WORLD CUP 1934

The first World Cup to be held in Europe was awarded to Italy in 1932, to be held two years later. In a change from four years earlier in Uruguay, the format was to be a straight knockout involving sixteen teams, with replays to follow drawn matches. Thirty-two countries entered, although defendung champions Uruguay were not amongst them. Qualifying matches were all staged in Italy prior to the main event.

All eight first round matches took place simultaneously. Hosts Italy, strengthened by several South American born players, overwhelmed the U.S.A. in their first match, winning by seven goals to one. Other fancied teams also came through the first stage unscathed, Czechoslovakia coming from behind to beat Romania 2-1, Germany easing past Belgium 5-2 and Austria edging France 3-2 after extra-time. The other first round matches saw Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Hungary reach the quarter-finals, the latter having withstood a stong fightback from Egypt, the first African nation to take part.

The quarter-finals went largely according to the form book, but all proved to be closely fought encounters. Germany and Austria edged past Sweden and Hungary respectively, both winning 2-1. Czechoslovakia had to fight through a very tough match against Switzerland, eventually prevailing 3-2 thanks to a late goal from striker Oldrich Nejedlý, who would end the tournament as leading scorer. Italy's match against Spain proved to be the tightest of all, requiring the only replay of the tournament after a 1-1 draw. Giuseppe Meazza's early goal in the second match took the hosts into the last four.

Italy were expecting a tough semi-final against the skilful Austrian "Wunderteam", and their physical approach largely killed off any Austrian hopes of victory. Italy led early on, and were happy to use fair means or foul to hold on to the advantage. Italy won 1-0, and would face Czechoslovakia in the final after Nejedlý's hat-trick comfortably saw off Germany. The Germans went on to edge past a deflated Austria in the first ever Third Place Play-Off.

June 10th 1934 saw the second World Cup Final take place in Rome. In a match that unusually saw both sides captained by their goalkeepers, defences were largely on top for much of the game. The crowd had to wait until the 71st minute to see the first goal, but it was to be a disappointment to them as Czechoslovakia took the lead with a goal from Antonin Puc. The Czechs looked to hold on to their lead, and were less than ten minutes from victory when, to the relief of the crowd, Italy found an equaliser from Raimundo Orsi and forced the final into extra-time. Five minutes into the extra period, Angelo Schiavio put the Italians ahead for the first time, and to the delight of the crowd Czechoslovakia had no answer. Italy won 2-1, and for the second time the hosts took the World Cup.