The 1930 FIFA World Cup took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930. This was the inaugural FIFA World Cup. This was also the only World Cup in which teams did not have to qualify. They just were invited to participate and some of them refused to do it. All matches took place wholly in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, and mainly at the Estadio Centenario, which was built especially for this tournament so awaited by the world of soccer.
13 teams from 3 confederations participated in the final tournament: 4 teams from UEFA (Europe), 7 from CONMEBOL (South America), and 2 from CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean). It is worth noting that most European countries refused to travel to South America, due to the long (three weeks) and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Only four European teams made the trip to Uruguay. However, the most powerful teams like Italy, England and Germany stayed home. The Uruguayan’ skill and style prevailed in this World Cup and they deservedly won the first World Cup title.
The rise of the far right and fascism in Europe and elsewhere, being perceived as a solution to prevent the spread of Communism (1920s).
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The popularity of automobiles, radios, and movies exploded (1920s).
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Benito Mussolini, one of the founders of Italian fascism, becomes the 40th Prime Minister of Italy (1922-1943).
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Reza Khan, later known as Reza Shah Pahlavi, is crowned Shah of Iran (1925).
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The Hungarian magician Harry Houdini dies (1926).
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Germany’s economy collapses (1927).
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Charles Lindbergh makes first trans-Atlantic crossing from New York to Paris (1927).
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Georges Lemaitre from Belgium proposes Big Bang Theory (1927).
Harry Houdini
Alexander Fleming
Georges Lemaitre
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The first transatlantic telephone call is made between New York and London (1927).
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Volvo Car Corporation is founded in Gothenburg, Sweden (1927).
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Saudi Arabia gains its independence (1927).
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Leon Trotsky is expelled from Soviet Union (1927).
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A devastating earthquake in Xining, China kills more than 200,000 (1927).
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World population reaches 2 billion (1927).
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China’s civil war begins (1927-1937).
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Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin (1928).
Charles Lindbergh
The Graf Zeppelin
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The 1928 Summer Olympic Games take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands (1928).
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Zhang Zuolin, President of the Republic of China, is killed by Japanese agents (1928).
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The President of Mexico, Alvaro Obregon is assassinated (1928).
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The Graf Zeppelin, with a total length of 236.6 meters, flows for the first time (1928).
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First phase of depression and world economic crisis (1929).
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US Stock Exchange collapse (1929).
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Mahatma Gandhi informs the British viceroy of India that begins the civil disobedience. He is later arrested (1930).
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Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system (1930).
Antecedents
Uruguay was chosen to host the 1930 FIFA World Cup, the First World Cup, at the FIFA Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in 1929. Uruguay was selected as a venue for four main reasons: a) Uruguay offered to cover all the costs, including the travel and accommodation of the participating teams, b) The bid included a plan to build a gigantic new stadium with a capacity of 90,000 (the largest outside of British Isles), c) Uruguay would be celebrating the first centenary of its constitution, and d) The Uruguayan national football team had won the 1924 and 1928 Olympic gold medals. They were de facto the world champions. Uruguay and Argentina had definitely revolutionized the way football was played.
Italy, Sweden, Hungary, Netherlands and Spain had also expressed an interest and submitted the bid to host the World Cup. However, the situation in Europe was not the best, and the wounds of World War apparently had not healed enough.
Montevideo in 1930
Qualification
The First World Cup is the only one without any qualification. All countries affiliated with FIFA were invited to participate. The American countries showed great interest (It was the only time that 7 South American countries participated in a World Cup), while most European countries declined to participate, citing a severe economic crisis and a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The fact is that two months before the start, there was still no European entrant. The President of FIFA, the Frenchman Jules Rimet, intervened, and thus four European countries agreed to participate.
The final draw took place in Montevideo one all the teams arrived. The thirteen participating teams were divided into four groups. The first group consisted of four teams. The other groups consisted of three teams. Each group played a round-robin format. The winners of each group progressed to the final stage with a straight knockout format. If two teams had tied on points to win a group, then a play-off would have been used to decide the group winner. If a knockout match was tied after ninety minutes, then thirty minutes of extra time would be played, but it was no required.
15 match officials from 8 countries and 3 confederations were the responsible for enforcing the laws of the game during the course of the 18 World Cup matches.
The first two games in the World Cup’s history took place simultaneously in Montevideo on 13 July 1930. United States beat Belgium 3-0, while France defeated Mexico 4-1. Lucien Laurent from France had the honor of scoring the first ever goal in World Cup history. The American Jimmy Douglas, on the other hand, was the first goalkeeper that kept a “clean sheet” in the World Cup’s history.
The first round was undoubtedly rich in details. In group A, the only with four teams (Argentina, France, Chile and Mexico), there were some significant events. France won the first game against Mexico and only 48 hours later had to face the pre-tournament favorite Argentina. The match was hotly contested, and Argentina won 1-0 thanks to an 81st-minute goal scored from a Monti free kick. The match was no stranger to controversy. The Brazilian referee blew the final whistle game when there were still several minutes to play, and just when Frenchman Langiller had the opportunity of an equalizer. The six minutes remaining were played after the protests from the French players. Chile, on the other hand, had a very good performance in the first two games beating Mexico and France respectively. Argentina's second match against Mexico was marred by refereeing errors. A total of five penalties were awarded during the match, which was won by Argentina 6-3. Guillermo Stábile from Argentina on his international debut scored the second hat-trick of the tournament. In the last game of Group A, Argentina beat Chile 3-1, and progressed to the semi-finals. Yugoslavia with two wins topped Group B ahead of Brazil. The Brazilian team, the group seeds, was expected to advance to semi-finals, but they lost 2–1 to Yugoslavia in the group's opening match. Bolivia had to go home with no points and two heavy defeats. In Group C, Uruguay won all their games to advance to the semi-finals. Romania beat Peru 3-1 in the group’s opening match and then lost to Uruguay. The game between Romania and Peru was played at the Estadio Pocitos and had the lowest record attendance for a single game in World Cup history. There are good reasons to believe the attendance was around 300. Peru, on the other hand, lost both games and had to go back without points. United States with two comfortable wins topped Group D ahead of Paraguay. Bert Patenaude from United States had the honor of scoring the first ever hat-trick in World Cup history. Patenaude hit all the goals of United States in a 3-0 win over Paraguay on July 17, 1930. In the last game of the group, Paraguay defeated Belgium 1-0. The European team had to make the long journey home with two losses in tow.
The first semi-final faced the favorite Argentina against the surprising U.S. team. The first half was even and a Monty goal gave Argentina a 1-0 half-time lead. The second-half, however, was all of Argentina that ended up winning the game by a convincing 6-1. The other semi-final was contested by the host Uruguay and one of the surprises of the tournament Yugoslavia. An early goal of Vujadinović was giving Yugoslavia a berth in the final; but Uruguay quickly recovered from the initial shock, then took a 2-1 lead, and ended up beating Yugoslavia 6-1. There was no third-place match at that time in the World Cup, as had happened for instance at the previous Olympic Games.
The 1930 FIFA World Cup Final was contested at the newly constructed Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, before a crowd of 90,000 followers including 30.000 Argentines who made the trip across the River Plate, for the two pre-tournament favorites and South American countries: the host, Uruguay, and its neighbor,Argentina. The victory fell to host team 4-2, as happened in the final of the 1928 Summer Olympics (Gold medal match: Uruguay 2-1 Argentina). It was no coincidence that both teams have been finalists in the gold-medal game at the Amsterdam Olympics two years earlier. Both teams were undoubtedly the best of the world in those times. The game started a little later than agreed because both teams insisted on using a ball of their own choice. Finally, they decided that they would play with an Argentina ball in the first-half and other from Uruguay in the second-half. Argentina had the better of the first-half that ended up winning 2-1 with goals from Peucelle and Stábile, but in the second half the hosts came back to win 4-2. The Celeste became the first country to win the First World Cup, and thus added the title of world champions to their titles of Olympic champions (1924 & 1928). The FIFA President Jules Rimet presented the trophy to winning captain José Nasazzi. The biggest sporting event of all time had seen the light.
Absolute frequency is a statistical term describing the number of times a particular piece of data, or value, appears during a trial or set of trials. Essentially, it is the number of times a particular thing happens. For example, in this World Cup a player from Argentina scored eight goals, one scored three goals, two scored two goals and three scored 1 goal. The sum of the absolute frequency represents the number of players that scored at least one goal (7 players in the case of Argentina: 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 7). The sum of the product between the number of times per value results in the number of goals for a team (18 goals in the case of Argentina: 1*8 + 1*3 + 2*2 + 3*1 = 18).
Milestone goals. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent from France on July 13, 1930. France beat Mexico 4 to 1.
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No World Cup much ended tie.
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There was no third-place match at that time. Both USA and Yugoslavia shared the third place.
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Bolivia had never previously won an international match.
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The first penalty of the World Cups history was awarded in the match between Argentina and Mexico. Rosas from Mexico scored the penalty. Argentina beat Mexico 6 to 3.
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Plácido Galindo from Peru holding the record for the first player to be sent off in the World Cup history in a match against Romania on 14 July 1930. Romania beat Peru 3 to 1.
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Manuel Rosas from Mexico holding the record for the first own goal in the World Cup history in a match against Chile on 16 July 1930. Chile beat Mexico 3 to 0.
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Bert Patenaude from United States holding the record for the first hat trick in the World Cup history in a match against Paraguay on 17 July 1930. USA beat Paraguay 3 to 0.
Uruguay became the first host nation to win the World Cup.
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Uruguay, the champion, had the best overall performance in one tournament: 100%. Won all four games.
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The youngest player was Carvalho Leite from Brazil: 18y (25 June 1912). The youngest goalkeeper was Juan Valdivieso from Peru: 20y (06 May 1910). The youngest scorer from was Manuel Rosas from Mexico: 18y (17 April 1912). The youngest champion was Pablo Dorado from Uruguay: 22y (22 June 1908). The youngest captain was Plácido Galindo from Peru: 28y (9 March 1902).
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The oldest player was Ulises Poirier from Chile: 33y (02 February 1897). The oldest goalkeeper was Jimmy Douglas from USA: 32y (12 January 1898). The oldest scorer and the oldest champion was Héctor Scarone from Uruguay: 31y (26 November 1898). The oldest captain was Tom Florie from USA: 32y (06 September 1897).
Clubs and players
The most important teams that contributed players to the national teams are shown in the table below.
15 match officials from 9 countries and 3 confederations were the responsible for enforcing the laws of the game during the course of the 18 World Cup matches.
This section presents the statistics of all dissmissals and cautions since the first 1930 FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay. However, the use of red and yellow cards to indicate sent-off and cautions were officially introduced at the 1970 World Cup.
Teams' discipline
Red cards are one of the most remarkable event that can impact the outcome of a game after goals and penalties. The team receiving the red card is in a vulnerable position and faces a significant disadvantage, mainly if it occurs in the first half. The opposing side on the other hand, receives the advantage and the score is more likely to be in their favor.
Pos
Flag
Penalized Team
TC
1
Peru
1
1
0
Pos
Flag
Benefited Team
TC
1
Romania
1
1
0
Matches' discipline
Pos
WC
CI
Date
TC
Match
1
1930
FR-G3
14 Jul 30
1
1
0
Romania
3-1
Peru
Attendance
The total attendance at the World Cup as well as both the total and average attendance for each of the national teams is shown in the table below.
The top scorer (Golden Shoe) of the tournament was Guillermo Stábile of Argentina, who would go on to score eight goals. American Bert Patenaude, on the other hand, was credited with being the first player to net three goals (the first hat trick) in FIFA World Cup history. The names that people probably remember from those times are:
The first round match between Argentina and France had an unexpected ending that surprised everyone. The Brazilian referee Almeida Rêgo blew the final whistle game when there were still several minutes to play, and just when Frenchman Langiller had the opportunity of an equalizer. The six minutes remaining were played after a half-hour delay and the protests from the French players, some of whom were already in the bath. Finally, Argentina defeated France 1-0 at Parque Central Stadium on 15 July 1930.
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Uruguay’s second goal in their 6-1 semifinal win over Yugoslavia is said to have been scored with an assist from a policeman, who reportedly kicked the ball back onto the pitch. The Brazilian referee Almeida Rêgo allowed play to go on and Peregrino Anselmo netted. Credits: ESPN
DID YOU KNOW?
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Four teams traveled in the same ship to get to Montevideo. The Romanian team boarded the SS Conte Verde in Genoa, the French delegation including FIFA President Jules Rimet boarded in Villefranche-sur-Mer, and the Belgians embarked in Barcelona on 22 June. A few days later, the SS Conte Verde docked in Rio de Janeiro, and picked up the Brazilian team. Finally, the liner arrived at Montevideo on 4 July 1930 where it was greeted by 10,000 Uruguayans fans. Four teams, the FIFA President Jules Rimet, the championship trophy and the three European referees arrived together in the same ship.
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The Estadio Centenario, designed by architect John Scasso and with a capacity of 90,000 spectators, was built especially for the First World Cup. Planning errors and delays due to bad weather, made the stadium was not ready until five days after starting the tournament. The first eight games were played in smaller stadiums located in Montevideo: Parque Central and Pocitos.
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Romania's team was selected by his Royal Highness King Carol II. He gave the payers three months off from their jobs with the promise that they would be reemployed.
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Guillermo Stábile, the top scorer of the tournament, was a substitute in his team, Argentina. However, a decision of his colleague, Manuel Ferreira, who left the concentration to present a university exam, allowed to Stábile to become a holder, scored the second hat trick of the tournament, and later became the top scorer of the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
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Héctor "El Manco" Castro will go down in history after scoring the first goal for Uruguay in a World Cup and for playing without his right forearm. El Manco meaning "the one-armed" or "the maimed". He accidentally amputated his right forearm while using an electric saw when he was 13.
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The final was played with two different balls. Argentina and Uruguay could not agree on which ball to use and the game was delayed for a few minutes. Both teams wanted to play with ball of their own choice. They finally decided to use an Argentinean ball in the first-half and a ball supplied by Uruguay in the second-half. In the first-half, Argentina playing with its own ball led the match 2-1. In the second-half, Uruguay with its own ball turned the match and ended up winning 4-2.
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Francisco Varallo, a member of Argentina’s squad at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, was the last surviving player from the 1930 World Cup at the time of his death. He died in La Plata, Argentina, on 30 August 2010, at the age of 100.
Training on SS Conte Verde
The teams from Belgium, France and Romania posing together on SS Conte Verde
France players pose after lunch during their cruise aboard the SS Conte Verde
