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Until the World Cup final tournament in Germany is less than 3 months away, a series of articles is starting in the "Tribune" about the previous championships. The first article by website visitor Tom (ronaldinho_10) is about the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.
The first World Football Championship took place in 1930. The championship was assigned to Uruguay as the then Olympic champions. Also at that time the country celebrated its centenary of independence, so it was a big celebration for the people of Uruguay. Uruguay not only became the first country to host a World Football Championship, but also became the first World Football Champion - in the final, the hosts defeated the Argentine national team 4-2.
This championship was the only one without qualification matches, national teams were simply invited to participate. Afraid of the long and tiring journey across the Atlantic, only a few European teams agreed to participate in the championship. Two months before the championship, none of the old continent teams had officially agreed to participate in the championship. However, then the then FIFA president Jules Rimet intervened in this matter, who held long talks with the Uruguayan government and promised to cover all travel expenses for the European teams. Finally, four European teams decided to start the long and exhausting three-week journey by ship across the Atlantic. Those teams were Belgium, France, Yugoslavia, and Romania.
Thirteen national teams were divided into 4 groups, all matches took place in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo. The first two opening matches were also the first World Championship matches in history. On July 13, France defeated Mexico 4-1, while at the same time at another stadium in Montevideo, the USA beat Belgium 3-0. The first goal in the history of the World Cup was scored by French national team player Lucien Laurent. American Bert Patenaude scored the first "hat-trick" in the history of the World Cup, and his team won 3-0 against the Paraguayan national team in that match. The winners of the four groups - Argentina, Yugoslavia, USA, and Uruguay reached the semifinals.
Both semifinal matches ended with the same result of 6-1 - Argentina defeated the USA, while the Uruguayan team beat Yugoslavia. Since traditional matches for the 3rd place did not appear until the 1934 World Cup, this championship became unique in that the 3rd place winner was not determined and there were no matches between the semifinals and the final. However, some sources, especially the 1984 FIFA summary, claim that the match for the 3rd place ended with a score of 3-1 in favor of the Yugoslav national team, but this information was never officially confirmed.
The first World Cup final in history was played in Montevideo at the "Centenario" stadium on July 30. Before the match, a dispute arose about which team's ball should be used. Ultimately, FIFA intervened and decided that the Argentinian ball would be used in the first half, and the Uruguayan ball in the second half.
After a lost first half and a stubborn fight, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2, winning the championship and adding another prestigious trophy to the Olympic gold they already had. After the match, the World Cup trophy was presented and handed to the winners by FIFA president Jules Rimet, and this trophy was later named after him.
The only living participant of this final is Francisco Varallo, who played as a forward for the Argentine national team.
So, this is what the first World Cup in history in Uruguay was like.
Championship statistics
1st World Championship. Uruguay, July 13-30, 1930.
Winner - Uruguay
Number of participants - 13
Matches played - 18
Goals scored - 70 (average of 3.89 goals per match)
Number of spectators - 434,500 (average of 24,139 per match)
Top scorer - Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) 8 goals
Participants: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, USA, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, France, Belgium, Romania.
Group A
France 4 - 1 Mexico
Argentina 3 - 1 Chile
France 0 - 1 Chile
Mexico 3 - 6 Argentina
France 0 - 1 Argentina
Mexico 0 - 3 Chile
Group Standings:
(Team, Matches, Wins, Draws, Losses, Goals For, Goals Against, Points)
1. Argentina 3 3 0 0 10 4-6 6
2. Chile 3 2 0 1 5 3-2 4
3. France 3 1 0 2 4-3 1 2
4. Mexico 3 0 0 3 4-13 -9 0
Group B
Yugoslavia 4 - 0 Bolivia
Yugoslavia 2 - 1 Brazil
Brazil 4 - 0 Bolivia
Group Standings:
(Team, Matches, Wins, Draws, Losses, Goals For, Goals Against, Points)
1. Yugoslavia 2 0 0 6-1 5 4
2. Brazil 2 1 0 1 5 2-5 3 2
3. Bolivia 2 0 0 2 0-8 -8 0
Group C
Romania 3 - 1 Peru
Uruguay 1 - 0 Peru
Uruguay 4 - 0 Romania
Group Standings:
(Team, Matches, Wins, Draws, Losses, Goals For, Goals Against, Points)
1. Uruguay 2 2 0 0 5-0 5 4
2. Romania 2 1 0 1 3-5 -2 2
3. Peru 2 0 0 2 1-4 -3 0
Group D
USA 3 - 0 Belgium
Paraguay 3 - 0 Belgium
USA 3 - 0 Paraguay
Group Standings:
(Team, Matches, Wins, Draws, Losses, Goals For, Goals Against, Points)
1. USA 2 2 0 0 6-0 6 4
2. Paraguay 2 1 0 1 1-3 -2 2
3. Belgium 2 0 0 2 0-4 -4 0
Semifinals
Argentina 6 - 1 USA
Uruguay 6 - 1 Yugoslavia
Final
Montevideo, "Estadio Centenario", July 30
Referee: Jan Langenus (Belgium)
Uruguay 4 - 2 Argentina
(First half 1-2)
12` [1 - 0] Pablo Dorado
20` [1 - 1] Carlos Peucelle
37` [1 - 2] Guillermo Stabile
57` [2 - 2] Pedro Cea
68` [3 - 2] Victoriano Santos Iriarte
89` [4 - 2] Hector Castro
Uruguay: Ballesteros, Mascheroni, Nasazzi, Andrade, Fernandez, Gestido, Dorado, Scarone, Castro, Cea, Iriarte.
Argentina: Botasso, Della Torre, Paternoster, J. Evaristo, Monti, Suarez, Peucelle, Varallo, Stabile, Ferreira, M. Evaristo.
Final Tournament Standings
(Team, Matches, Wins, Draws, Losses, Goals For, Goals Against, Points)
1. Uruguay 4 4 0 0 15-3 8
2. Argentina 5 4 0 1 18-9 8
3. USA 3 2 0 1 7-6 4
4. Yugoslavia 3 2 0 1 7-7 4
Top scorers:
Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) - 8 goals
Pedro Cea (Uruguay) - 5
Carlos Peucelle (Argentina) - 3
Ivica Bek (Yugoslavia) - 3
Pelegrin Anselmo (Uruguay) - 3
Bertram Patenaude (USA) - 3
