The World Cup of Everything

by Richard Osman

In The World Cup Of Everything Richard Osman* gives you and your friends the chance to vote on some of the most controversial, and funniest arguments of our time.

What is the greatest chocolate bar of all?
It's the Twirl surely? Maybe Maltesers?

What are the greatest crisps of all time?
Frazzles of course! Anything but Ready Salted Walkers

Best sitcom ever?
Hmmm, 'Only Fools And Horses' or 'Blackadder'

Best animal?
Dog!, No wait, cat! No wait, dog!

Hold on, you disagree? You think that Pickled Onion Monster Munch are the best crisps? And 'Mrs. Brown's Boys' is the best sitcom?

Play along with The World Cup Of Everything and you and your family and friends can decide these things once and for all. You will be arguing about, then voting on, the best crisps, the best chocolate, the best sweets, the best sitcom, the best Christmas songs, the best Disney films, the best biscuits and so much more.

It is also packed with amazing stories and incredible facts on everything from Nandos to 'Die Hard' to Jammie Dodgers.

And who wins? You decide!

*Richard from Pointless, you know the one.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comedy

400 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2017

About the author

Richard Osman is an author and television presenter. His novels, The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil to Die, were number one, million-copy international bestsellers as well as New York Times bestsellers. He lives in London with his wife, Ingrid, and Liesl the cat.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane]

This book is INCREDIBLE. It gives even the quietest person a reason to debate back with you, opens people up in a way I've never seen before, great ice breaker! Also fun to play with your partner, who knew a debate between twix vs milky way would result in a actual argument! Hahahaha still a fab gift though, or even for yourself.

[Lisa Bentley]

Years ago, to keep my students entertained on a lunch period we decided to create the ‘League of Biscuits’. We measured he varies qualities of each biscuit – texture, dunkability, taste and we decided that the best biscuit is the ginger nut – not the favourite biscuit but it is the best.

Richard Osman’s book The World Cup of Everything is built on this premise – in this book you get a game and a really good book to read. It is a book that will keep you entertained for hours on end.

The World Cup of Everything by Richard Osman is available now.

[Patricia O'Brien]

This book provided a most enjoyable couple of lockdown 🔐😷 Zoom hours with friends while we discussed, quite heatedly I might add, the merits of various bars in the first suggested Topic (yes, that one did come up) in The World Cup of Chocolate Bars. I look forward to the next subject.
Good old fashioned fun!

[Cat]

The World Cup of Everything is a delightfully entertaining and highly interactive read that turns everyday opinions into playful, often hilarious debates.

Richard Osman takes simple questions best chocolate, best sitcom, best snacks and elevates them into a competitive, tournament-style format that practically demands reader participation. It’s the kind of book that refuses to stay quiet on the shelf; you’ll find yourself pulling others in just to settle the arguments.

What makes it stand out is its accessibility and humor. Whether you’re deeply invested in your answers or just along for the ride, the book creates a shared experience filled with nostalgia, laughter, and friendly disagreement.

Fun, clever, and endlessly debatable, this is a perfect pick for anyone who enjoys lighthearted reading with a social twist.

[Liz Banks]

This was a great format. The author had brackets set up for World Cups of things like: Chocolatae Bars, Christmas Songs, Famous Americans - there were 14 categories Unfortunately, he's British so some meant nothing much to me. His comments were both enlightening and hilarious. One of my favorites was Christmas songs where he paired classic carols with terrible British Christmas hits. I enjoyed asking Alexa to play the British hits. (They were always the losers.) I did get a good idea for a party game from this.

[Amy]

I just read this as a trivia book rather than actually doing the world cup parts and quizzes. It was both interesting and surprising and had all the humour from Richard that I enjoy on Pointless. I can imagine it would be good fun in a group though and is a great idea for a party game with the family.

[James]

One of the laziest books I've ever read, it seems to have been 'researched' using Google and Wikipedia. The section on Disney movies contains so many mistakes and untruths that it makes me doubt every so-called 'fact' Osman offers.

[David Lai]

At times when I was reading this book, I thought "This guy's a comic genius". The section on the world cup of animals is especially hilarious, but the whole book is riddled with Osman's witty jokes.

A really fun read.

[Andrew Oakes]

A good bit of fun but riddled with errors, especially the Disney section.

[Stephen Donovan]

I was was given this one for Christmas and it was a fun, interactive read with a lot of interesting facts.

[Paul]

I enjoyed the concept, but after a while it all got far too repetitive. Works better on Twitter, though more of my choices “won” in this version!

[Kevinjwoods]

Would call it

MOSTLY POINTLESS

But somehow that joke seems a bit obvious

[Alice]

Good fun at party's though I recommend having a drink in hand for extra fun!

[Nathan Herat]

Really enjoyed playing along 😊

[Derek]

Great group fun. Even if you didn't think you cared, you will find yourself arguing passionately over the relative merits of Quavers vs Chipsticks.

[Ali Nembhard]

Love it. Great family fun. Great over zoom during lockdown

[Sam]

Bit of fun sprinkled with the comfortable humour of Richard Osman

[Thomas Shuttleworth]

Surprisingly Interesting

[Sarah]

I paid a pound for this. If I’d paid the asking price of £14.99 I would probably be scoring this lower. I got it for the quizzes which were fun to do. The book itself was OK with some entertaining facts but like all these books it’s hard to know how much trust to place in them, especially in this case as the author has a jokey style and sometimes it’s unclear what’s a joke and what’s fact.