1930 FIFA World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the first FIFA World Cup, the men's national association's inofficial title of football clubs. It occurred in Uruguay from 13th to 30th July 1930. FIFA, the world's governing football body, selected Uruguay as the host nation, as the country would celebrate the centennial of its first constitution, and the national football team in Uruguay had effectively maintained its name at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Both matches took place in Uruguay's tournament-built capital, Montevideo, which is the bulk at the Estadio Centenario. Twelve teams have been working their way into the competition. Thanks to the difficulties of flying to South America, only a few European teams agreed to participate. The teams were split into four groups, progressing to the semi-finals with the winner of each group. The first two matches of the World Cup were held concurrently, and France and the USA won, defeating Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0 respectively. France's Lucien Laurent scored the first goal in World Cup history and US goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the competition's first official clean sheet. In order to qualify for the semi-finals, Chile, Uruguay, the United States and Yugoslavia each won their respective matches. Eventually, hosts and pre-tournament favourites from Uruguay beat Argentina 4-2 to 68,346 spectators, making it the first nation to win the World Cup. The other was first World Cup, without a win. Any FIFA affiliated country with an approval date of 28 February 1930, was eligible to apply. Among the nations of the Americas there was considerable concern; Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the United States all took part. In all, we've included seven South American countries, more than at any previous World Cup finals. Nevertheless, relatively few European teams were invited to participate due to the lengthy and costly ship journey across the Atlantic Ocean and the period of absence expected by the participants. Some refused to fly to South America in any conditions as no European entries had been sent before the deadline of February. The Uruguayan Football Federation sent a letter of invitation to The Football Association in an effort to attract any European interest, as the British Home Nations had withdrawn from FIFA at the time. This was confirmed by the FA Tribunal on 18 November 1929. Two months before the event no team from Europe officially entered the tournament. FIFA chairman Jules Rimet intervened and eventually four European teams made the trip by sea: Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia. The Romanians, led by Constantin Rădulescu and coached by their captain Rudolf Wetzer and Octav Luchide, left the tournament after recently crowned, interfering with King Carol II. He assembled the squad himself, then collaborated with managers to ensure that all players regained jobs. The French respected Rimet's personal involvement, but no French star defender Manuel Anatol or regular team coach Gaston Barreau persuaded him of the journey. The Belgians were engaged at the instigation of FIFA German-Belgian vice-president Rodolphe Seeldrayers. Hosting proposals have been registered in Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands, France, Hungary and Uruguay. Uruguay's offer was the clear one because all the other countries had called their offers back. The 13 teams have been split into four groups, with four teams in Group 1 and the remaining three. Through group played a round-robin format, with the four group winners progressing into the knockout stage in the semifinals. Since there were no qualification rounds, the first two matches of the tournament were the first ever World Cup rounds played concurrently on 13 July 1930; France beat Mexico 4–1 at Estadio Pocitos, while the United States concurrently defeated Belgium 3–0 at Estadio Gran Parque Central. France's Lucien Laurent was the first goal scorer in World Cup.