A man lost a whopping £108k after getting a World Cup question wrong on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

If you aren’t aware of the premise of the game show, it’s simple. If a contestant correctly answers 15 questions in a row, they become a millionaire.

The questions are completely random and can be on any topic. Contestants can use lifelines to help them out should they struggle. While they can walk away from the game at any point, taking home whatever they had earned to that point, should they not want to gamble.

Marc Offenbacher was given the opportunity to play the German edition of the game show. He correctly answered 12 questions, using just two of his four lifelines along the way, to earn himself €64,000.

He was then asked a tricky World Cup question, with a correct answer worth €125,000.

Offenbacher Answers World Cup Question Wrong

Host Gunther Jauch read out question 13 of 15 to Offenbacher:

Offenbacher admitted that he wasn’t a football fan. He said: “I’m more of an outdoors person. I never watch football. Not even other sports.”

Fortunately for Offenbacher, he had two lifelines at his disposal. He decided to ask a member of the audience if someone thinks they know the answer and, if they do, they stand up and give their thoughts.

Initially, there weren’t any takers. But one audience member eventually stood up to give their opinion.

The audience member said: “I can’t name all the World Cup final results off the top of my head, but I’ve heard that statistically, most football matches end 2–1. So I’d assume it’s the same for the World Cup finals.”

They added: “I’d actually rule out 4–2. I think, back in the early days of football, scores were still pretty high. But nowadays, the number of goals is usually around two or three per match. But as I said, I couldn’t tell you all the World Cup final scores…”

Offenbacher agreed that he would also rule out 4-2. He then used his final lifeline, a 50:50, leaving him with just two answers, 4-2 and 2-1.

The contestant then locked in his answer: 2-1. Justifying his decision, he said:

Unfortunately, he picked wrong, and was gutted when informed by the host. He left with just €500, €64,500 less than he would have taken home if he hadn’t answered the question and €124,500 less than if he’d got it right.

He added: “In hindsight, I’d say – yeah, it was stupid, too risky. I probably should’ve stopped. Honestly, I also thought it was 2–1, and then, with the audience’s support…”

The World Cup Finals That Have Ended 4-2

A World Cup final has ended 2-1 on just two occasions, while four finals have ended 4-2.

Uruguay won the first ever World Cup in 1930, defeating Argentina 4-2 in the final. Eight years later, Italy beat Hungary by the same scoreline to retain their title.

England won their only World Cup in 1966, beating West Germany 4-2 in the final. Geoff Hurst scored a historic hat-trick at Wembley, while Martin Peters also found himself on the scoresheet.

While in 2018, France triumphed over Croatia by that scoreline. Mario Mandzukic (OG), Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe were all on target for Les Bleus as they won the World Cup for the second time.

There’s a chance that England players will not shake hands with one of their opponents at the 2026 World Cup finals.

Thomas Tuchel’s England players are currently being put through their paces with warm-weather training sessions in Florida, USA, in preparation for the showpiece international tournament, which gets underway on June 11.

England face two warm-up games against New Zealand (June 6) and Costa Rica (June 10) before their World Cup Group L opener against Croatia on June 17.

The Three Lions, who reached the Euro 2024 final and are among the favourites to win this summer’s World Cup with their star-studded 26-man squad, will also face Ghana (June 23) and Panama (June 27) in the group stages.

FA Considering How England Players Confront Partey Handshake

Pre-match handshakes between opposing players are customary before top-level matches, including World Cup fixtures.

However, the Football Association (FA) are reportedly set to consider how England players confront the possibility of facing Ghana’s Thomas Partey for a pre-match handshake on June 23, according to The Times.

The FA declined to comment when asked if England players will be consulted on the matter. The Times’ chief sports correspondent Matt Lawton adds: “[The FA] will be only too aware that two of the four Arsenal players in the squad – Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka – are former team-mates of Partey. Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze joined Arsenal after Partey left the club on June 30 last year when his contract expired.”

Partey has been named in Ghana’s 26-man squad despite being charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in July 2025. The former Arsenal midfielder, who now plays for Spanish side Villarreal, was charged with two new counts of rape in February 2026.

Partey, 32, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Ghana Defend Partey World Cup Call-Up

“Thomas is our vice-captain,” Ghana FA president Kurt Okraku told BBC Sport. “He is one of the top midfielders in the world and we stand by him shoulder to shoulder.”

Partey was booed by Welsh fans during Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw between Wales and Ghana.

Asked about his decision to pick the midfielder for the match in Cardiff, Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz said: “It’s a simple and basic answer. As far as I know, in England, in Portugal, whatever, until the court makes a decision, that the presumption of innocence is on the side of all court cases.

“But today, and this is not only about Thomas, very unfortunately the way the social media and the media sometimes act with full and total impunity, we are condemned even before we have the opportunity to defend. So let the events run this normal course. Let the river flow and one day when the river meets the ocean, we’re going to find the truth.”

Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant manager at Manchester United, also hit out at the media after Wales fans booed Partey on Tuesday evening.

Ghana begin their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 18 before facing England and Croatia (June 27).

With the 2025/26 season domestic now over, it’s time to turn attention to the World Cup. Not only will that tournament reveal the greatest footballing nation on the planet, but it will also give a big indication as to who is the best individual in the game right now.

Indeed, the race for the Ballon d’Or is heating up, and current holder Ousmane Dembele helped his chances of securing back-to-back awards after winning the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain. That said, he’s not quite been in blistering form at all moments this season, and an indifferent World Cup could open up the chance for someone else to claim the prize.

On that front, England forward Harry Kane has to be among the favourites. The Bayern Munich star certainly seems to think so, although he has named one other man as a strong rival in 2026.

Kane Backs Himself for 2026 Ballon d’Or

In an interview with L’Equipe, via ESPN, the 32-year-old said that he’s ‘among the favourites’ for the 2026 Ballon d’Or after enjoying a fine season in Germany. It’s hard to argue with Kane on that front. After all, he has won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal, while managing 61 goals and seven assists in 51 games. He explained:

That is a big ‘if’ though, as England have not won the World Cup since 1966. That said, with Kane as captain, they’ve made the finals of the last two European Championships and will feel confident of going deep into the tournament this summer.

Kane did, however, accept there were others who could challenge him for the Ballon d’Or in 2026. Without naming names, he referenced players in the Champions League final, presumably meaning Demebele, Vitinha and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of PSG – and possibly even Arsenal and England’s Declan Rice.

He then specially named Michael Olise as another contender:

Olise has been in scintillating form at Bayern as well in 2025/26, bagging 31 assists and a further 22 goals in 52 club games. Interestingly enough, former Bayern teammate Thomas Muller has also named Kane and Olise as two front-runners for the award, although he suggested the Frenchman is more likely to win it due to his ‘artistic’ style. He explained:

“As far as the Ballon d’Or is concerned, the ‘artistic element’ is taken into account. Generally, I see Harry as the more important player — but when it comes to the vote for the World’s Best Player, it’s more for players like Michael, with this dance-like, artistic, ease, magic quality, you can’t learn that.”

With the ceremony to be held in London for the first time ever, on 26 October 2026, it certainly would be a suitable location for Kane or Olise to scoop the award – as both men were born in the English capital.