Can You Name These World Cup Legends?

By: Richard James Painter
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Football has a long, exciting history. Did you know it evolved from rugby and soccer? Football became popular due to American students who started the game back in the 1800s. The first official football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton in 1860. The NFL was later established in 1920—being considered to be the premier league by 1922.

These days, football is among America’s most popular sports. The American Football League was created in 1960, merging with the NFL by 1970. Every year, a championship game is played between the two leagues: the Super Bowl, which awards its victors the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Every year, skilled players are taken into great college programs to play, too. Loyal fans get together, eat plenty of junk food and cheer for their favorite stars. The Super Bowl is the most-watched television event in the nation, and a mere 30-second Super Bowl ad can cost its brand nearly five million dollars!

Fans love seeing Levi Stadium’s sunny grass, and they’d do anything to step on Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. We might consider our football champions to be celebrities—but their popularity is well-deserved. The sport is loved across industrial towns, reaching peak velocity in California and New York.

If you’re a true fan, you likely have your facts and statistics lined up. Between college football and the NFL, championship sits years of hard work, experience, and heart-pounding games.

You might know, for example, who holds the longest-winning streak in college football: The Oklahoma Sooners. Or, maybe you know that the score of 22-0 is the largest victory margin in college football. In 1965, football passed baseball as America’s official pastime sport.

Some of the world’s most valuable athletes are football players. When you account for skill, age, and profile, some of football’s leading athletes are truly heroic. Every year, experts diligently watch player transfers, fees, and stats—attempting to gauge athletic prowess and potential alike.

There are 32 official teams in the NFL—and each is packed with memorable faces. If you’re like most people, you’ve heard of John Elway, Lawrence Taylor, and Tom Brady. Other high-profile players have become prominent in recent years, too. Since the first televised game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1939, fans have fawned over the industry’s impressive events.

You might also know some of the nitty-gritty details, like quarterback Paul D. Hubbard’s “huddle” invention which kept other teams from spying secret play hand signals. You might also know that the Baltimore Ravens weren’t named after the bird—but after the Edgar Allen Poe poem, “The Raven.”

If you consider yourself to be the best football fan, however, you still have a way to go. It’s one thing to know the players—but it’s another thing entirely to put names to the faces.

We propose a challenge: We’ll show you a list of football player pictures. Can you guess their names? Put your skills to the test. Embrace your love of football in this ultimate challenge. Be ready, however, as the quiz isn’t easy.

Check out these star athletes, and challenge yourself to succeed where many others have failed. If you do well, share the quiz with your friends! Again, it isn’t easy, but it’s totally worth the rush.