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99 free Sports History trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free sports history trivia questions with answers. Think you know your sports history? From Jesse Owens defying Nazi propaganda in Berlin to the Miracle on Ice that captivated a nation, from Babe Ruth's home run records to Wilt Chamberlain's legendary 100-point game — the history of sports is filled with moments that transcended the games themselves. Test your knowledge across every major sport and era with these 99 questions.
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Q 01Which country won the FIFA World Cup five times between 1958 and 2002?
Brazil
Brazil won in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only nation to have played at every World Cup since 1930.
Q 02The NBA championship trophy is named after which former commissioner?
Larry O'Brien
The Larry O'Brien Trophy, introduced for the 1977 Finals after the ABA merger, was renamed in 1984 for Larry O'Brien, NBA commissioner from 1975 to 1984.
Q 03In which year did Jackie Robinson break Major League Baseball's color barrier?
1947
Jackie Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers at first base on April 15, 1947; MLB retired his number 42 across every team in 1997.
Q 04Muhammad Ali's 1974 'Rumble in the Jungle' title fight against George Foreman took place in which African country?
Zaire
Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko was persuaded that hosting the fight in Kinshasa would boost his regime's image; the country is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Q 05How many gold medals did Michael Phelps win across his entire Olympic career?
23
Phelps' 23 golds are an all-time Olympic record; his eight at Beijing 2008 broke Mark Spitz's single-Games record of seven.
Q 06Who won the first Super Bowl, in January 1967?
Green Bay Packers
Vince Lombardi's Packers, the NFL champions, beat the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 on January 15, 1967.
Q 07What was Babe Ruth's career home run record that stood until 1974?
714
Babe Ruth retired in 1935 with 714 home runs, a record that stood for 39 years until it was broken on April 8, 1974.
Q 08The ancient Olympic Games were held in which Greek city?
Olympia
The ancient Olympic Games were held at Olympia in the western Peloponnese from 776 BC to 393 AD, a span of over 1,000 years.
Q 09In the 1980 'Miracle on Ice', the US Olympic hockey team upset which four-time defending gold medallist?
Soviet Union
The US beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in the Lake Placid medal round on February 22, 1980, then beat Finland 4-2 to clinch the gold.
Q 10Which sport did Michael Jordan famously leave basketball to play professionally?
Baseball
Michael Jordan retired from basketball in 1993 and played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox affiliate) in 1994 before returning to the NBA.
Q 11What is the back-first high jump technique that won gold at the 1968 Olympics called?
The Fosbury Flop
Dick Fosbury's Fosbury Flop, a diagonal run-up and backward arch over the bar, won gold at Mexico City 1968 with an Olympic-record 2.24 m.
Q 12Diego Maradona's infamous "Hand of God" goal occurred during which World Cup?
1986 Mexico
Maradona punched the ball past Peter Shilton in Argentina's 1986 quarter-final against England at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, then scored the 'Goal of the Century' four minutes later.
Q 13How many points did Wilt Chamberlain score against the Knicks on March 2, 1962?
100
Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win over the Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania; no film of the game survives, only radio.
Q 21Which sprinter was stripped of his 1988 Olympic 100m gold medal after testing positive for stanozolol?
Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson ran 9.79 seconds in the Seoul final on September 24, 1988, but his sample showed stanozolol and the IOC stripped his gold three days later.
Q 22In which event did Al Oerter win the same individual title at four straight Olympics?
Discus throw
Al Oerter won the discus throw at four straight Olympics, 1956 to 1968, setting an Olympic record each time despite never arriving as the favourite.
Q 23Charlotte Cooper became the first individual female Olympic champion in which sport?
Tennis
Charlotte Cooper won the women's tennis singles at Paris 1900, the first individual Olympic title won by a woman; sailor Hélène de Pourtalès had won gold earlier as part of a crew.
Q 14Which boxer bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear during a 1997 bout?
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's right ear during their WBA Heavyweight Championship rematch on June 28, 1997, resulting in Tyson's disqualification.
Q 15Which tennis player has won the most Grand Slam singles titles in men's history?
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic won his 24th Grand Slam singles title at the 2023 US Open, passing Rafael Nadal (22) and Roger Federer (20) for the most in men's tennis.
Q 16In which year were the first modern Olympic Games held?
1896
The first modern Olympics opened in Athens on April 6, 1896, with 241 competitors, all men, from 14 nations by the IOC's count.
Q 17Which baseball player broke Babe Ruth's career home run record in 1974?
Hank Aaron
Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run on April 8, 1974, playing for the Atlanta Braves against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth's long-standing record of 714.
Q 18Pelé is the only player to have won how many World Cup winners' medals?
Three
Pelé won three World Cups with Brazil, in 1958, 1962 and 1970; injury kept him out of the 1962 final, but FIFA later awarded winners' medals to every squad member.
Q 19Which city hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics, controversially used as propaganda by the Nazi regime?
Berlin
Berlin was awarded the 1936 Games in 1931, before Hitler took power; the regime turned them into a showcase, commissioning Leni Riefenstahl's film Olympia.
Q 20What was the original name of the NBA when it was founded in 1946?
Basketball Association of America
The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas, and took the NBA name after merging with the National Basketball League in 1949.
Q 24Which team completed the first perfect season in NFL history, going 17-0 in 1972?
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins went 14-0 in the 1972 regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs, beating Washington 14-7 in Super Bowl VII under coach Don Shula.
Q 25Which cyclist was stripped of seven Tour de France titles due to doping?
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour de France titles (1999-2005) in 2012 after the USADA found overwhelming evidence of his systematic doping program, the most extensive in cycling history.
Q 26What is the modern Mexican form of the Mesoamerican ballgame, played since at least 1650 BCE?
Ulama
Ulama, played with a solid rubber ball struck with the hip, survives in Sinaloa; rubber balls dated to about 1600 BCE were found at the Olmec site of El Manatí.
Q 27Which country led the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest at the invasion of Afghanistan?
United States
The United States stayed home after President Carter announced in January 1980 that the team would not go unless Soviet troops left Afghanistan.
Q 28How many gold medals did Jesse Owens win at the 1936 Summer Olympics?
Four
Jesse Owens won four gold medals at Berlin 1936: the 100 m, 200 m, long jump and 4x100 m relay.
Q 29Which player's 56-game hitting streak in 1941 set the MLB record?
Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak for the New York Yankees in 1941 is one of baseball's most unbreakable records. He got at least one hit in every game from May 15 to July 16.
Q 30Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match in which year?
1973
The 1973 match, played on September 20 in the Houston Astrodome, went to King in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, for a winner-takes-all purse of $100,000.