1962 FIFA World Cup

The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. Chile was chosen as host by FIFA in June 1956, as the World Cup returned to the continent of South America after 12 years. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final.

he format of the competition stayed the same as 1958: 16 teams qualified, divided into four groups of four. Four teams were seeded in the draw taking place in Santiago de Chile, on 18 January 1962: Brazil, England, Italy and Uruguay.[1] The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

In May 1960, as the preparations were well under way, Chile suffered the largest earthquake ever recorded (9.5 magnitude), which caused enormous damage to the national infrastructure. In face of this, Carlos Dittborn, the president of the Organization Committee, coined the phrase "Because we don't have anything, we will do everything in our power to rebuild," which became the unofficial slogan of the tournament. Stadia and other infrastructure were rebuilt at record speed and the tournament occurred on schedule with no major organizational flaw. Sadly, Dittborn would not live to see the success of his tireless efforts, as he died one month before the start of the tournament. The World Cup venue at Arica was named Estadio Carlos Dittborn in his honor and bears his name to this day.

As the competition began, a shift in strategy was imminent. Modern day defensive strategies began to take hold as the average goals/match dropped to 2.78, under 3 for the first time in competition history (the average has never been above 3 since).
The official 1962 FIFA World Cup poster.

Many famous players did not live up to their reputations in this tournament. Brazil's Pelé, the hero of 1958, was injured in the second group match against Czechoslovakia. The USSR's goalkeeper Lev Yashin, arguably the world's best at the time, was in poor form and cost his team the elimination by Chile (1–2) in the quarter-finals. Bright spots included the emergence of the young Brazilians Amarildo (standing in for Pelé) and Garrincha, the heroics of Czechoslovakia goalkeeper Viliam Schrojf against Hungary and Yugoslavia, and the inspired performance of the host nation Chile, who unexpectedly took third place with a squad of relatively unknown players, thanks to an outstanding team spirit.

The competition was marred by violence. This poisonous atmosphere culminated in the infamous first-round match between host Chile and Italy (2–0), known as the Battle of Santiago. Two Italian journalists had written unflattering articles about the host country. Although only two players (both of them Italian) were sent off by the English referee Ken Aston, the match saw repeated, deliberate attempts from players on both sides to harm opponents, and the Italian team needed police protection to leave the field in safety.

In the first round, Brazil topped their group with Czechoslovakia finishing second, above Mexico and Spain. USSR and Yugoslavia finished above Uruguay and Colombia. Hungary, along with England progressed through to the quarter-finals, while Argentina and Bulgaria were eliminated. England had the same number of points as Argentina but progressed due to a superior goal average; the first time such a requirement had been necessary in a World Cup finals tournament. Switzerland lost all three games while West Germany and Chile both went through over Italy.

Surprisingly, Chile defeated European champions USSR to land themselves a semi-final game against the winner of the England – Brazil game. A brilliant performance from Garrincha, which included two goals in a 3–1 win, saw the South Americans triumph against England. Meanwhile 1–0 wins for Yugoslavia against West Germany—and Czechoslovakia against Hungary—saw the two Slavic states meet in the semi-finals.

Viña del Mar was the original venue for the "South American" semi-final and Santiago for the "Slavic" one. But due to Chile's surprise qualification, the organizers prompted FIFA to switch the venues. This irritated crowds in Viña del Mar and only a little under 6,000 spectators came at Estadio Sausalito to watch Czechoslovakia beat Yugoslavia 3–1, whereas a capacity crowd of 76,600 in Santiago watched Brazil beat the hosts 4–2.[2] This game saw Garrincha sent off for Brazil and Honorino Landa sent off for Chile. Chile eventually went on to take third place in a 1–0 victory over Yugoslavia with the very last play of the match. The same player, Eladio Rojas, had also scored the winning goal in Chile's game against USSR.

Santiago's Estadio Nacional served as the venue for the final itself, and after 15 minutes, Brazil again found themselves a goal behind in the World Cup final, as a long ball from Adolf Scherer was latched onto by Josef Masopust: 1–0 Czechoslovakia. However, just like the previous final four years earlier, Brazil soon hit back, equalising two minutes later through Amarildo after an error by the hitherto flawless Czechoslovak goalkeeper Schroijf. The Brazilians did not stop there and with goals from Zito and Vavá (another Schrojf error) mid-way through the second half, the Czechoslovaks just couldn't get back into the game. The match ended 3–1 to Brazil, a successful defence of the title for only the second time in the history of the competition in spite of the absence of their star player of 1958, Pelé.

1950 FIFA World Cup

The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup, and the first staged in 12 years due to World War II. Brazil was chosen as the host country by FIFA in July 1946. It was also the first tournament that the trophy itself would be referred to as the Jules Rimet Cup, to mark the 25th anniversary of Rimet's presidency of FIFA. It was won by Uruguay, who had won the inaugural competition in 1930, clinching the cup by beating the hosts Brazil 2–1 in the deciding match of the four-team final group (this was the only tournament not decided by a one-match final).

Because of World War II, the World Cup had not been staged since 1938; the planned World Cups of 1942 and 1946 were both cancelled. After the war, FIFA were keen to resurrect the competition as soon as possible, and they began making plans for a World Cup tournament to take place. In the aftermath of the war, much of Europe lay in ruins. As a result, FIFA had some difficulties finding a country interested in hosting the event, since many governments believed that the world scenario did not favour a sportive celebration, and also (more importantly) that the resources that would have to be put into organizing the World Cup could not be diverted from other more urgent fronts. For some time, the World Cup was at risk of not being held for sheer lack of interest from the international community, until Brazil presented a bid at the 1946 FIFA Congress, offering to host the event on condition that the tournament take place in 1950 (it was originally planned to take place in 1949).[1] Brazil and Germany had been the leading bidders to host the cancelled 1942 World Cup; since both the 1934 and 1938 tournaments had been held in Europe, football historians generally agree that the 1942 event would most likely have been awarded to a South American host country. Brazil's new bid was very similar to the mooted 1942 bid and was quickly accepted.

Originally, the tournament format would be that the 16 teams be divided into four first round groups (or "pools" as they were then called) of four teams, with the group winners advancing to a final group stage, playing in round-robin format to determine the winner. However, because only 13 teams competed, this left two first round groups with four teams, another with three teams, and the last group with only two teams. The draw took place in Rio de Janeiro, on 22 May 1950.[2] In fact, the entire tournament was arranged in such a way that the four first round groups had no geographical basis. Hence, several teams were obliged to cover large distances to complete their program, although Brazil was allowed to play two of its three group matches in Rio de Janeiro while its other game was in (comparatively) nearby São Paulo.

A combined Great Britain team had recently beaten the rest of Europe 6-1 in an exhibition match and England went into the competition as one of the favourites. However, it was not to be, as they went crashing out in a shock 1-0 defeat by the United States (when the score appeared in English newspapers, many thought it was a misprint) which, combined with their 1-0 defeat by Spain, led to England being eliminated.

The final group stage involved the teams who won their groups: Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and 1930 FIFA World Cup champions Uruguay, who were making their first World Cup appearance since winning the inaugural tournament. The World Cup winner would be the team that managed to finish on top of this group. The final group's six matches were shared between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Brazil played all its final group matches at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio while the games that didn't involve the host nation were played in São Paulo. Brazil won their first two matches with a 7-1 thrashing of Sweden and 6-1 rout of Spain. Before the decisive match, Brazil was sitting on top of the final group and had one game left to play against Uruguay, in second and only a point behind. On July 16, before a huge home crowd of 199,954 (some estimated as 205,000) in the Estádio do Maracanã, the host nation only had to draw against Uruguay and the trophy would be theirs. After such crushing victories over Spain and Sweden, it looked certain they would take the title, especially as the home nation went ahead in the second minute of the second half, thanks to a goal from Friaça. However, Uruguay equalised and then with just over 11 minutes left to play, went ahead 2-1 when Alcides Ghiggia squeaked a goal past Moacyr Barbosa, and Uruguay was crowned World Cup champions for a second time. This stunning defeat surprised Brazil and is referred to as the Maracanazo.

The average attendance of nearly 61,000 per game, aided greatly by eight matches (including five featuring hosts Brazil) held in the newly-built Maracanã, set a record that would not be broken until 1994. Not counting the Maracanã matches, the average attendance was a still-impressive 37,500. However, the only venues that saw crowds comparable to or greater than those in recent World Cups were the Maracanã and São Paulo. Other venues saw considerably smaller crowds.

1958 FIFA World Cup

The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. Sweden was chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1950. It was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. The World Cup marked the debut on the world stage of a precocious unknown 17-year-old named Pelé.

his World Cup saw the entry and qualification of the Soviet Union for the first time, and the qualification of all the United Kingdom's Home Nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with Northern Ireland eliminating Italy for the first (and only) time in the competition's history.

Aside from the main European zone matches, Wales, which finished second in its group behind Czechoslovakia, were drawn into a play-off with Israel after Israel won their group without playing a match due to the withdrawals of the three opponents, Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan. FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match because many teams qualified for previous World Cups without playing due to withdrawals of their opponents. Wales won the play-off and qualified.

On 8 February, in Solna, Lennart Hyland and Sven Jerring presented the results of the draw where the qualified teams were divided into four groups. There was no seeding, apart from each group containing one western European team, one eastern European team, one of the four British teams that had qualified, and one from American continent.


The format of the competition changed from 1954: 16 teams still competed in four groups of four, but this time each team played each of the other teams in its group at least once, without extra time in the event of a draw. Instead, if second and third place finished on the same points, then there would be a play-off with the winner going through. If a play-off resulted in a draw, then goal average from the group games would have been used to determine who went through to the next round. If the goal averages were equal then lots would have been drawn. If the first two teams finished on equal points then goal average would decide who was placed first and second. These arrangements had not been finalised by the time the tournament started and were still being debated as it progressed. The organizing committee even released press statements stating that goal average would be counted before resorting to playoffs. However this idea was eventually rejected.
The official 1958 FIFA World Cup poster.

In Group 4, Pelé did not play until the last of Brazil's group games, against the Soviet Union. He failed to score, but Brazil won the game 2–0 (much thanks to an impressive exhibition of dribbling prowess by his partner Garrincha) and the group by two points. Previously, they had drawn 0–0 with England in what was the first ever goalless game in World Cup history. Eventually, the Soviet Union and England went to a playoff game, in which Anatoli Ilyin scored in the 67th minute to knock England out, while Austria had already been eliminated. The English side had been weakened by the Munich Air Disaster which killed 3 internationals on the books of Manchester United, including England's young star Duncan Edwards.

Playoffs were also needed in Group 1 (Northern Ireland beat Czechoslovakia to join the defending champions West Germany in the quarter-finals) and Group 3 (Wales topped Hungary to advance with hosts Sweden). Hungary had become a spent force after their appearance in the final of the previous tournament. They had lost their best players two years before, when they fled in the wake of the failed uprising against the communist regime. In a rather restrictive sense, from the 1954 team, only goalkeeper Gyula Grosics, defender Jozsef Bozsik and forward Nándor Hidegkuti remained.

Of the British nations, it was arguably Scotland who had the toughest group, having to face Yugoslavia, Paraguay, and France. France topped Group 2, with Just Fontaine netting six goals. Yugoslavia finished second, while Scotland came in last.

The quarter-finals saw France's Just Fontaine continue in similar form to the group stage, managing another two goals as France triumphed over Northern Ireland. West Germany's Helmut Rahn put them into the semi-finals with a single goal against Yugoslavia, while Sweden went though at the expense of USSR. The other game in the quarter-finals saw Pelé score the only goal against Wales.

In the semi-finals, Sweden continued their strong run as they defeated West Germany 3–1 in a vicious game that saw the German player Erich Juskowiak sent off (the first ever German player to be sent off in an international game) and German team captain Fritz Walter injured, which further weakened the German team (substitutes were first allowed in the 1970 FIFA World Cup).

While another goal from Fontaine of France added to his impressive tally, it was not enough to prevent Brazil thundering into the Final as a Pelé hat-trick gave them a 5–2 victory. The French were effectively down to ten men from the 30th minute onwards when their most experienced defender and captain Robert Jonquet got incapacitated after a clash with Vavá. The third place match saw Fontaine score four more goals as they beat the Germans 6-3. This brought his total to 13 goals in one competition, a record that still has not been broken.

The final was played in Solna, in the Råsunda Stadium, as 50,000 people watched in amazement as the Brazilians went a goal down after four minutes. The Brazilians were not dismayed, and Vavá equalised shortly afterwards and then put them a goal ahead before half time. In the second half Pelé outshone everyone, notching up two goals, including the first one where he lobbed the ball over Bengt Gustavsson then followed it with a precise volley shot. Zagallo added a goal in between, and Sweden managed a consolation goal. But the game really belonged to Pelé, and the Jules Rimet trophy belonged to Brazil - the World Cup winners.

1954 FIFA World Cup

The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. As the year saw the 50th anniversary of FIFA, it was appropriate for football's premier competition to be played in the home of its governing body, and Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament was won by West Germany, who defeated Hungary 3–2 in the final, giving them their first title.

or the first time there was television coverage, and special coins were issued to mark the event. 16 teams qualified for the tournament and an unusual system was used in the first stage. The 16 teams were divided into four groups: each group comprised two of the eight seeded teams based on world rankings (Austria, Brazil, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Turkey and Uruguay), plus two unseeded teams.
The official 1954 FIFA World Cup poster.

With seeding determined before the teams had even qualified for the final tournament, the organizers had to replace Spain with Turkey, the team that unexpectedly knocked the Spaniards out. [1] The draw took place in Zürich, on 30 November 1953.

Instead of a conventional round-robin where each team would play three matches, the seeded teams as well as the unseeded teams were spared from playing each other as the unseeded teams were squared up only against the seeded ones in a chance to qualify, so each team played only 2 group matches, unless tied for the second qualifying position by points, which required a play-off. Extra time was played for any games that was tied after 90 minutes, with the result being a draw if the scores were still level after 120 minutes. The two teams finishing at the top of their group went through to the quarter-finals. Uruguay and Austria both won their games, thus finished the group level on points in the qualifying positions, and drew lots to determine who they would play in the next round, as did Brazil and Yugoslavia.

Consequently Switzerland and Italy played each other twice with Switzerland winning the play-off 4–1. The Germans, who had been reinstated as full FIFA members only in 1950 and were unseeded, won the first of two encounters with the seeded Turkish convincingly in Berne at Wankdorf stadium. The Koreans, as the other unseeded team, lost 0–7 and 0–9, with Germany being denied the chance to play such an easy opponent. Sepp Herberger the German coach gambled against the seeded team of Hungary by sending in a reserve side to take an expected 3–8 loss, with the only consequence being the additional playoff game against Turkey that was won with ease. Hungary's team captain Ferenc Puskás, considered by many as the best player in the world in that time, was injured by German defender Werner Liebrich, and had to miss the next two matches of his team, only to show up in the final again, still being in a questionable condition. [2]

The quarter-finals saw the favourites Hungary beat Brazil 4–2 in one of the most violent matches in football history, which became infamous as the Battle of Berne. Meanwhile, the World Cup holders Uruguay sent England out of the tournament, also by 4–2. Germany dispatched Yugoslavia 2–0, and Austria beat the host nation Switzerland in the game that saw the most goals in any World Cup match, 7–5.

One of the semi-finals saw Austria, against the DFB team which represented the Federal Republic of Germany, one of three German states of the time. The DFB had qualified against fellow Germans from the Saarland (which then was a French protectorate), while East Germany had not entered, cancelling international football games after the East German uprising of 1953. With the final at stake, West Germany won 6–1.

The other semi-final, one of the most exciting games of the tournament, saw Hungary go into the second half leading Uruguay 1–0, only for the game to be taken to extra time with a score after 90 minutes of 2–2. The deadlock was broken by Sándor Kocsis with two late goals to take Hungary through to the final, beating a team that had not previously lost a World Cup game. Uruguay then went on to be beaten for a second time as Austria secured third place.
[edit] Final: "The Miracle of Bern"

The Wankdorf Stadion in Berne saw 60,000 people cram inside to watch the final between West Germany and Hungary, a rematch of a first round game, which Hungary had won 8–3 against the reserves of the German team. The Golden Team of the Hungarians were favourites, as they were unbeaten for a record of 32 consecutive matches but they had two tough play-off matches. It had started raining on game day - in Germany this was dubbed "Fritz-Walter-Wetter" (Fritz Walter's weather) because the German team captain Fritz Walter was said to play his best in rainy weather. Adi Dassler had provided shoes with exchangeable studs.
Card autographed by coach Sepp Herberger and the 11 German players that appeared in the final

The final saw Hungary's Ferenc Puskás playing again even though he was not fully fit. Despite this he put his team ahead after only 6 minutes and with Zoltán Czibor adding another two minutes later it seemed that the pre-tournament favourites would take the title. However, with a quick goal from Max Morlock in the 10th and the equalizer of Helmut Rahn in the 19th, the tide began to turn.

The second half saw telling misses from the Hungarian team. Barely 6 minutes before the end of the match, the popular German radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann gave the most famous German piece of commentary, recommending Rahn should kick from the backfield, which he did. The second goal from Rahn gave Germany a 3–2 lead while the Hungarian reporter György Szepesi burst into tears. Later, Zimmermann called Puskás offside before he kicked the ball into Toni Turek's net with 2 minutes left. While referee Ling pointed to the centre spot, linesman Griffiths signalled offside. After a one-minute consultation, referee Ling disallowed the claimed equalizer.

The Germans were handed the Jules Rimet trophy and the title of World Cup winners while the crowd sang along to the tunes of the national anthems of Germany. In Germany the success is known as The Miracle of Bern, upon which a 2003 film of the same name was based. For the Hungarians, the defeat was a disaster, and remains controversial due to referee errors and claims of doping.

One controversy concerns the 2–2. Hungarian goalie Gyula Grosics jumped to catch Fritz Walter's corner shot, but in plain sight of the camera, Hans Schäfer obstructed him, thus the ball could reach Rahn unhindered. The second controversy concerns allegations of doping to explain the better condition of the German team in the second half. Though teammates steadfastly denied this rumour, German historian Guido Knopp claimed in a 2004 documentary for German public channel ZDF[3] that the players were injected with shots of vitamin C at half-time, using a needle earlier taken from a Soviet sports doctor, which would also explain the wave of jaundice among team members following the tournament.

Most controversial was the offside ruling for Puskás's intended 87th minute equalizer. The camera filming the official footage was in a bad position to judge the situation, only eyewitnesses claimed that the referee was wrong, including German replacement player Alfred Pfaff[4]. However, since then, footage evidencing no offside surfaced (shown on North German regional public channel NDR in 2004[5]).

The 11 goals scored by Kocsis of Hungary not only led the World Cup but bettered the previous record (set by Brazilian Ademir in the previous tournament) by two goals. Kocsis' mark was then broken by Just Fontaine's 13 goals in 1958. Despite not winning the 1954 tournament, the fourth place finish and their two previous World Cup titles made Uruguay the most successful World Cup nation for eight years, until Brazil won their second title in 1962. Hungary's 9–0 result against Korea during the group stages remains to this day the biggest margin of victory in FIFA World Cup history, later equalled by Yugoslavia winning 9–0 against Zaire in 1974 and again Hungary winning 10–1 against El Salvador in 1982.

Germany's victory in the match is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time and one of the finest achievements in German sporting history. The German team was made up of amateur players as Germany did not have a professional league at this time, while the Hungarians were de jure amateurs, like in any communist country that time, and playing football as professionals, mainly for Budapesti Honvéd FC and later for major clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, and were ranked best in the world. This is the only time a team has won the World Cup with amateur footballers and will likely be the only time ever.

1938 FIFA World Cup

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in August 1936. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.

FIFA's decision during the celebration of the 1936 Summer Olympics to hold the tournament in France caused outrage in South America where it was believed that the venue would alternate between the two continents. Instead, it was the second tournament in a row to be played in Europe. As a result neither Uruguay nor Argentina entered the competition. Spain became the first country to be out of the World Cup because of a war (the Spanish Civil War).

It was the first time that the hosts (France) and the title holders (Italy) qualified automatically. Title holders were given an automatic entry into the World Cup until 2006 when this was abolished.

Originally 16 nations were going to take part. Austria had qualified but after the Anschluss to Germany in March, they withdrew, leaving 15 teams to take part. FIFA did not offer a place in the finals to the runner-up of the qualification group that Austria played in, Latvia.
[edit] Summary

The tournament was again held in a knockout format, similar to 1934. This was the last tournament where there was not a group stage.

Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for draw taking place in Paris, on 5 March 1938.[1]

Five of the first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock; two games still went to a replay. The replays saw Switzerland oust the team of Germany, to which some Austrian players had been added for political reasons, with a score of 4-2, while Cuba managed to advance to the next round at the expense of Romania.

Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals due to Austria's withdrawal, and they proceeded to beat Cuba 8-0. The hosts, France, were beaten by the holders, Italy (wearing a provocative all-black 'fascist' strip), and Switzerland were seen off by Hungary. Czechoslovakia took Brazil to extra time in a notoriously feisty match in Bordeaux before succumbing in a replay; the South Americans proved too strong for the depleted Czechoslovak side (both Oldřich Nejedlý and František Plánička had suffered broken bones in the first game) and won 2-1.

Hungary destroyed Sweden in one of the semi-finals 5-1, while Italy and Brazil had the first of their many important World Cup clashes in the other. The Brazilians rested their star player Leônidas confident that they would qualify for the final, but the Italians won 2-1. Brazil topped Sweden 4-2 for third place.

The final itself took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris. Vittorio Pozzo's Italian side took the lead early, but Hungary equalised within two minutes. The Italians took the lead again shortly after, and by the end of the first half were leading the Hungarians 3-1. Hungary never really got back into the game. With the final score favouring the Italians 4-2, Italy became the first team to successfully defend the title and were once more crowned World Cup winners.

Some argued that Hungary - or at least its goalkeeper - allowed Italy to win, as a measure to save the lives of the Italian Team, which had received telegrams by Benito Mussolini with "Vincere o morire!" (mistranslated as "Win or die") written on them. Hungarian goalkeeper Antal Szabó expressed his relief following his side's defeat against Italy despite letting in four goals in the loss. Referring to Mussolini's pre-match threats, Szabó quipped "I may have let in four goals, but at least I saved their lives". Actually, this is not the case. "Win or die" was a typical slogan of encouragement from fascist era, meaning "Victory or bust!" or "do your best to get victory". The fascist regime held sporting heroes and champions in high regard, greatly using them in their propaganda machine, so an act like the one suggested by Szabó was not realistic. Szabó's words may have been perhaps an honest misunderstanding.[2]

Due to World War II, the World Cup would not be held for another 12 years, until 1950. As a result, Italy were the reigning World Cup holders for a record 16 years, from 1934 to 1950. The Italian Vice-President of FIFA, Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid the trophy in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops

1934 FIFA World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural edition of the world championship for international association football teams – the FIFA World Cup. It was played in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) selected Uruguay as host nation as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its independence, and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament.

Thirteen teams, nine from the Americas and four from Europe, entered the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate due to the duration and cost of travel. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history.

Argentina, Uruguay, the USA and Yugoslavia each won their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.

The 1930 FIFA World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural edition of the world championship for international association football teams – the FIFA World Cup. It was played in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) selected Uruguay as host nation as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its independence, and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament.

Thirteen teams, nine from the Americas and four from Europe, entered the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate due to the duration and cost of travel. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history.

Argentina, Uruguay, the USA and Yugoslavia each won their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, and became the first nation to win a World Cup.

source : wikipedia

World Cup History

First World Cup
Estadio Centenario, the location of the first World Cup final in 1930 in Montevideo, Uruguay

Due to the success of the Olympic football tournaments, FIFA, with President Jules Rimet the driving force, again started looking at staging its own international tournament outside of the Olympics. On 28 May 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to stage a world championship organised by FIFA.[8] With Uruguay now two-time official football world champions (as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era) and to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country of the inaugural World Cup tournament.

The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. Indeed, no European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total thirteen nations took part: seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously on 13 July 1930, and were won by France and USA, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France.[9] In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo, and in doing so became the first nation to win the World Cup

World Cup Summaries of previous tournaments

• Uruguay 1930 - Winners: Uruguay

• Italy 1934 - Winners: Italy

• France 1938 - Winners: Italy
• Brazil 1950 - Winners: Uruguay
• Switzerland 1954 - Winners: West Germany
• Sweden 1958 - Winners: Brazil
• Chile 1962 - Winners: Brazil
• England 1966 - Winners: England
• Mexico 1970 - Winners: Brazil
• West Germany 1974 - Winners: West Germany
• Argentina 1978 - Winners: Argentina
• Spain 1982 - Winners: Italy
• Mexico 1986 - Winners: Argentina
• Italy 1990 - Winners: West Germany
• USA 1994 - Winners: Brazil
• France 1998 - Winners: France
• Japan/South Korea 2002 - Winners: Brazil
• Germany 2006 - Winners: Italy

Rooney: I've changed since fatherhood

By Mark Lomas

 
It's difficult to envisage how things could get much better for Wayne Rooney. Winning goals in Madrid in May and Johannesburg in July would probably do it, but nevertheless, the Manchester United striker is enjoying the richest vein of form of his career and has got the world talking about just how much of an impact he can make at this year's finals in South Africa.

GettyImagesWayne Rooney will be spearheading England's World Cup assault in South Africa

• Forum: Can Rooney reach 42 goals?
The Champions League has history of bringing out both the best and worst in Rooney, from a scintillating hat-trick on his Old Trafford debut against Fenerbahce in 2004, to a petulant red card against Villarreal in the group stages in 2005 - the only season in which United have been eliminated before the knockout rounds in the past 14 years.
On Tuesday, in a 4-0 demolition of a Milan side that just three years ago sent United packing at the semi-final stage, Rooney again demonstrated why he is fast becoming the favourite to usurp Lionel Messi as the world's best player. It was the latest in a series of headed goals, something that he credits to both practice and favourable follicles.
"It was a great performance by us," Rooney said on the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour. "I think AC Milan are one of the great teams and to beat them 4-0 is a great achievement for us, so obviously I'm happy with the result. Of course [I practice a lot], I think probably it's coming off my bald patch and that's helping me score! But of course I've been working on my heading a lot and thankfully that's paying off."
Rooney's impressive goal haul this season has vindicated those who have called for him to play in the position in which he has been most comfortable since playing on the parks of Merseyside as a youngster - an out-and-out striker. And it seems Sir Alex Ferguson may have been watching the way England boss Fabio Capello deployed Rooney in that very position, after seeing him plunder nine goals in World Cup qualifying.
"I think I've been in the box a lot more" Rooney explained. "I've been working on my timing and on my finishing and I've also played up front in every game this season when I've played - I think that's definitely the main reason for me scoring a lot of goals.
"I've played a lot of games up front on my own and when you're the lone striker you know you have to stay up the pitch because you need to be the focal point in your team. I'm not running back quite as much but I'm doing all my work more in the opponents' half."
It is Capello who is rubbing his hands the most as he knows that he has one of the most dangerous weapons at his disposal in South Africa. Rooney admits that while he is fully focused on the task at hand with United, it is difficult not to keep one eye on the biggest spectacle in world football.
"You try not to think too much about the World Cup because you need to do the job with your club first. But it's always there in your mind and when it comes it's a dream to play for your country in any competition and at the World Cup it's an unbelievable feeling.
"I thought we played really well in our qualifying games and I was a bit gutted that we lost the last game because it would have been nice to go through the whole campaign and win every game so that left a bit of a bad taste. But we played really well in the qualifying campaign and we fully deserved to go through.

GettyImagesWayne Rooney remembers watching Michael Owen's goal against Argentina in 1998 from the comfort of his sofa

"I remember watching Michael Owen in 1998, his goal against Argentina, I was still a young boy and I think when he scored that goal, not just for myself, but for everyone in England, it was a great feeling and a great moment. I watched it at my Nan's house - whenever there was a World Cup on I'd sit around with all my family and watch it, so to play in it knowing that my family will be there or be watching it is a great feeling."
This year, Rooney hopes it will be he who steals the headlines that were reserved for his current United team-mate 12 years ago, and he is undoubtedly one of the players who has garnered the most attention from opposition managers.
He has been described as "extra-special" by Australia coach Pim Verbeek, "unstoppable" by Germany coach Joachim Low and "the complete player" by Leonardo, after he saw the England striker net four goals in two matches against his AC Milan side. But despite all the praise, Rooney insists it is only the opinion of a select few that matters to him, and was quick to point to the contribution of his team-mates to his form.
"Obviously it's nice for top coaches to say good things about you but if I'm being honest I don't really read into it too much. I listen to my manager at England and my manager at Manchester United, and my family and friends - if they tell me I'm doing well I'll listen to them.
"My team-mates know for sure that I'm getting the goals but I wouldn't be getting the goals without them so they've been a big part of my success this year and hopefully we will be successful as a team at the end of the year.
Over the past two years, it has been clear to see a change in Rooney - but it is not simply because he has now been charged with spearheading the United attack in the absence of the departed Cristiano Ronaldo. Yes, the Portuguese forward's transfer to Real Madrid has allowed him to be the focal point of the team, but more than that, Rooney's temperament has mellowed, though crucially, he has not lost his irrepressible energy and passionate approach to playing the game.
He is clearly benefitting from better anger management, and Rooney reveals that the birth of his first son, Kai, last November, has given him even greater motivation to develop a calmer persona.
"I think I've changed a lot over the last couple of years, obviously becoming a father you have to change and you have to be a role model to your son and someone he can look up to so that's what I've done. He's been to a few games although he probably doesn't know what's happening. The important thing for me was when he came to watch at Everton - the two teams I've played for and the teams who he'll support as well.
"It's something I'm looking forward to. I've got little cousins who come to the games and you see what it means to them to watch you play and for me to know that there watching me. When my son comes to watch me every week it will be an amazing feeling and something that I will be proud of.

GettyImagesWayne Rooney: Targeting World Cup glory

Clearly enjoying both fatherhood and football, 2010 could potentially be the most memorable of Rooney's 24 years, and though he never likes to be too confident about his club and country's chances of silverware, there's certainly nothing wrong with having a little bit of optimism.
"We're in a great position with Man United, top of the league at the minute and through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and obviously with England it's going well and we're preparing right and hopefully by the time we meet up with England, we'll have a great tournament and you never know, we might have this [trophy] back at the end of the end of July."

souce : soccernet.espn.go.com