TL;DR. Ninety pub quiz questions across the seven canonical pub-night categories, with answers. Use them as a full 6-round night (15 questions × 6 rounds) or pick and mix. For a complete hosting playbook, see How to Host a Trivia Night.
Round 1 — General knowledge (15)
What is the largest country in the world by area? RussiaWhat is the smallest country in the world? Vatican CityHow many time zones does Russia span? 11What is the chemical symbol for gold? AuWhat is the longest river in the world? Nile (commonly accepted)What planet is known as the Red Planet? MarsHow many bones are in an adult human body? 206What is the largest ocean on Earth? PacificWhat is the boiling point of water in Celsius? 100°CWhat is the capital of Australia? CanberraWhat is the only edible food that never spoils? HoneyWhat does WWW stand for? World Wide WebWhich mammal lays eggs? Platypus (and echidna)What does HTML stand for? HyperText Markup LanguageHow many sides does a heptagon have? 7Round 2 — Sports (15)
How many players are on a soccer team on the pitch? 11Which country won the 2022 FIFA World Cup? ArgentinaIn which sport is the Davis Cup awarded? TennisWho has won the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles? Novak Djokovic (24)Who scored the “Hand of God” goal? Diego MaradonaHow many holes are in a regulation golf course? 18What is the term for three strikes in a row in bowling? TurkeyWhich F1 driver has 7 World Championships, tying Schumacher? Lewis HamiltonIn rugby union, how many points is a try? 5Where were the 2020 Summer Olympics held? TokyoWhat is the maximum break in snooker? 147Who holds the men’s 100m world record? Usain Bolt (9.58)Which two teams contest the Ashes in cricket? England and AustraliaIn which year did Tiger Woods win his first Masters? 1997What sport is known as “the sport of kings”? Horse racingRound 3 — Music (15)
Which band released “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975? QueenWho is the “King of Pop”? Michael JacksonWhich 1991 Nirvana album changed alternative rock? NevermindThe bestselling album of all time is commonly cited as: Michael Jackson’s ThrillerWho wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody”? Freddie MercuryWhich instrument did Louis Armstrong play? TrumpetWho released “Bad Guy” in 2019? Billie EilishWhat was Adele’s debut album (2008)? 19Which 1969 festival is iconic? WoodstockWho wrote “Imagine”? John LennonWhich band is from Liverpool? The BeatlesWho composed Ride of the Valkyries? Richard WagnerWhat was Taylor Swift’s pop-pivot album? 1989 (2014)Who released “Shape of You”? Ed SheeranWhich 1973 Pink Floyd album sold tens of millions? The Dark Side of the MoonRound 4 — Movies & TV (15)
Who directed *Jurassic Park*? Steven SpielbergWhat year did *Titanic* release? 1997Who plays Iron Man? Robert Downey Jr.Which 1994 film stars Tom Hanks running across America? Forrest GumpWho directed *The Godfather*? Francis Ford CoppolaWhat was the first Pixar feature-length film? Toy Story (1995)Which 1999 film features Neo and Trinity? The MatrixWho plays Walter White in *Breaking Bad*? Bryan CranstonWhat is the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide? Avatar (2009)Which 2019 film features the climactic line “I am Iron Man”? Avengers: EndgameWho directed *Inception*? Christopher NolanWhat sitcom centred on Central Perk? FriendsWhich 2003 film won 11 Oscars? The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWho plays Jerry on *Seinfeld*? Jerry SeinfeldWhich 2017 horror film won Best Original Screenplay? Get OutRound 5 — History (15)
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Create a Free Quiz — Sign UpRound 6 — Geography (15)
What is the longest mountain range in the world? The AndesWhat country has the most lakes? CanadaWhat is the highest waterfall in the world? Angel Falls (Venezuela)Which African country has the largest population? NigeriaWhat is the world’s largest desert (by definition)? AntarcticaWhat is the world’s largest hot desert? The SaharaWhich sea is the world’s saltiest? The Dead SeaWhich river runs through Cairo? The NileWhat is the deepest lake in the world? Lake BaikalWhich country contains the source of the Amazon? PeruWhat is the largest island in the world? GreenlandWhich strait separates Asia from Europe at Istanbul? The BosphorusIn which country are the ruins of Machu Picchu? PeruWhich sea has no coastline? The Sargasso SeaWhat is the world’s most populous country (since 2023)? IndiaTiebreakers
US population (millions, closest wins): ~340 millionNumber of living languages worldwide: ~7,000Height of the Eiffel Tower with antenna (metres): 330How to Host a Trivia NightSports Trivia QuestionsMusic Trivia QuestionsMovie Trivia QuestionsJeopardy-Style Quiz TemplateBuild a pub quiz round →
How to turn these 90 questions into a smooth night
Having good questions is half the job. The other half is pacing and scoring. Here is a simple structure that works for a two-hour pub quiz with the rounds above.
Open with general knowledge. Round 1 warms teams up and lets latecomers slot in without missing a specialist round.Alternate hard and easy rounds. If sports skews difficult for your crowd, follow it with music or pop culture so no team goes two rounds without scoring.Swap answer sheets between rounds. Teams mark each other's sheets while you read the answers aloud. It halves your admin and keeps everyone engaged during the reveal.Hold the tiebreakers until you actually need them. Announce closest-number-wins rules before reading the question, and require a written answer so nobody anchors on a rival team's shout.Read every question twice. Once at normal speed, once slowly. It cuts disputes by more than anything else you can do.Common hosting mistakes to avoid
Ambiguous answers with no ruling plan. Decide in advance what you accept. For question 5, "Nile" and "the Nile River" are both fine; "Egypt's river" is not. Write acceptable variants next to your answer key before the night starts.Reading answers in the same order every round. Shuffle occasionally so the same team is not always marking last.No difficulty ramp inside a round. Put two or three easy questions first in each round. A team that opens with a blank stare disengages fast.Forgetting the phones policy. State it once, clearly, at the start. A visible "phones face down during questions" rule beats policing mid-round.Refreshing the bank so regulars keep coming back
A weekly quiz burns through questions quickly, and regulars will notice repeats within a month or two. Rather than writing 90 new questions by hand each week, you can generate a fresh themed round in minutes with an AI quiz generator — give it a topic like "1990s one-hit wonders" or "European football finals" and edit the output to match your crowd's level. Always fact-check generated trivia before quiz night; treat the draft as a starting point, not a finished round.
If you run a recurring quiz, it also helps to keep a simple spreadsheet of which rounds you have used and when. Retire a category for six to eight weeks before bringing it back with new questions. And if your source material is already written down — a themed booklet, a history handout, last year's question archive — you can create a quiz from a PDF instead of retyping it.
For hosts who want a projected, self-scoring version of the night, building the rounds in a quiz maker lets teams answer on their own phones and gives you automatic scoring, which removes the answer-sheet swap entirely. SimpleQuizMaker's free plan includes 5 AI generations per month and up to 100 submissions, which comfortably covers a single quiz night before you decide whether a paid plan is worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions should a pub quiz have?
Between 50 and 90 questions across 5 to 8 rounds is the sweet spot for a two-hour night. The 90 questions on this page fill six rounds of 15; if your venue prefers shorter rounds, run six rounds of 10 and keep the rest as spares or tiebreakers.
How hard should pub quiz questions be?
Aim for an average team score of 60 to 75 percent. If everyone scores above 85 percent, the night feels trivial; below 50 percent, it feels punishing. Mix roughly one third easy, one half medium, and the remainder genuinely hard questions in each round, and adjust after you see your first week's scores.
How do I handle disputed answers on quiz night?
Announce at the start that the quizmaster's ruling is final, then be generous in practice. Accept any answer that is unambiguously correct even if worded differently, and if a question turns out to be genuinely flawed, void it for all teams rather than awarding points inconsistently.
Can I reuse these questions for a work or classroom quiz?
Yes — the general knowledge, geography, and history rounds transfer directly to team-building events and school settings. For classroom use, pair the trivia format with graded follow-up questions; the test maker supports timed quizzes and automatic scoring so you can run the same content as a proper assessment.