier League hat trick?
A: Sadio Mané.
Q: When people call football “the Beautiful Game”, what sport do they mean?
A: Football.
Q: Which England striker is famous for never getting a yellow card in his career and later hosted Match of the Day?
A: Gary Lineker.
Q: Which English club goes by the nickname “The Chairboys”?
A: Wycombe Wanderers.
Q: If someone says “The Gas”, which club are they talking about?
A: Bristol Rovers.
Q: Which Manchester hotel is linked to José Mourinho during his time managing Man United?
A: The Lowry Hotel.
Cricket
Q: England vs Australia in Test cricket. What’s the trophy called?
A: The Ashes.
Q: How long is a cricket pitch in yards?
A: 22 yards.
Q: People call it the “Bible of cricket”. What’s the book?
A: Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
Q: In cricket, how many balls make up one over?
A: 6.
Q: LBW. What does it stand for?
A: Leg Before Wicket.
Q: DLS gets mentioned when rain ruins everything. What does DLS stand for?
A: Duckworth Lewis Stern.
Q: Which ground is widely known as the Home of Cricket?
A: Lord’s.
Q: When a batter scores 100, what do you call it?
A: A century.
Q: In Test cricket, what colour ball is usually used?
A: Red.
Q: In many limited overs matches, what colour ball do they often use instead?
A: White.
Rugby Union And Rugby League
Q: In rugby union, how many points is a try worth?
A: 5.
Q: In Rugby League, how many players does each team have on the pitch?
A: 13.
Q: Italy joining made the Six Nations. What year did that happen?
A: 2000.
Q: What’s the nickname of South Africa’s rugby team?
A: The Springboks.
Q: What is England’s home rugby stadium called?
A: Twickenham.
Q: Tradition credits which person with “inventing” rugby at Rugby School?
A: William Webb Ellis.
Q: After a try, what’s the kick at goal called?
A: A conversion.
Q: What shape is a rugby ball, technically speaking?
A: Oval.
Q: What’s the name for a play restarting with players packed together pushing?
A: A scrum.
Q: England vs Scotland in rugby. What’s the trophy called?
A: The Calcutta Cup.
Tennis And Wimbledon
Q: What’s the oldest tennis tournament in the world?
A: Wimbledon.
Q: Wimbledon trophies have proper names. What are the men’s and women’s trophies called?
A: Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy and the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Q: What fruit sits on top of the Wimbledon men’s trophy?
A: A pineapple.
Q: Who was the first unseeded man to win Wimbledon in the Open Era?
A: Boris Becker.
Q: Andy Murray won Wimbledon twice. How many titles is that?
A: 2.
Q: Roland Garros is played on what surface?
A: Clay.
Q: What do you call it when the score hits 40–40 in tennis?
A: Deuce.
Q: What’s it called when a player wins a game without the opponent scoring a point?
A: A love game.
Q: Wimbledon used white balls before 1986. What colour were they?
A: White.
Q: Wimbledon food tradition. What do most people buy at least once?
A: Strawberries and cream.
Olympics And Athletics
Q: Who was the first person to run a mile in under four minutes?
A: Sir Roger Bannister.
Q: The first modern Olympics were held in what year?
A: 1896.
Q: Which city hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics?
A: London.
Q: The Fosbury Flop is used for which event?
A: High jump.
Q: How many events are in a heptathlon?
A: 7.
Q: Where are the 2028 Summer Olympics being held?
A: Los Angeles.
Q: Which sprinter is nicknamed “The Lightning Bolt”?
A: Usain Bolt.
Q: One lap around a standard athletics track is how far?
A: 400 metres.
Q: What’s the longest track running event in the Olympics?
A: 10,000 metres.
Q: If a runner goes too early, what do you call it?
A: A false start.
Darts And Snooker
Q: The World Darts Championship is held at which London venue?
A: Alexandra Palace.
Q: In snooker, what’s a perfect 147 called?
A: A maximum break.
Q: On a standard dartboard, what number sits between 9 and 11?
A: 14.
Q: Which snooker star is known as “The Rocket”?
A: Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Q: What colour is the highest-value ball in snooker?
A: Black.
Q: How many points is that black ball worth?
A: 7.
Q: What’s the big snooker tournament that’s usually seen as second only to the Worlds?
A: The Masters.
Q: In darts, what do you call the throw line?
A: The oche.
Q: In a normal turn, how many darts does a player throw?
A: 3.
Q: What’s the dramatic checkout people always shout about because it’s iconic?
A: Double 16.
Golf, F1, Cycling
Q: The Masters winner gets a jacket. What colour is it?
A: Green.
Q: What is the term for scoring two under par on a hole?
A: An eagle.
Q: One under par on a hole is called what?
A: A birdie.
Q: What is the term for scoring three under par on a hole?
A: An albatross.
Q: How many players are on a Ryder Cup team?
A: 12.
Q: The Open is usually played in which month?
A: July.
Q: Who was the first British winner of the Tour de France?
A: Bradley Wiggins.
Q: The Tour de France ends in Paris. Which famous avenue does it finish on?
A: The Champs Élysées.
Q: In Formula 1, what flag ends the race?
A: The chequered flag.
Q: Who won the 2025 Formula 1 drivers’ championship?
A: Lando Norris.
American And Global Sport
Q: NBA stands for what?
A: National Basketball Association.
Q: In American football, how many points is a touchdown worth?
A: 6.
Q: In baseball, how many defenders are on the field at once?
A: 9.
Q: The Stanley Cup belongs to which sport?
A: Ice hockey.
Q: “The Great One” is who in ice hockey?
A: Wayne Gretzky.
Q: What’s Japan’s traditional national sport?
A: Sumo.
Q: Which country has played in every FIFA World Cup?
A: Brazil.
Q: In inches, what’s the diameter of a basketball hoop?
A: 18 inches.
Q: What are the three races in the US horse racing Triple Crown?
A: Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes.
Q: The NFL is the top league for which sport?
A: American football.
Bizarre, Brainy, And Pub Quiz Favourites
Q: If someone’s a southpaw in boxing, what does that mean?
A: They’re left-handed.
Q: What name was Muhammad Ali born with?
A: Cassius Clay.
Q: “Catching a crab” is a mistake in which sport?
A: Rowing.
Q: In UK betting slang, what’s a “pony”?
A: £25.
Q: Which sport has actually been played on the Moon?
A: Golf.
Q: Who hit a golf ball on the Moon in 1971?
A: Alan Shepard.
Q: Which famous racehorse is linked with Aintree and is buried near the finishing post?
A: Red Rum.
Q: Three goals by one player in football. What’s that called?
A: A hat trick.
Q: A match ends 0 to 0. What do fans call that?
A: A nil-nil draw.
Q: In tennis, winning a set 6–0 is nicknamed what?
A: A bagel.
Where To Grab Fresh Sports Facts For Your Next Quiz
If you want your quiz to feel current and catch people out in the best way, build a few questions from the week’s actual headlines. The trick is using sources that update fast and don’t get the basics wrong.
Start with the obvious ones for UK readers:
- BBC Sport is the cleanest “what happened today” feed. It’s quick, it’s straight, and it’s usually the first place people check after a result.
- Sky Sports is great for football coverage and transfer news when things get noisy.
- The Guardian Sport is ideal when you want a bit of context, plus the kind of details that make good quiz questions.
For stats and records, go more official, because opinions are fun, but numbers need to be solid:
- Premier League and individual club sites for fixtures, results, and updated tables.
- Formula 1 for standings and race results.
- ATP and WTA sites for tennis rankings and tournament draws.
- World Rugby for rankings and match info.
And if you want the quiz to feel like it was written by an actual person, not a spreadsheet, grab a few questions from human chatter too:
Match threads and post-match reactions on Reddit can give you the “what did everyone notice” angle. Not for hard facts, but for fun phrasing and weird moments people remember.
Pick three big stories from the week, pull one clean fact from each, then add two classic questions as a breather. It keeps the quiz feeling fresh without turning it into a news exam.
Final Word
Here’s the thing. It isn’t cleverness that makes the best sports trivia questions. They’re the lines that stir up a mini-debate, get somebody to groan, and then have the table sort of agree on an ultimate response.
Use these as written, or nick the style and write your own around whatever your group actually watches. Football-heavy crowd? Lean that way. Family full of cricket weirdos? Go on then.
If someone at your table insists that the 2025 Formula One world champion isn’t actually him or her, simply smile and suggest a wager. Politely, of course.
References and Sources
- Football (Premier League): Premier League Official Stats Centre
- Formula 1 (2025 Standings): F1 Official Results Archive
- Rugby Union: World Rugby Official Rankings & Records
- Cricket: Wisden Cricket Records
- Tennis: Wimbledon Official Museum & History
- BBC Sport: bbc.co.uk/sport — The benchmark for verified UK sports results.
- The Guardian Sport: theguardian.com/sport — Excellent for deep-dive historical context on the “King of Sports” debate.
- Guinness World Records: guinnessworldrecords.com — Perfect for validating the “Bizarre” section (e.g., golf on the moon).
- Premier League Records: Historical goal and appearance data via PremierLeague.com.
- F1 Standings: 2025 World Drivers’ Championship results sourced from the FIA Formula One Archive.
- Cricket History: All pitch measurements and terminology cross-referenced with the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
- Rugby Stats: International match history and Six Nations records via World Rugby and SixNationsRugby.com.
- Olympic History: Modern Games milestones verified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
