inaugural world cup took place in 1930 and Uruguay hosted the 17 day tournament where only 13 teams participated. The competitive was invitational only and there were no qualifying rounds. We take a look at the very first world cup and how Uruguay went on to become Champions.
Content Summary
1930 FIFA World Cup Teams:
13 teams from three different federations played the 1930 world cup. All the teams were invited and there were no qualifying or playoffs before the world cup. 7 teams from South America, 4 from Europe and 2 from north america played in the tournament.
Originally more teams from europe were invited but they decided against it as it was difficult for them to travel to South America. Teams from Asia and Africa outright denied the invitation.
1930 FIFA World Cup Format & Schedule:
Because there was odd number of teams, Group A had four teams while the other three groups had 3 teams each. Group winners qualified for the semifinals. Winners of semifinals played the final while losing semifinalists contested the third place playoff.
1930 FIFA World Cup Stadiums:
Three stadium were used to host the world cup matches. All three stadiums were in the city of Montevideo
- 1). Estadio Centenario
- 2). Estadio Gran Parque Central
- 3). Estadio Pocitos
Group Stage Matches:
Every team played 1 match against all teams in the group. Since there were four teams in group A, each team had to play three matches. While Group B, C and D had three teams each which means teams in those groups only had to play two matches. Group stage matches were played from 13 July to 20 July 1930.
Group Winners qualified for the semifinals.
- Argentina (Group A Winners)
- Yugoslavia (Group B Winners)
- Uruguay (Group C Winners)
- United States (Group D Winners)
Semifinal Matches:
Semifinal matches were played on 26th and 27th July 1930. Group A winners Argentina played Group D Winners USA. While Uruguay faced Yugoslavia.
1). Argentina 6-1 United States
Argentina ran out comfortable winners thanks to goals from Monti , Scopelli, Stábile(2), Peucelle (2) and qualified for the final.
2). Uruguay 6-1 Yugoslavia
Uruguay also hammered Yuogslavia in the second semifinal winning the match rather easily scoring 6 past their opponents. Cea (Hattrick) Anselmo (2) and Iriarte were on the scoresheet.
Match ball Controversy In The 1930 World Cup Final:
Argentina were not happy with the match ball used in the group stage and semifinals and they refused to play if the same ball is used in the final. However FIFA intervened and had both Uruguay and Argentina agree to the solution that each half will have different match ball. One preferred by Argentina and one by Uruguay.
The Big Final And Uruguay Winning The First World Cup:
Two South American teams made it to the final and there were many controversies including the use of match ball, match timings and toss. In the end FIFA decided that Argentina preferred match ball will be used in first half and Uruguay match ball will be used in second half.
Uruguay run out 4-2 winners in the end to lift the very first world cup.