Basel Quiz Questions and Answers

46 Basel questions in rounds of ten, with the answers kept separate so you can read them out. Free to use for a pub quiz, a matchday WhatsApp group or your own revision — no sign-up, and the page prints cleanly.

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5

Prefer to play instead of read? Take the Basel quiz →

Round 1

  1. In which year was FC Basel founded?
  2. Which pair of colours has FC Basel worn since its founding?
  3. By which Swiss-German nickname is FC Basel known?
  4. FC Basel are based in which country?
  5. What is the official name of the stadium FC Basel moved into in 2001?
  6. By what affectionate nickname do locals know FC Basel's stadium?
  7. Xherdan Shaqiri left Basel in 2012 to join which club?
  8. Basel academy graduate Ivan Rakitic represented which national team at senior level?
  9. Basel's 2-1 win over Manchester United on 7 December 2011 eliminated United at which stage of the Champions League?
  10. Which section of St. Jakob-Park is the traditional home of Basel's ultras?
Answers — round 1
  1. 1893 — Eleven men met at a Basel restaurant on 15 November 1893 to found Fussball Club Basel — the year survives in the club's full name, FC Basel 1893.
  2. Red and blue — Red and blue were chosen on day one, taken from the colours of the Basler Ruder-Club that several of the founders belonged to.
  3. RotBlau — It's a compound word in the local Swiss-German dialect that fans have used for the club since its earliest days.
  4. Switzerland — Basel sits in north-west Switzerland on the Rhine, at the corner where the Swiss, French and German borders meet.
  5. St. Jakob-Park — St. Jakob-Park opened on 15 March 2001, built on the site of the old St. Jakob Stadium it replaced.
  6. Joggeli — 'Joggeli' is the Basel-dialect diminutive of Jakob — roughly the equivalent of calling it 'Jake'.
  7. Bayern Munich — Basel announced in February 2012 that Shaqiri had agreed to join Bayern Munich for the following season, in a deal reported at around 11.6 million euros.
  8. Croatia — Though raised in Switzerland, Rakitic was born to Croatian parents and chose to play for Croatia at senior level.
  9. The group stage — The St. Jakob-Park win settled the final group place: Basel went through to the last 16 and United dropped into the Europa League.
  10. The Muttenzerkurve — The Muttenzerkurve is the stadium's east curve, named for the direction of the nearby town of Muttenz, and is the heart of Basel's ultras scene.

Round 2

  1. Who scored the late winner as Basel beat Chelsea 1-0 at St. Jakob-Park in November 2013?
  2. In which year did FC Basel win their first Swiss championship?
  3. Which architecture firm designed St. Jakob-Park?
  4. On 13 May 2006, which club won the Swiss title with a 93rd-minute goal at St. Jakob-Park, triggering a pitch invasion by Basel fans?
  5. Which two players scored Basel's goals in the 2-1 win over Manchester United on 7 December 2011?
  6. Basel's 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge in September 2013 came in the first Champions League game of whose second spell as Chelsea manager?
  7. Basel led Liverpool 3-0 at half-time at home in November 2002. How did the Champions League match finish?
  8. Which Scottish club did Basel eliminate in Champions League qualifying in 2002?
  9. Basel knocked out which English club on penalties in the 2013 Europa League quarter-final?
  10. Which manager led Basel to the 2013 Europa League semi-final?
Answers — round 2
  1. Mohamed Salah — Salah struck late on 26 November 2013 to complete a group-stage double over Chelsea — two months later he joined them.
  2. 1953 — Basel finished four points clear of Young Boys in 1953 for the first league title in the club's sixty-year history.
  3. Herzog & de Meuron — Herzog & de Meuron are Basel's own — the local firm went on to design the Allianz Arena and Beijing's Bird's Nest.
  4. FC Zürich — A 1-1 draw would have crowned Basel; Zürich's stoppage-time winner took the title instead, and the riot that followed became known as the 'Disgrace of Basel'.
  5. Marco Streller and Alexander Frei — Streller and Alexander Frei scored one apiece either side of half-time; Phil Jones replied for United.
  6. José Mourinho — Mourinho had just returned to Chelsea for his second spell, and Basel beat him 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in his first Champions League match back, on 18 September 2013.
  7. 3-3 — Liverpool struck back three times after the break on 12 November 2002, but the draw was enough to send Basel through at the Reds' expense.
  8. Celtic — Basel lost 3-1 at Celtic Park but won 2-0 at home on 28 August 2002 to go through 3-3 on away goals.
  9. Tottenham Hotspur — The tie finished 4-4 on aggregate and Basel won the shootout 4-1 at St. Jakob-Park, with Emmanuel Adebayor blazing over.
  10. Murat Yakin — Yakin took charge in October 2012 with the season stuttering, then drove Basel to a league title and a European semi-final.

Round 3

  1. Basel signed Mohamed Salah in 2012 from which club?
  2. Granit Xhaka left Basel in 2012 to join which club?
  3. Breel Embolo left Basel in 2016 to join which club?
  4. Alexander Frei returned to Switzerland to sign for Basel in 2009 from which club?
  5. Xherdan Shaqiri rejoined Basel in August 2024 from which club?
  6. In which country was Ivan Rakitic born?
  7. Massimo Ceccaroni, who spent virtually his whole career at Basel, played mainly in which position?
  8. Which club ended Basel's run of consecutive Swiss league titles by winning the 2017-18 championship?
  9. Which manager led Basel to the 2024-25 Swiss championship?
  10. Christian Gross, appointed Basel manager in 1999, had earlier become the first Swiss to manage in which league?
Answers — round 3
  1. El Mokawloon — Salah signed a four-year deal from El Mokawloon in April 2012, with the Egyptian league suspended after the Port Said disaster.
  2. Borussia Mönchengladbach — Basel announced in May 2012 that Xhaka had agreed terms with Lucien Favre's Borussia Mönchengladbach, for a fee estimated around 8.5 million euros.
  3. Schalke 04 — Schalke confirmed Embolo's signing on a five-year deal in June 2016, in one of the largest sales in Basel's history.
  4. Borussia Dortmund — Frei left Borussia Dortmund in July 2009 to rejoin his boyhood club Basel on a three-year contract.
  5. Chicago Fire — Shaqiri came home after three seasons with Chicago Fire in MLS, and inspired Basel's title win that season.
  6. Switzerland — Rakitic was born in Rheinfelden, Switzerland, to Croatian parents, and joined Basel's youth academy as a boy.
  7. Defender — Ceccaroni played at the back for Basel from 1987 to 2002, a one-club loyalty that made him a cult figure on the terraces.
  8. Young Boys — Young Boys broke Basel's eight-year grip in 2017-18 and went on to dominate the Super League themselves.
  9. Fabio Celestini — Celestini took over in October 2023 with Basel bottom of the table and turned them into champions within eighteen months.
  10. The Premier League — Gross had a short, unhappy spell in England's top flight from November 1997 to September 1998, before rebuilding his reputation at Basel.

Round 4

  1. In which year did Gigi Oeri become president of FC Basel?
  2. Who took over the majority of shares in FC Basel Holding AG from Bernhard Burgener in May 2021?
  3. FC Basel was founded after a newspaper advertisement calling for a football team was placed by whom?
  4. Who was Basel's player-coach when they won their first Swiss championship?
  5. Basel's 2002 championship was the club's first league title since which year?
  6. Which country beat Switzerland 1-0 in the opening match of UEFA Euro 2008?
  7. What was the name of FC Basel's home ground in the club's early decades, before the move to St. Jakob?
  8. Which defender scored the 93rd-minute goal at St. Jakob-Park on 13 May 2006 that decided the Swiss title and sparked a pitch invasion?
  9. Who scored the 89th-minute winner as Basel beat Manchester United 1-0 at St. Jakob-Park in November 2017?
  10. Basel first watched Mohamed Salah in the flesh in a March 2012 friendly against which side?
Answers — round 4
  1. 2006 — Oeri joined the board as a patron in 1999 and served as president from 2006 until 2012, the era in which Basel became Switzerland's dominant club.
  2. David Degen — Degen, a former Basel player, bought out Burgener in May 2021 before selling part of his stake to fellow board members.
  3. Roland Geldner — Geldner's advert in the 12 November 1893 Basler paper asked interested men to meet the following Wednesday — eleven turned up and founded the club.
  4. René Bader — Bader ran the team from within it, and his side lost only once in twenty-six games on the way to the title.
  5. 1980 — Basel had gone twenty-two years without a title before Christian Gross's side won the 2002 double.
  6. Czech Republic — The Czech Republic spoiled the co-hosts' opening night in Basel on 7 June 2008.
  7. Landhof — The Landhof, in the Kleinbasel quarter, served as Basel's ground for decades before the St. Jakob era began.
  8. Iulian Filipescu — Filipescu turned in a cross from the right after Basel failed to clear, with Florian Stahel providing the delivery.
  9. Michael Lang — Lang converted Raoul Petretta's cross from close range on 22 November 2017 to stun United late on.
  10. Egypt's under-23 team — Salah came on at half-time for Egypt's under-23s at the Stadion Rankhof and scored twice in a 4-3 win; Basel invited him to train with them that week.

Round 5

  1. Yann Sommer's 2014 move from Basel to the Bundesliga saw him replace which player who had just left for Barcelona?
  2. Fabian Frei returned to Basel in 2018 after a spell at which German club?
  3. At the end of which season did Marco Streller retire from professional football?
  4. Basel striker Josef Hügi scored a hat-trick in Switzerland's 7-5 defeat in the 1954 World Cup quarter-final against which country?
  5. Thorsten Fink left Basel in October 2011 to take charge of which club?
  6. What nationality was Helmut Benthaus, who arrived at Basel in 1965 as player-coach and stayed for seventeen years?
Answers — round 5
  1. Marc-André ter Stegen — Ter Stegen's 2014 move to Barcelona opened the door, and Sommer was signed from Basel to take his place.
  2. Mainz 05 — Frei spent two and a half seasons at Mainz 05 from 2015 before Basel brought him home in January 2018.
  3. 2014-15 — Streller hung up his boots after the 2014-15 campaign, having captained Basel through the middle of their title run.
  4. Austria — In searing heat at Lausanne, Switzerland led 3-0 before Austria won 7-5 — Hügi's hat-trick came in a losing side.
  5. Hamburger SV — Fink departed for Hamburger SV having won two league titles and a cup in a little over two years at Basel.
  6. German — The German shaped Basel's great late-1960s and 1970s side before leaving for VfB Stuttgart in 1982.

About these questions

Every question here is checked before it ships, and most carry a short explanation so you learn something when you get one wrong. They come from the same bank as the Ball IQ app.

Play the Basel quiz →