Pre-Match Poser time, everyone.
Kevin Keegan, Bobby Robson and Sven-Goran Eriksson have done it; Gareth Southgate, Steve McLaren and Sam Allardyce have not. Thomas Tuchel hasn’t done it (but has benefitted from it). Fabio Capello did it twice. What is it?
We’ll reveal the answer this time next week in the next edition of The Pre-Match Poser – stay tuned for that – but for now, here’s the answer to last week’s conundrum…
Q. What connects the following: a legacy of Pele; Europe’s elite clubs during the 2000s; Italy’s and Ivory Coast’s last trophies; and matchgoers in the top four divisions in England during COVID-19?
A. Wrong numbers. Pele’s 2004 FIFA 100 list was intended to honour the 100 greatest living footballers of all time: except the Brazilian chose 125 players. Between 1998 and 2002, there were 14 clubs in European football’s G-14, an organisation founded to bring together top sides across the continent – but despite the expansion to 18 members in 2002, the G-14 kept its name. Ivory Coast won the Africa Cup of Nations 2023, but the tournament was played between January and February of 2024; likewise, Italy won Euro 2020 in 2021. And in 2020, England’s top four tiers may have been referred to as the 92, but there were only 91 clubs, given that Bury were expelled.
It was a tough one last week, right? Don’t worry, though: we’ve got plenty of quizzes to keep you sharp over the next seven days as you mull over your Keegans and Capellos, this time powered by Kwizly,
We’re launching straight into opposite ends of the international spectrum: the pinnacle of individual perfection and the long, gruelling road of continental qualifying. First, we want you to trace footballing royalty by naming every Ballon d’Or winner to have won the World Cup, honouring the rare pantheon of players who conquered both individual and collective summits. Once you’ve audited the golden elite, flip the script to test your macro-level knowledge by naming every FIFA nation to never appear at the World Cup, a rigorous exam of global footballing geography that separates genuine scholars from casual tournament fans.
If your expertise leans toward visual recognition and group-stage drama, we have a formidable double-header waiting in the tunnel. Put your spatial memory to work by trying to name every World Cup nation’s flag, before diving into the history books to name every nation to have reached a World Cup… and failed to make it out the group stage.
Fancy another one? Course you do. FourFourTwo’s Weekend Crossword 63 this week features playmakers, places and Euro ’28, as we hone in on hosts and future tournament folklore. To ensure you stay sharp for every matchday, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for your daily afternoon briefing of hand-picked trivia. To complete your transfer to the elite tier, join The Club, our free membership hub that serves as your digital dugout, where you can unlock secret hints for the toughest questions, climb global leaderboards, and join the debate directly in the comments.