Have two teams with the same national anthem ever played each other?

Plus: politicans embarrassing themselves at the football, and managers and players who are always improving. Mail your questions to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Given that England and Northern Ireland have the same national anthem, do any other national sides share one?” tweets Dylan Mitchell. “And have they played each other?”

Before we go on to actually answering the question, first, let’s remember that while the lyrics might be different, Liechtenstein have snaffled the melody from “God Save the Queen” for their “Oben am Jungen Rhein” anthem. England last met Liechtenstein during qualifying for Euro 2004, when Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney popped up with the goals in a 2-0 win. The first line of the text roughly translates as “on the upper reaches of the young Rhine, Liechtenstein leans against the Alpine heights,” according to Andy Shackleton, who has himself a GCSE in German. It’s pretty special. Andrew Cosgrove points out that New Zealand’s official national anthem is also God Save the Queen.

Continue reading...