Sports quiz of the week: balls, boxers, birthplaces and bottom clubs

The ball from Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal has gone up for sale. Photograph: GrahamBudd

1. The ball used in the World Cup quarter-final between England and Argentina in 1986 – when Diego Maradona scored his Hand of God goal and his Goal of the Century – is going up for auction next month. Who owns the ball and will make millions when it is sold?

   1. Diego Maradona’s family

   2. Peter Shilton

   3. Gary Lineker

   4. Ali Bin Nasser, who refereed the match

2. 

   Maradona’s shirt from that game was auctioned earlier this year. How much did it make?

   1. £1,986

   2. £999,999

   3. £7.1m

   4. £60m

3. What do the three clubs in the Premier League relegation zone have in common?

   1. They have all won the European Cup

   2. They are all from the Midlands

   3. They have the three longest-serving managers in the league

   4. Their names begin with the same letter.

4. 

   The Rugby League World Cup begins this weekend. There are 16 teams in the men’s event. Which two sides are making their debuts in the tournament?

   1. Greece and Jamaica

   2. Switzerland and Argentina

   3. Vietnam and China

   4. Denmark and Spain

5. Michael Cheika is coaching the Lebanon men’s team at the tournament. What other job does he have?

   1. He is a BBC pundit who will be co-commentating on all of Lebanon’s games

   2. He coaches the Argentina men’s rugby union team

   3. He also coaches the Lebanon men’s football team

   4. He is the mayor of Sydney

6. 

   There are three events at the Rugby League World Cup: men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments. There have been three previous wheelchair World Cups – in 2008, 2013 and 2017. Which country reached the final in all three?

   1. Wales

   2. England

   3. New Zealand

   4. USA

7. There will be 20,000 boxing fans inside the O2 Arena in London on Saturday night. What is unusual about the 11 bouts on the bill?

   1. All 11 bouts pit a boxer against a UFC fighter

   2. All 22 of the boxers are women

   3. All 22 fighters are from Cuba

   4. All of the boxers are retired athletes from other sports

8. 

   Ashley Young scored against Nottingham Forest on Monday night, becoming the second oldest player to score a goal for Aston Villa in the Premier League. Who is the oldest?

   1. Paul McGrath

   2. Stiliyan Petrov

   3. Brad Friedel

   4. Peter Schmeichel

9. Which player has committed the most fouls in the Premier League this season and has also been fouled the most in the Premier League this season?

   1. Declan Rice

   2. Gabriel Jesus

   3. Anthony Gordon

   4. Scott McTominay

10. 

    Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th club goal this week. How many of them have been penalties?

    1. 67

    2. 92

    3. 129

    4. 201

11. Max Verstappen won the Formula One world title last weekend. Where was he born?

    1. The Netherlands

    2. Wales

    3. Scotland

    4. Belgium

Solutions

1:D - Bin Nasser will make a fortune from a ball made famous by a goal he should have ruled out., 2:C - The ball is expected to fetch between £2.5m and £3m., 3:B - The clubs are Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Wolves., 4:A - Greece skipper Jordan Meads is not just a rugby league player. He also works in insurance., 5:B - Cheika has enjoyed success on the global stage before – he led Australia to the final of the union Rugby World Cup in 2015., 6:B - England won the tournament in 2008, but have lost the last two finals, in 2013 and 2017, to France., 7:B - Twenty-five years ago women’s boxing was banned in the UK. It has come a long way. , 8:D - Schmeichel was 37 years and 336 days old when he scored for Villa – that’s 243 days older than Young was on Monday., 9:B - He has committed 19 fouls and been fouled 26 times., 10:C - That’s 18%. His first goal was for Sporting against Moreirense in October 2002 and his most recent was against Everton in October 2022 – more than 20 years later. For the record, Lionel Messi has scored 691 club goals, 84 of which have been penalties (12%)., 11:D - Verstappen was born in Belgium, has a Belgian mother and grew up in a town in Belgium, he decided to compete with a Dutch racing licence because he “feels more Dutch” Verstappen lived near the border between the countries and says: “I only lived in Belgium to sleep. I was raised as a Dutch person and that’s how I feel.”

Scores

1. 1 and above.

   Oh dear.

2. 2 and above.

   Oh dear.

3. 3 and above.

   Not great but not terrible. Have a great weekend.

4. 4 and above.

   Not great but not terrible. Have a great weekend.

5. 5 and above.

   Decent. Have a great weekend.

6. 6 and above.

   Impressive. Have a great weekend.

7. 7 and above.

   A fine score. Have a great weekend.

8. 8 and above.

   Very impressive. Have a great weekend.

9. 9 and above.

   That's an excellent score. Have a great weekend.

10. 11 and above.

    Perfection. That's extremely impressive. Have a great weekend.

11. 0 and above.

    Oh dear.

12. 10 and above.

    That's an excellent score. We're very impressed. Have a great weekend.