The 1934 FIFA World Cup took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. This World Cup saw a mix of sports and politics, since it was staged under the Fascist rule of Benito Mussolini. 16 teams from 4 confederations participated in the final tournament: 12 teams from UEFA (Europe), 2 from CONMEBOL (South America), 1 from CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) and 1 from CAF (Africa). 10 teams made their first World Cup presentation (Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Egypt).
Uruguay, the defending champion, declined to participate in retaliation at the refusal of several European nations to travel to Uruguay for the previous world cup. The Italian style prevailed in this World Cup, even though Italy won some very controversial games.
Guaita scores the winning goal in the 1934 World Cup semifinal against Austria in Milan
The Great Depression affected most of the industrialized nations in the world (1929-1939).
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Spain becomes a republic with overthrow of King Alfonso XIII (1931).
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Empire State Building, the world’s tallest building, completed (1931).
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The Africa's first cross-continental railroad line is completed (1931).
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Canada gets almost complete legislative independence from the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1931).
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The Parliament of Australia and Parliament of New Zealand gain full legislative authority over their territories (1931).
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New Delhi becomes the capital of India (1931).
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The 1931 Central China floods, the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded, kills between 1.34 to 4 million people (1931).
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Japan invades China and takes control of Manchuria (1932).
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Nazis win the German elections (1932).
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70,000 killed in a brutal earthquake in China (1932).
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The French President, Paul Doumer, is murdered (1932).
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The Summer Olympic Games take place in Los Angeles, United States (1932).
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Colombia and Peru War (1932-1933).
Empire State Building
Air France begins operations
Amelia Earhart
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The Chaco World, the war between Bolivia and Paraguay over the disputed territory of Gran Chaco, begins (1932).
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Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic alone (1932).
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Franklin Roosevelt becomes President of the United States (1932).
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The Nissan Motor Company is founded in Tokyo, Japan (1933).
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Air France begins operations (1933).
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Germany, U.S. and British sunk into depression (1933).
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Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany (1933).
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Hitler becomes führer (1934).
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Mao Zedong begins the Long March (1934).
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Einstein writes The World as I See It (1934).
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Alexander I of Yugoslavia, the first King of Yugoslavia, is assassinated in 1934 during a visit to France (1934).
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Augusto Sandino, a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion against the U.S. military occupation of Nicaragua between 1927 and 1933, is assassinated in Managua, Nicaragua (1934).
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Lázaro Cárdenas becomes President of Mexico (1934).
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Alcatraz becomes a Federal Prison (1934).
Antecedents
After a very slow process in which the executive committee of The International Federation of Association Football, FIFA, met many times, Italy was chosen as host nation at the congress held in Stockholm, Sweden on October 1932. The decision was taken by the executive committee, without carrying out the vote of its members. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, personally took charge of the organization. Sweden had also submitted the bid to host the championship, but the Italian bid was chosen in preference to one from Sweden.
England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales decided not to participate because they felt that their international championship was much better than the one to be staged in Italy. Uruguay, the defending champion, did not enter because the European nations did not travel to Uruguay for the previous world cup. This was the only time in World Cup history that the reigning champion decided not to participate.
The championship of Italy had important political connotations. Benito Mussolini used the World Cup to showcase the strengths of Italy and to promote his fascist regime to the world. Il Duce did not miss any of the Azzurra team matches.
This was the first time that the World Cup qualification took place. The First World Cup proved to be such a success that now many more teams wanted to participate in Italy. 32 nations entered the competition, therefore FIFA convened a qualifying round to reduce the field of aspirants to 16 teams. The qualifying matches were arranged on a geographical basis. Italy, regardless of who was the host nation, had to qualify. This was the first and only time in World Cup history the host nation was not granted automatic qualification. After the World Cup Preliminaries, 16 teams went to the final stage to be held in Italy. The 16 available spots were distributed in continental zones as shown below:
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Europe (UEFA): 21 teams (including Irish Free State) competed for 12 direct places.
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South America (CONMEBOL): 4 teams competed for 2 spots. Peru and Chile withdrew, so Brazil and Argentina qualified automatically.
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North America, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 4 teams competed for 1 spot.
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Asia (AFC) and Africa (CAF): 3 teams competed for 1 spot. Turkey withdrew.
The first World Cup qualifying match was played on June 11, 1933 when Sweden defeated Estonia 6-2 in Stockholm. On the other hand, the last team to qualify for the final stage was the United States, who had submitted their entry too late and had to play a one-off match with Mexico in Rome, just three days before the start of the championship.
An extremely curious note occurred in the Palestinian team. The qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Palestine/Eretz Israel team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players. The Palestine Football Association says that was a "Jewish" team which represented Palestine, and Arab Palestine had no relation to this team.
The group stage used in the first World Cup was dropped in favor of a straight knockout tournament. The idea was simple: if you lose, you go home.
Teams play for 90 minutes. If there is a tie after ninety minutes, thirty minutes of extra time are added. If the score remains tied after the additional time, the match would be replayed at a date established by the organizing committee.
For a complete list of all squads that appeared in the 1934 FIFA World Cup, please, visit: 1934 World Cup squads
Venues
Unlike four years earlier when all the matches were played in Montevideo, eight cities hosted the tournament. The Host Cities for the 1934 FIFA World Cup were Milan, Rome, Florence, Naples, Bologna, Turin, Genoa, and Trieste.
25 match officials from 12 countries and 2 confederation were the responsible for enforcing the laws of the game during the course of the 17 World Cup matches.
This was a straight knockout tournament, completely different to that of the first World Cup. There was no opening group stage, so the tournament was a knockout stage from the start. The first round had some facts worth noting. All eight first round matches kicked off at the same time. The hosts and favourites Italy defeated USA by a resounding 7-1. On the other hand, Argentina with internal disputes and a team that did not include any of the players who participated in the final of the previous world cup, lost to Sweden 3-2. These were the two most prominent games in the first round. It was the only time in World Cup history that the last eight consisted entirely of European teams.
Argentina players training prior to one of their matches
The Brazilian team
In the quarter-finals, the first surprise occurred. Top seed, Italy, could not beat Spain neither in regular time nor in extra-time; so they replayed the game the next day. Italy won the replay 1–0, thanks to Giuseppe Meazza's goal in the 12th minute. This was the first replayed match in World Cup history. In another outstanding quarter-finals game, Czechoslovakia ended the hopes of Switzerland, defeating them 3-2. Germany and Austria also advanced to the next stage.
In the semi-finals, Italy beat Austria by the same score on a rain-sodden pitch in Milan. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakia secured their place in the final by defeating Germany 3–1. Three days before the final, the third place match saw the victory of Germanyover Austria 2-1.
The 1934 FIFA World Cup Final was contested by the hosts Italy and Czechoslovakia in the multi-purpose Stadio Nazionale PNF in Rome. A crowd of 55,000 people attended the final. The victory fell to host team 2-1 after extra time. Czechoslovakia led the game 1-0 until the minute 80th. However, with nine minutes left in regulation Argentine-born Raimundo Orsi beat Czech goalkeeper Frantisek Planicka in the minute 81th, and another goal at extra-time from Angelo Schiavio were enough to be crowned World Cup winners. Italy became the first European winners of the FIFA World Cup.
The Sweden team before their the game against Germany in a 1934 FIFA World Cup quarter-final
FIFA initially credited Nejedlý only four goals, which made him the event's scorer jointly with Angelo Schiavio (Italy) and Edmund Conen (Germany). In November 2006, FIFA corrected and changed to 5 the number of goals, making Nejedlý alone in the top scorer of the championship. Nejedly is now credited with all three of his country’s goals in their 3-1 victory over Germany in the 1934 World Cup semi-final.
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 Italy scored four goals, one scored three goals, two scored two goals and one more scored 1 goal. The sum of the absolute frequency represents the number of players that scored at least one goal (5 players in the case of Italy: 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 5). The sum of the product between the number of times per value results in the number of goals for a team (12 goals in the case of Italy: 1*4 + 1*3 + 2*2 + 1*1 = 12).
Milestone goals. The goal number 100 in the World Cups history was scored by Angelo Schiavio from Italy in Rome on May 27, 1934.Schiavio scored the 5-1. Italy defeated USA 7-1.
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This was the only time in World Cup history than eight European teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
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Italy, the world champion, conceded only three goals in five matches, a record for a world champion.
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The first player to miss a penalty in the World Cup history was Waldemar de Brito from Brazil in a match against Spain on May 27, 1934. Spain beat Brazil 3 to 1.
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The first tied match in the World Cups history was between Italy and Spain, in Florence, on May 31, 1934. After two World Cups there is only one game tied.
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The first match with extra-time in the World Cups history was between Austria and France, in Turin, on May 27, 1934. Austria beat France 3 to 2 in extra-time.
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The first replayed match in World Cups history took place in quarter-finals, when Italy and Spain drew 1-1 after extra time. Italy won the replay 1-0.
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The first final with extra-time in the World Cups history was between Italy and Czechoslovakia, in Rome, on 10 June 1934. Italy beat Czechoslovakia 2 to 1.
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Belgium has three straight losses from 1930 to 1934.
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Luis Monti holding the record for most finals played with different teams: Argentina (1930), Italy (1934).
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Italy became the second host nation to win the World Cup.
The youngest player was Roberto Irañeta from Argentina: 19y (21 March 1915). The youngest goalkeeper was Kamel Masaoud from Egypt: 19y (02 August 1914). The youngest scorer was Edmund Conen from Germany: 19y (10 November 1914). The youngest champion was Felice Borel from Italy: 20y (05 April 1914). The youngest captain was Martim from Brazil: 23y (2 March 1911).
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The oldest player was Tom Florie from United States: 36y (06 September 1897). The oldest goalkeeper and oldest captain was Ricardo Zamora from Spain: 33y (21 January 1901). The oldest scorer was Raimundo Orsi from Italy: 32y (02 December 1901). The oldest champion was Luis Monti from Italy: 33 years (15 May 1901).
Benito Mussolini
The Brazilian team arrives at the stadium in Genoa to face Spain in first round
Clubs and players
The most important teams that contributed players to the national teams are shown in the table below.
25 match officials from 12 countries and 2 confederation were the responsible for enforcing the laws of the game during the course of the 17 world cup matches.
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The order of the table is based on the matches as referee.
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
Hungary
1
1
0
Pos
Flag
Benefited Team
TC
1
Austria
1
1
0
Teams' discipline up to 1934
Pos
Flag
Penalized Team
TC
1
Peru
1
1
0
Hungary
1
1
0
Pos
Flag
Benefited Team
TC
1
Romania
1
1
0
Austria
1
1
0
Matches' discipline
Pos
WC
CI
Date
TC
Match
1
1934
QF
31 May 34
1
1
0
Austria
3-1
Hungary
Matches' discipline up to 1934
Pos
WC
CI
Date
TC
Match
1
1930
FR-G3
14 Jul 30
1
1
0
Romania
3-1
Peru
1934
QF
31 May 34
1
1
0
Austria
3-1
Hungary
World Cup's discipline
Pos
WC
TC
1
1934
1
1
0
World Cups' discipline up to 1934
Pos
WC
TC
1
1930
1
1
0
1934
1
1
0
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 Oldřich Nejedlý from Czechoslovakia, who would go on to score five goals. The names that people probably remember from those times are:
The Italy's victory might be influenced by Benito Musolini seeking propaganda coups. Il Duce did not miss any of the Azzurra team matches.
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Luis Monti and Attilio De Maria have the distinction of having played in two World Cup Finals with two different national teams. They played in the 1930 World Cup Final with their native Argentina and in the 1934 World Cup Final with Italy as one of their oriundis, player of Italian descendent. Enrique Guaita and Raimundo Orsi, both Argentines, also played for Italy.
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Argentina, runner-up of the 1930 FIFA World Cup, went to Italy with an amateur team by internal political problems. The reason was that The Association of Professional Clubs refused to provide their best players. None of the players who participated with Argentina in Uruguay was part of the team.
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Brazil took 12 days to reach Italy. They were eliminated in first round by Spain, who had joined them on board along the way.
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The Italian Giuseppe Meazza is recognized as the first phenomenon of world football.
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Austria, with the help of Matthias Sindelar, nicknamed the man of paper because of its flexibility, was the revelation of the tournament. Austria finished in fourth place.
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FIFA took 72 years to recognize that the top goalscorer of the 1934 FIFA World Cup was Nejedlý. This has been officially recognized by FIFA since November 2006, as he was initially credited with only four goals. Nejedlý thus overcame German Edmund Conen and Italian Angelo Schiavio who had four goals. Oldřich Nejedlý died in 1990 at the age of 80 years without knowing the recognition of FIFA, that was 16 years later.
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Uruguay remains the only reigning champion in World Cup history not to defend its title.
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An extremely curious note occurred in the Palestinian team. The qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Palestine/Eretz Israel team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players. The Palestine football team consisted of nine British footballers, six Jewish footballers and one Arab footballer. The Palestine Football Association says that was a "Jewish" team which represented Palestine, and Arab Palestine had no relation to this team.
