2018 FIFA World Cup Geography Trivia Quiz

Answer: Russia

Russia was not only the largest country in the tournament, it was the largest country in the world. As the host for the 2018 World Cup, they were the first country to qualify when the host was decided in December 2010.

Only four of the top 10 countries by area qualified for the tournament.

Answer: Belgium

With an area of about 30,500 sq. km, Belgium had the smallest area. Switzerland was the next smallest but was over 40,000 sq. km. Of the 10 smallest countries in the tournament, seven were in Europe with only South Korea, Panama, and Costa Rica being outside.

Despite its small size, Belgium was the top seed in their group with about half of their players playing club football for English Premier League teams.

Answer: Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland was the northernmost capital in the world. Although Russia, Sweden, and Denmark (including Greenland) all had parts that are north of Iceland, their capitals were all to the south.

With a population of about 350,000, Iceland's population was smaller than any country that had qualified for a prior World Cup, breaking the record set by Trinidad and Tobago in 2006. T&T's population was over 1 million.

Answer: Canberra, Australia

Being in the southeast corner of Australia, Canberra was a little less than one degree further south than Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. Of the countries in the 2018 World Cup, there were only five with national capitals south of the equator. Of the remaining 27 countries, 18 had national capitals further away from the equator than Canberra was.

Answer: Bogota, Colombia

Bogota was just over four degrees north of the equator. All four options listed were less than ten degrees north.

This tournament was somewhat unusual in that three of the five African countries were Mediterranean rather than Equatorial. These were Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt. Besides Nigeria, Senegal was the only other African country primarily located below the Tropic of Cancer.

Answer: Canberra, Australia

Located at 149 degrees east, Canberra was about ten degrees further east than Tokyo. Thus it was both the southernmost and easternmost capital city represented in the tournament.

Although generally considered part of Oceania, Australia qualified for the 2018 World Cup as part of Asia. They finished fifth in Asian qualifying and had to win a two game playoff against the fourth placed team in North America which was Honduras.

Answer: Mexico City, Mexico

Located 99 degrees west longitude, Mexico City was the furthest west and fourth furthest from the prime meridian overall. Only Canberra, Tokyo, and Seoul were further away.

This was the 16th time (out of a possible 21) that Mexico qualified for the world cup making them fourth most among the teams qualified behind only Brazil, Germany (including the former West Germany), and Argentina. Italy had also qualified for more world cups but did not qualify for 2018.

Answer: Paris, France

Paris was only a little over two degrees east of the Prime Meridian. Interestingly enough, of the four capitals besides London which were closest, two were east of the prime meridian and two were west. A total of eight of the countries in the tournament had national capitals within ten degrees of the prime meridian, including Switzerland, Nigeria, and Portugal. Tunisia just missed this list by eleven minutes.

Answer: Poland

In 1982 Germany was still split into separate East and West Germany with West Germany qualifying for the world cup. Serbia and Croatia were still part of Yugoslavia as that country had not yet undergone its civil war. Poland qualified under their current name.

Answer: Senegal

Although Egypt and Senegal both qualified as part of Africa, Senegal was in western Africa and was not considered part of the Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia qualified as part of Asia.

Although the remaining Middle East countries failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament, Qatar won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and was the first team to qualify for that tournament.