The first FIFA World Cup, a global competition for men’s national association football teams, was held in 1930. Uruguay hosted it from July 13 to July 30, 1930. Uruguay was chosen as the host country by FIFA, the world’s governing body of football, because the country would be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the adoption of its first constitution and because the Uruguayan national football team had successfully defended its football championship at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
On July 30, 1930, the first World Cup final took place. In a replay of the 1928 Olympic gold medal game, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of 93,000 fans. After defeating Brazil 2-1 in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, Uruguay went on to win its second World Cup.
The teams were split up into four groups, and the group with the most points advanced to the semifinals. The United States and France won the first two World Cup games, which were played concurrently and were won by Mexico (4-1) and Belgium (3-0), respectively. The first World Cup goal was scored by France’s Lucien Laurent, and Jimmy Douglas of the United States had the first tournament shutout on the same day.
In order to go to the semi-finals, Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, and Yugoslavia all won their respective groups. In the championship match, Uruguay, the tournament’s hosts and pre-tournament favorites, defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of 68,346 spectators to win the World Cup for the first time.
In the first-ever World Cup football matches, played concurrently in the host city Montevideo, Uruguay, the United States defeats Belgium 3-0. Since then, the World Cup has surpassed all other sporting events in popularity. FIFA President Jules Rimet assisted in the planning of a worldwide competition in 1930 when football (soccer, to Americans) was removed from the schedule for the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Uruguay, which won back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics in 1924 Paris and 1928 Amsterdam, was selected to host the first World Cup, much to the dismay of European footballers.
Rimet was able to persuade Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia to travel, though, after Uruguay agreed to contribute to the cost of the trip. In Romania, King Carol personally chose the team members, granted them a three-month leave of absence from their occupations, and promised that they would still have jobs when they returned.
The Venue of the First FIFA World Cup
Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Spanish, Hungarian, and Uruguay all submitted bids to host the event. As soon as all the other nations withdrew their bids, Uruguay’s proposal was clearly the winner.
All games were held in Montevideo. Estadio Centenario, Estadio Pocitos, and Estadio Gran Parque Central were the three venues utilized. The Estadio Centenario was constructed for the competition as well as to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Uruguayan independence. It was the main venue for the competition and was created by Juan Scasso; Rimet described it as a “temple of football.”
It was the biggest football stadium outside of the British Isles, with a capacity of 90,000. Ten of the 18 games, including the final and both semifinal matches, were played at the stadium. The Centenario was not, however, ready for use until five days into the competition due to a hurried building schedule and wet season delays. Early games were held in the 20,000 capacity Parque Central and Pocitos stadiums, which are typically utilized by Montevideo football clubs Nacional and Pearol.
Format of the Games
Four groups were formed out of the 13 teams, with Group 1 having four teams and the others having three. The four group winners advanced to the knockout semifinal round after each group played in a round-robin format.
Once all the teams had arrived in Montevideo, the draw took place, with Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and the United States being seeded and separated from one another.
The first two matches of the tournament, which took place simultaneously on July 13, 1930, were the first World Cup games ever played because there were no qualifying matches. France defeated Mexico 4-1 at the Estadio Pocitos, and the United States defeated Belgium 3-0 at the Estadio Gran Parque Central. Lucien Laurent of France scored the opening goal of the World Cup.
The First Ever Champions
On July 30, 1930, the first World Cup final took place. In a replay of the 1928 Olympic gold medal game, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of 93,000 fans. After defeating Brazil 2-1 in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, Uruguay went on to win its second World Cup.
