WORLD CUP 1930

The culmination of a dream for FIFA President Jules Rimet, the first World Cup took place in Uruguay in July 1930. Champions at the last two Olympic Games, the host nation was among the favourites to take the title. With many from Europe put off by the long travelling times, only thirteen countries decided to enter the tournament, so no qualifying competition was required. The teams were drawn into one group of four and three groups of three, with the winners to advance to the semi-finals.

Group A saw Argentina, another of the favourites, take on Chile, France and Mexico in the four team group. The game between France and Mexico saw the World Cup's first ever goal scored by Frenchman Lucien Laurent, as France won by four goals to one. There would be nothing more to celebrate for either team, however, as Argentina and Chile proved to be the class of the group. Their meeting in the final game would decide the group winners, and two early goals by Guillermo Stábile helped Argentina to win 3-1 and reach the semi-finals.

Group B was to be decided by the first game between Brazil and Yugoslavia, as both sides were expected to beat Bolivia convincingly and both duly did so 4-0. It was Yugoslavia who moved on to the next stage, having held off a second half Brazilian fightback to beat the South Americans 2-1. Host nation Uruguay were expected to ease through in Group C against Peru and Romania. Both Uruguay and Romania defeated Peru to set up a group decider, but the outcome was never in doubt. Uruguay led 3-0 after only half an hour and comfortably moved into the semi-finals with a 4-0 victory. Group D was decided very quickly as the U.S.A. convincingly beat both Paraguay and Belgium by three goals to nil.

The semi-finals were drawn after the completion of the group stage, and perhaps to the relief of the organisers kept fierce rivals and fanvourites Argentina and Uruguay apart. Argentina would face the U.S.A. and Uruguay would take on Yugoslavia. Argentina proved to the far too strong for their American opponents, taking a crushing 6-0 lead before allowing the U.S.A. a consolation goal in the 89th minute. With Argentina in the final, the pressure was on Uruguay to join them when they took on Yugoslavia the following day. It was the Europeans who took a suprise lead in only the fourth minute, but Uruguay recovered from the shock and turned the match around to lead 3-1 at half-time. In the second half, they added three more goals to match Argentina's 6-1 win and set up the final that most locals wanted to see. Although there was no third place play-off, FIFA's official rankings consider the U.S.A. to have finished third, and Yugoslavia fourth.

On July 30th 1930, Argentina and Uruguay met in the first World Cup final. It was the hosts who drew first blood when Pablo Dorado gave them an early lead, but goals from Carlos Peucelle and Guillermo Stábile turned the match around and Argentina led 2-1 at half-time. Uruguay needed to fight back quickly, and shortly before the hour mark Pedro Cea equalised. Uruguay retook the lead through Santos Iriarte ten minutes later, and as Argentina pushed for a late equaliser Hector Castro scored the clinching goal just a minute from the end. Uruguay had added the inaugural World Cup to their 1924 and 1928 Olympic Gold Medals.