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The ins and outs of the international football association; the most recent news and coverage in the FIFA universe.

Christian Pulisic: *Potentially* America's best ever male player
When Christian Pulisic first broke through at Borussia Dortmund in early 2016, there was an insanely large amount of excitement around him especially from sports media outlets based in the United States. This is to be expected given the lack of top class football players that USA has produced relative to its massive 300 million plus population. This lack of truly top class professional American footballers has often in the past lead to the over hyping of mediocre talent by the US media, Freddy Adu was earmarked to become one of the best players in the world at one point in time. The less said about his career the better. With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that not only is Pulisic an exceptional player worth all the hype he receives, he has all the tools to become the USA’s best ever player. In this piece we will analyze the excellent season he’s had at Chelsea and what he needs to do to be certain of achieving that accolade
By Michael Black6 years ago in Cleats
Scouting: Marcus Thuram
Borussia Monchengladbach's purchase of forward Marcus Thuram from a relegated Guingamp side for a poultry £8m in the summer of 2019 went completely under the radar. Son of world-famous Lilian Thuram, Marcus is only aged 22 and yet born in Parma, Italy, he represents France, as his father did before him. Let's analyse his numbers and see why he has been so effective for Die Fohlen this season, leaving them 4th before coronavirus put a hold on all things football.
By Potential Punts6 years ago in Cleats
There is more in common besides both countries calling it Soccer!
Close on the heels of a US judge dismissing the U.S. Women's Soccer Team's Equal Pay Claim, I wanted to take look at why the Australian Women's Soccer Team a.k.a The Matildas, were able to win their Equal Pay Claim not so long ago.
By John Francis 6 years ago in Cleats
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the nineteenth FIFA World Cup, the official badge of men's national football teams organisation. It was held in South Africa from 11 June till 11 July 2010. The bid procedure to stage the tournament's finals was open only to African countries. In 2004, South Africa was selected as the first African country to host the final by international football body FIFA over Egypt and Morocco. The matches were held at 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the world, with the opener and finale being held at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. Thirty-two teams have been selected for inclusion through a global qualifying competition that started in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams advancing from each division. Such 16 teams advanced into the qualification round, where the teams will compete for three rounds of play determined in the final. Spain, the European champions, defeated 3rd-time Dutch finalists 1–0 in the final after extra time to claim their first world title. Spain was the eighth to lift the trophy, and the first European nation to win a World Cup outside its own continent: the five previous World Cups in Africa were won by South American countries. They are now the first national team to win a World Cup since 1978, despite having missed a game in the group stage. As a product of their success Spain led the world at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. The host nation South Africa and both the 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France have been relegated in the tournament's first round. This was the first time the hosts had been defeated in the first round. With their three draws, New Zealand became the only unbeaten team in the competition but they were also eliminated in the first round. On 28 May 2015, media coverage of the 2015 FIFA corruption trial reported that South African bid committee senior officials had won the right to host the World Cup by paying $10 million in payments to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and other FIFA Executive Committee leaders. The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held at Durban on 25 November 2007. As host nation South Africa qualified directly for the tournament. As was the case for the previous tournament, the defending champions were not awarded automatic berth and Italy had to participate in the qualifying. Like the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 World Cup held the record in a single event for most competing nations in a field of entries that at the time included 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. The tournament planned five new stadiums, and five of the former facilities were upgraded. They should have cost R8.4bn to build. South Africa has set up fast transit infrastructure within host cities, including the Johannesburg Gautrain and other metro systems, and strengthened regional road networks. In March 2009, Danny Jordaan, the president of the organising committee for the 2010 World Cup, declared that all stadiums for the tournament are scheduled to finish within six months. The overall prize money on offer to the event was also revealed by FIFA as US$ 420 million, an rise of 60 per cent from the 2006 edition. Each of the 32 entries had earned US$ 1 million in pre-tournament preparation expenditures. Many locations 'height affected ball and player performance travel but FIFA's medical officer downplayed the aspect. Of the ten stadiums, seven were over 1200 metres above sea level, with the two Johannesburg stadiums, FNB Stadium and Ellis Park Stadium, the largest at 1750 metres above sea level. 32 National teams live and practise in base camps before and after World Cup. In February 2010 FIFA revealed benchmark camps for each team that took part in the trial.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. Italy won the competition in the final match at Stadium Santiago Bernabéu in the Spanish capital of Madrid, and defeated West Germany 3–1. This was Italy's seventh world cup triumph but their first victory since 1938. In race two the defending champions of Argentina were defeated in the second round. First finals appeared in Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait and New Zealand. The match has seen the first World Cup penalty shoot-out. It was the last World Cup to have 2 phases in group action. This was also the third time all four demi-finalists had Asian standing. Hungary defeated El Salvador 10–1 in the first round of Group 3, marking the biggest margin of victory recorded in the series. FIFA appointed Spain as host nation at London, England, on 6 July 1966. Around the same time the hosting rights for the tournaments were awarded in 1974 and 1978. In the 1974 tournament West Germany reached an deal with Spain to support West Germany allowing Spain to compete unopposed in exchange for West Germany whereulSd for the 1982 World Cup. The World Cup finals is extending from 16 to 24 players for the first time. This needed to include more teams, especially from Africa and Asia. Had some consideration been given to England, Northern Ireland and Scotland to withdraw from the tournament due to the Falklands War between Argentina and the UK. A clarification released by Uk sport minister Neil Macfarlane at the height of the conflict in April suggested that there would be no contact between British national teams and Argentina. Not until September, after hostilities had concluded, was the ban rescinded. Macfarlane told Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that some players and officers were unsure about taking part because of the casualties British forces had suffered. FIFA has informed the Uk government they have not convinced Argentina to withdraw. It quickly became clear that other countries would not be withdrawing from the market. This was intended to include the British national teams in such a manner that Argentina could not use its absence for propaganda purposes, in order to minimise the potential effect of placing diplomatic pressure upon the region. The first round was a round-robin group stage containing six groups of four teams, each. Two points were awarded for a victory and one for a loss, the score differential being used to determine the equals. The top two teams have made headway within each group. In the second round the remaining twelve teams were grouped into four groups of three teams each, with each group winner proceeding to the semifinals Knockout round. The squad composition was decided in the second round before tournament begins. Furthermore, Groups A and B had to have one team from each of Groups 1 to 6, and the remaining six teams were Groups C and D. Group 1 and 3 champions were in Group A while the runners-up were in Group C. Group 2 and 4 champions were in Group B while the runners-up were in Group D. Group 5 leader was in Group D while Group B celebrated. Group 6 champion was in Group C and Group A runner-up was in Group A. Therefore, Group A mirrored Group C and Group B mirrored Group D in the second round with the winners and runners-ups placed together in different groups. The second- groups faced off against each other in the semifinals which mirrored each other. And the Group A winner faced group C, and group B winner faced group D.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was an international football exhibition tournament which took place in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. It was the eighth FIFA World Cup, first contested in 1930. In the final, England defeated West Germany 4–2 to win their first World Cup; after 90 minutes, the game finished at 2–2 and went to extra time when Geoff Hurst scored two goals to complete his hat-trick, the first and last to be played in a 2018 World Cup match, with supporters storming the pitch in the fourth quarter. England was the fifth country to win the event, and the third host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and after Italy in 1934. Brazil had been defending champions but they failed to progress from the group stage. Matches were played in eight grounds across Britain with the final contested at Wembley Stadium, which had a capacity of 98,600. The case of 1966 featured the highest number of teams of any world sport to date, with 70 nations competing. The Jules Rimet cup was stolen during the tournament but a dog called Pickles was discovered four months before the game began. The final was the first one seen exclusively in black and white, which the BBC broadcast locally. Thirty-one African nations boycotted the World Cup, objecting to the number of finals placements. Two new teams did well in the tournament – Portugal finished seventh, losing 2–1 against England in the semi-finals and North Korea beat Italy 1–0 in the quarter-finals, losing 5–3 against Portugal. Portuguese midfielder Eusébio is the tournament's top scorer scoring nine goals on the golden boot. Eusébio scored 3 goals more than Helmut Haller placing him in second place. The format in 1966 was close to that of 1962: 16 qualified teams were grouped into four classes out of four. Every party played round-robin format. Using goal average to score teams on equal scores, two points are awarded for a win and one point for a loss. The top two teams advanced to the Knockout stage within each group. The eight stadiums used for the World Cup. The newest and largest stadium used was Wembley Stadium in west London, which was 43 years old in 1966. This was also the case in World Cup, group matches were held at two separate stadiums. Group 1 matches were also played in London: five at Wembley, which was England's largest arena and is widely regarded as the world's most popular football venue; and one at the White City Arena in west London, which was used as a temporary replacement for nearby Wembley. The group stage match between Uruguay and France was played at White City Stadium on a Friday, on the same day as regularly scheduled greyhound races in Wembley. Since Wembley's promoter declined to delay this, transferring the game to the location where it was being replaced was necessary. Group 2 matches at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield and Villa Park in Birmingham; group 3 matches at Old Trafford in Manchester and Goodison Park in Liverpool; group 4 matches at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough, and Roker Park in Sunderland. On Monday 11th July, the opening match was played. With the exception of the first tournament that started on 13 July 1930 in May or June, all other tournament was over. The final was conducted on 30 July 1966, the 36th anniversary of the first finale. It is the last closing day of every competition. The reason for the unusually late timing of the match seems to lie in the foreign broadcasting commitments of the BBC which already had arrangements for both Wimbledon and the Open Golf Championship. 1966 was a World Cup with a few penalties, because the teams have a more defensive inclination than tactically.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1962 FIFA World Cup
The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial search for men's best national football team. It took place in Chile from May 30th until June 17th 1962. Around August 1960 and December 1961, the qualification rounds were played with 56 teams competing in the final tournament from six confederations and fourteen entrants including the defending champions Chile, the hosts and Brazil. Brazil has comfortably defended the crown of the World Cup, defeating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final at Santiago, the capital of Chile. We became the second team to win the World Cup twice in succession, after Italy in 1934 and 1938; since then there has been no achievement for either side. In the play-off the host country Chile took third place, defeating Yugoslavia 1–0. A tense environment and violence among the pitch participants marred the game; it included the first-round match between Chile and Italy, regarded as the Battle of Santiago, one of the notorious matches of the competition. Magallanes president Ernesto Alvear attended a FIFA conference held in Helsinki as the Finnish country hosted Summer Olympics in 1952. He believed Chile would host a World Cup. Some sources also suggest that the FIFA did not allow Argentina to run alone, calling almost symbolically on Chile to join in. Chile declared its candidacy in 1954 along with Argentina and West Germany, the latter retiring on appeal from FIFA. Initially, eight stadiums were chosen in eight cities to host the World Cup matches: Santiago, Viña del Mar, Rancagua, Arica, Talca, Concepción, Talcahuano, Valdivia and others. It was the first World Cup to use goal average to distinguish equivalent from teams. This was also the first World Cup at which the average number of goals per match has been less than three since the creation of the competition; this was later repeated at World Cup. After two consecutive World Cups won by Europe, the American federations requested that South America join the tournament's 1962 edition, or face the tournament's full boycott, much like 1938. Given recent lack of candidates, Argentina has been the favourite. Provided preparations were well under way in May 1960, Chile suffered the highest ever recorded earthquake, causing major damage to the national infrastructure. Charged with this, Carlos Dittborn, President of the Organizing Committee, coined the expression "Because we have nothing, we will do whatever we can to repair." Stadiums and other facilities were rebuilt at record speed, and the tournament took place on schedule without any technical malfunction. Dittborn did not live to see the results of his efforts, because he died a month before the start of the tournament. The Arica World Cup stadium has been named to his memory, Estadio Carlos Dittborn, bearing his legacy to this day. Yet Chile was able to satisfy the seating demand for such limited and low-capacity stadiums, since there was no international travel to Chile, far from Europe at the time. The game was marred by continued abuse at the ground. This toxic climate, known as the Santiago Battle, resulted in the first-round match between host Chile and Italy. Two Italian journalists have written unflattering articles about the host country and its capital city, describing Santiago as a highly primitive, pornography-ridden landfill. Though the English referee Ken Aston sent off just two players, the match saw repeated efforts by players from both sides to injure opponents and the Italian team called for police security to leave the field in peace. Articles in the Italian newspapers La Nazione and Corriere della Sera said it was "pure madness" to allow Chile to host the World Cup; this has been exploited and magnified by local media to inflame the Chilean community. "The game offers every hint of a bloody bloodbath. Stories read like dispatches at the battlefront; the match between Italy and West Germany has been described as 'wrestling and fighting,'" wrote the British Daily Express.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1958 FIFA World Cup
Sweden hosted the 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final in the Solna suburb of Stockholm for their first title. The case is also worthy of mention as it calls the world stage debut of a then 17-year-old Pelé. The hosting tournament featured Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Sweden. Swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro for the launch of the World Cup finals in 1950 Sweden was unopposed to the 1958 tournament on 23 June 1950. The hosts were automatically qualified as were the reigning West Germany champions. Nine of the remaining 14 seats had been reserved for Europe, three for South America, one for North and Central America and one for Asia and Africa. In addition to the big European area matches, Wales, who placed second in her group behind Czechoslovakia, was drawn into a play-off with Israel after Israel won their group by accident when its three opponents, Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan, refused to join in. FIFA has added a clause that no team can continue without having played at least one match, something that never existed in other World Cups. Wales won the play-off, and spent time alone for the first time ever up to now. The World Cup was the first to feature the four Home Nations of the United Kingdom, with Northern Ireland debuting, also participating with England and Scotland. The match structure changed in 1954: 16 teams also participated in four groups of four, but this time each team played in their section at least once each of the other teams, with no extra time in the event of draw. Two points were granted for a win, and one drawn. Since the first two teams had to finish with the same points to decide who was second and who was first overall. As in 1954, if the second and third placed teams end up with the same points, a play-off would be played with the champion advancing. If a play-off results in a tie, the goal average of the group games will be used to decide who will go into the next round. When the figures for the target are the same lots are drawn accordingly. Those arrangements had not been decided at the time the tournament began, so they were still being discussed as it progressed. Some players protested that there was too much play-off, including three games in five days, and FIFA told the players to weigh the goal difference before resorting to a play-off before group matches in the second round. That was reversed by the Swedish Football Association after complaints, primarily because it was illegal to change the rules of the mid-tournament but also because they needed the extra money from playoff matches. Pelé had not played against the Soviet Union in Group 4 before the finale of Brazil's group match. He failed to score but in both game 2–0 and match Brazil prevailed by two points. They would have started 0–0 in what has been the first ever goalless game with England in World Cup history. Eventually, the Soviet Union and England went to a playoff game where Anatoli Ilyin scored to knock out England in the 67th minute, while Austria had already defeated. Earlier this year the Munich air crash ravaged the English side, killing three internationals on Manchester United's books including Duncan Edwards, the young star of England. Brazil and France have spent most of the first half stuck 1-1 in the other semifinal. Nonetheless, in a crash with Vavá 36 minutes into the match, French captain and the most seasoned defender Robert Jonquet suffered a broken leg and France was down to 10 players for the rest of the season. Brazil dominated the remainder of the season, with a Pelé hat-trick giving them a 5–2 advantage. Fontaine of France put his impressive tally on just one goal. The final was played at Råsunda Stadium in Solna; after four minutes, 50,000 spectators watched the Brazilians go down into a goal. Yet shortly after, Vavá equalised, and just before half-time brought them a point ahead. In the second half, Pelé outshone them all, scoring two goals including the first, where he lobbied the ball to Bengt Gustavsson and followed up with a fine volley strike. Zagallo put a spike in between and Sweden has struggled to hit a consolation goal.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fourth FIFA World Cup staging, was played from 16 June to 4 July in Switzerland. In July 1946 Switzerland was chosen as host country. For all-time goal scoring the tournament set several records with the highest total number of goals scored per game. The tournament was dominated by West Germany, who ultimately defeated Hungary 3–2 and giving them their first victory. On 22 July 1946, Switzerland won the tournament unopposed, the same day Brazil was picked for World Cup 1950 in Luxembourg City. The host and defending champions automatically qualified. For the 14 available seats, 11 have been assigned to Europe, two to America and one to Asia. During the tournament, Australia, Turkey and South Korea all made their World Cup debuts. South Korea becomes the first autonomous Asian nation to compete for races in the World Cup. Austria appeared first as from 1934. Turkey wouldn't take part in a final again until the 2002 competition, but in 1986 the next would be in South Korea. The tournament had used a new format in 1954. The 16 qualifying teams were split into four groups, each of which comprised four teams. Each division had two teams seededed, and two teams unseeded. For each group only four matches had been set, each pitting a seeded team against an unseeded team. That's in comparison to the usual round-robin where each team plays each other: six matches in each season. Another oddity was that extra time had been required in group games if the score was even after 90 minutes, with the outcome being a draw if the score was already equal after 120 minutes, which is not included in the group stage of other competitions. With a win two points were awarded, and one for a defeat. The two teams from each group with the most points advanced into the knockout stage. If the teams in the first and second ranks were level on points, lots would be drawn to determine which team would top the table. Nevertheless, as the teams placed second and third on points, a play-off was held to determine which team will advance to the next round. Two of the four groups wanted play-offs and the two other lots were drawn between the top two teams. The play-offs were between Switzerland and Italy, Turkey and West Germany: earlier wins over the seeds to advance in all tournaments replicated by the unseeded players. Lots were drawn to decide the first-place teams in the other two groups, resulting in finishing in Uruguay and Brazil over Austria and Yugoslavia, respectively. Another unique feature of the format was that during the knockout rounds, the four group-winning teams were drawn against each other to decide a winner, and the four second-placed teams were competing against each other to produce the second finalist. In subsequent tournaments, field group winners against second-placed teams in the first round of knockouts were standard practise. They played 30 minutes of extra time in every knockout game, tied after 90 minutes. If the scores of any playoff game other than the final is already equal after extra time, lots will be drawn to determine which team has advanced. If the game is tied after extra time, however, it should have been replayed, with lots only settling on the winner if the tie had already been tied after extra time. In the case that all the games knockout were decided in either normal or extra time, without the need for replays or draw lots. The Berne Wankdorf Stadium had 60,000 fans pouring inside to see the final between West Germany and Hungary, a replay of a first-round game which Hungary won 8–3 over the German team's reserves.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1950 FIFA World Cup
Fourth FIFA World Cup was the FIFA World Cup of 1950, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. This was the first World Cup since 1938, with the events scheduled for 1942 and 1946 postponed due to World War II. It was won by Uruguay, who won the inaugural event in 1930. They clinched the cup in the deciding four-team match for final place by defeating 2–1 hosts from Brazil. It was the only competition that was not determined by a one-match final. This was also the first competition at which the cup was renamed by Jules Rimet Trophy, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of FIFA's presidency. The World Cup has not been played since 1938, due to World War II; both the World Cups set for 1942 and 1946 were postponed. FIFA was eager to revive the sport as soon as possible after the war, and preparations to stage a World Cup match have been initiated. Much of Europe lies in ruins, after the war. As a result, FIFA had some difficulty locating a country that was interested in staging the game as certain nations thought like they would dedicate their limited money to more important purposes than a sporting festival. When Brazil made an bid at the FIFA Congress in 1946, promising to host the match on condition that the competition be played in 1950, the World Cup was in danger of not being scheduled due to the international community's sheer lack of participation. Brazil and Germany had been the leading bidders to host the cancelled 1942 World Cup; since both the 1934 and 1938 competitions took place in Europe, football historians generally believe that the 1942 edition should most likely have been awarded to a host nation in South America. The latest offer from Brazil was very close to the mooted contract from 1942, and was soon approved. Having secured a host country, FIFA will also spend more time convincing countries to give out the match to their national teams. Italy was of special concern as longstanding defending champions, having won the two previous tournaments in 1934 and 1938; however, Italy's national team was seriously depleted when the majority of its starting line-up died a year before the start of the tour in the Superga air crash. At last the Italians were convinced to join but travelled more by boat than by plane. The tournament's Brazilian organisers introduced a new system in which the 16 teams were grouped into four first round groups of four teams, with the four group winners going on to a final group stage, competing in round-robin format to be decided by the champion. Cash was the key explanation for this choice: The owners had invested a lot on venue and construction budgets. When seen in 1934 and 1938, a single elimination tournament would require just seventeen teams, so two rounds of the current group format would mean thirty teams and therefore more ticket sales. This format would effectively guarantee at least three games for each hand, thereby giving more incentive to European players to make the trip to and participate in South America. FIFA initially opposed this plan but eased off after Brazil threatened to withdraw if the format was not chosen to host the tournament. A united Great Britain team recently beat the rest of Europe 6–1 in an exhibition match and England joined the competition as one of the favourites; however, they crashed out on June 29 in a U.S. surprise 1–0 loss which resulted in England being excluded, along with Spain's 1–0 loss. Italy's reigning champions broke their undefeated record in the World Cup finals when Sweden defeated Team 3–2 in the opening match. Italy endured as a result of not advancing to the second round. The final match between Switzerland and Mexico in group 1 marked the first time a national team has opted to play for their own jersey.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
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.
By MB7 years ago in Cleats
1938 FIFA World Cup
The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third round of the World Cup, played from 4 to 19 June 1938 in France. In the final, Italy has kept the championship intact, defeating Hungary 4–2. Teams from Italy were the only ones to have won two World Cups under the same manager, Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938. On 13 August 1936, FIFA voted France as host nation at Berlin. During the first round of elections France was preferred over Argentina and Germany. The plan to stage a second consecutive tournament in Europe created confusion in South America where the site was thought to be alternating between the two continents. It was the last World Cup held until the beginning of World War II. Due to dissatisfaction at the decision to stage a second consecutive World Cup in Europe, neither Uruguay nor Argentina joined the competition Spain has been hesitant to participate due to the raging Spanish Civil War in the meantime. The hosts, France, and the title winners, Italy, both won overwhelmingly and is the first time they both met. From 1938 until 2002, game winners were granted direct entry into the World Cup, following which they were removed. For the remaining 14 positions, 11 are assigned to Europe, 2 to the Americas and 1 to Asia. As a result, it included only three non-European countries: Nicaragua, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. This is the lowest number of teams allowed to participate in a FIFA World Cup outside of the host country. Austria qualified for World Cup but the Anschluss merged Austria with Germany after the qualifying was complete. Austria then withdrew from the competition, replacing the German squad with some Austrian players, but not even Austrian main player Matthias Sindelar, who declined to compete with the reunited side. Latvia was the runner-up in the qualification division of Austria, but was not permitted to take part; then Austria's position remained vacant, and by implication Sweden, who was expected to be Austria's first competitor, advanced straight to the second round. The tournament saw the first, and only, participation of Cuba and Dutch East Indies in a World Cup match as of 2018. It has already seen debuts in Poland and Norway at the World Cup. Until 1970 Romania had not qualified for another World Cup, Poland and the Netherlands would not reappear in a final tournament until 1974 and until 1994 Norway would not qualify for another World Cup final. Before 1994, a single team from Germany emerged again, while Austria returned in 1954 and came in sixth. It had maintained the format of the event in 1934. If a match has been drawn so after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time will be played. If after extra time the score was still level so the match will repeat. It was the first World Cup event to employ a single elimination system. At Paris on 5 March 1938 Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for games. Thanks to Austria's exit Sweden got a bye. Five of the first seven round matches have taken extra time to crack the deadlock; two games have already gone to a replay. In one replay Cuba advanced into the next round, at Romania's expense. On the other replay, Germany, who led 1–0 against Switzerland in the first round, led 2–0 but was finally defeated by 2–4. This loss, which happened in front of a angry, bottle-throwing audience in Paris, was blamed by German coach Sepp Herberger for the defeatist nature of the five Austrian players he was forced to include; a German journalist subsequently reported that "Germans and Austrians seem to be competing against each other as though they are in the same group."
By MB7 years ago in Cleats