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The FIFA World Cup History

History of the FIFA World Cup - Timeline of Events 1930-1954

History of the World Cup - Uruguay 1930:

13 nations contested the first World Cup trophy, called the Jules Rimet Trophy, named after its creator. The 13 competing nations were: Argentina, Chile, Mexico, France, Romania, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Belgium, and the host nation Uruguay.

Disapproving murmurs were aimed towards FIFA for holding the tournament in South America, due to the poor economic state in Europe at the time; many countries couldn't afford to send a team to Uruguay.

This led to a host of the top European nations such as England, Italy, Scotland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia declining to take part. Therefore there was no qualification system, and the 13 nations went straight into the World Cup Finals.

There were five seeded teams: the Olympic Champions Uruguay, silver medallists Argentina, plus the USA, Bolivia, and Brazil. A small group format took place with one group of four, and three groups of three nations, with only the winners of each group progressing to the semi-final.

The first goal in the World Cup's history was scored by Frenchman Lucien Laurent, in the 19^th minute of their 4-1 victory against Mexico.

Apart from Yugoslavia shocking Brazil and Bolivia, the remaining three seeded teams cruised into the semi finals, where Argentina crushed the USA 6-1, and Uruguay beat Yugoslavia by the same margin..

The first ever World Cup Final was to be contested by Uruguay and Argentina, a rematch of the 1928 Olympic Final, and yet again Uruguay were victorious. Trailing 2-1 at halftime, Uruguay turned it around to win 4-2.

History of the World Cup - Italy 1934:

Italy 1934 was the first and only World championship not to feature the defending champions. Uruguay claimed that it couldn't afford to send a team, but many believe that this was simply a way of getting revenge on the European teams who snubbed the previous tournament held in Uruguay four years earlier.

The controversy didn't end there, after the Italians had acquired three of Argentina's top players of dual descent to play for them in this tournament, the Argentines sent a weakened squad as a protest.

The 1934 and 1938 World Cups were the only two to feature a straight draw and knockout system, a far cry from the traditional group stage layout. 29 teams took part in the qualification, a total of 16 nations made up the World Cup Finals spread out over 8 venues, including Naples, Milan, and Turin.

Despite the British Nations once again declining to take part, the European teams dominated the early exchanges with not one non-European nation progressing through the first round of matches.

With Czechoslovakia and Italy overcoming German and Austrian opponents respectively in the semi-final, there was to be a third place play-off, where Germany beat Austria 3-2.

The final was held in the Stadio Nazionale del P.N.F. in Turin in front of 45,000 people. Despite trailing with only ten minutes remaining, the Italians pulled a goal back, and with the aid of extra-time, went on to win 2-1, and became the second host nation in a row to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy.

History of the World Cup - France 1938:

France 1938 was the last football World Cup to favour the straight draw and knock-out method of competition, and also made history as the first Asian football team took part in the tournament; the Dutch East Indies.

There was also a large amount of games going the distance, and after no winner could be found after extra-time, and with penalty shoot-outs yet to be used, the Switzerland v Germany and Cuba v Romania matches both had to go to a replay.

Seven of the nine first round matches also went to extra-time, and with an average of over 4.5 goals per game being scored, this was quite a remarkable feat to have so many games drawing at full-time.

Poland's Ernest Wilimowski became the first man to score 4 goals in one World Cup match, in their 6-5 defeat by Brazil in which Leonidas, "the black diamond" also scored 4.

Being the last World Cup before the war, political influences were not too far away from the tournament, Only 15 of the 16 qualified nations attended; Austria dropped out due to their tense political situation.

Nations from the British Isles once again declined to enter, with Uruguay and Yugoslavia also noticeable by their absence.

After thumping Cuba 8-0, Sweden came unstuck in the semi-final, losing to the powerful Hungarians 5-1. Italy beat Brazil2-1 in the other semi-final. Brazil won the third place play-off.

Italy became the first nation to both successfully retain the World Cup, as well as the first to win it on foreign soil, beating Hungary in the final, 4-2.

History of the World Cup - Brazil 1950:

The first post-war World Cup was held in Brazil, and it had it all; high attendances, shock results, plenty of goals and drama.

The first true footballing upset in World Cup history was the USA beating England 1-0. It was actually reported as 10-1 to England in the papers, because many people thought that the real score must have been a mistake. The next shock was Brazil's failure to beat Uruguay in the final. After losing 2-1, a national state of mourning took place in Brazil, with some fans even committing suicide!

A record yet to be beaten, and one which probably never will be due to modern safety regulations, was the attendance for the Brazil v Uruguay match. 174,000 people crammed into the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro for the match, although unofficial figures have claimed that as many as 200,000 people attended.

Many European football teams didn't enter due to the warTeams such as Turkey and Scotland dropped out mid-tournament, and India did not take part as they were not allowed to play bare-foot. Despite FIFA inviting other countries to take part, many refused, leaving a two- team group of Uruguay and Bolivia to see who progressed into the final round. It was Uruguay, in a crushing 8-0 victory.

The winners from the four group stages, Uruguay, Sweden, Brazil, and Spain, all went into the final round, which was another group stage. Whoever topped the group after the round-robin format would be World Champions, second place was runner-up, and so on.

The third place was won by Sweden who beat Spain 3-1 in the final group match. Brazil only needed a draw in their final match to win the World Cup, but in front of 174,000 fans, Uruguay caused an upset and stunned a nation, scoring the winner eleven minutes from time, the Jules Rimet Trophy was theirs for a second time.

History of the World Cup - Switzerland 1954:

The World Cup was here to stay, and 1954 proved this with a then record amount of nations entering the qualifying stage. For the first time, a match was televised from the tournament, with the opening ceremony and match being transmitted, and with teams from Africa and Asia qualifying, the World Cup had finally become a truly worldwide event.

The footballing world's finest event also included football's first superstar; Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskás. Puskás had single-handedly destroyed England and their unbeaten record at Wembley in 1953 with a monumental performance in Hungary's 6-3 victory.

The ‘galloping major' scored 87 goals in 88 international appearances, a record which still stands, and the “Magical Magyars” arrived in Switzerland being touted as a wonder team, no doubt helped by being unbeaten in four years.

Despite being short, poor in the air and one-footed, Puskás was a genius and scored seven goals in the tournament. He was forced to sit out the quarter and semi finals due to an ankle injury. However, his desire not to miss out the pinnacle of any footballer's career meant that he still played in the final although he wasn't fully fit.

The 1954 World Cup was one of the most entertaining in the history of the World Cup. 140 goals were scored in 26 matches, which is still a World Cup record today, and nearly a million people attended the tournament. Sixteen teams made it through to the World Cup Finals from the 36 qualifying football teams. The World Cup was held in Switzerland to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of FIFA, which had its headquarters in Zurich, and the Argentines once again boycotted, as did the USSR.

The 1954 tournament format was unique, with two seeded teams per group to ensure that there was a spread of football strength across all the groups. West Germany were the surprise package of the tournament, despite losing their first match, they thumped Turkey twice and beat Yugoslavia, and then Austria in the semi finals.

With Hungary beating Uruguay in the semi-final, and seemingly back to full strength for the final (despite a half-fit Puskás), there was meant to be only one winner.

Even though the game ran true to form with the
Hungarians dominating, the scores remained level, until Rahn scored the winner with only 6 minutes remaining, helped no doubt when the Hungarian goalkeeper slid on the wet grass as he was about to go for the ball.

West Germany had caused one of the biggest shocks in world football by defeating the Hungarians, and winning the Jules Rimet Trophy for the first time.

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