The final goal of the inaugural World Cup in 1930. Wikipedia
In 1930, FIFA held the inaugural soccer World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay. Over the next century, the World Cup would eventually become one of the largest spectacles in the world. However, its kickoff event looked far from the global soccer extravaganza that attracts over three and half billion viewers today. In fact, the first World Cup may have never come to pass if the International Olympic Committee had voted to drop soccer from their 1932 schedule in Los Angeles. Here’s the humble story of the first World Cup that saw just 13 teams vie for what turned into the holy grail of soccer.
Striker Héctor Castro of Uruguay scored here.
The Forming Of The FIFA World Cup
In the early 19th century soccer was a part of the Olympics but only as a demonstration sport. Clubs and teams cobbled together from various countries ran around the pitch like an intramural college team. It wasn’t until 1908 that it became a proper medal sport. Although even then, professionals weren’t allowed to compete.
FIFA, which was established in 1904, didn’t even recognize the Olympics as the “world football championship for amateurs” until 1914. By then FIFA understood the popularity of the global game and began planning their own championship outside the Olympics. Understanding that the best players fighting for national pride in the world's most popular game would have some appeal, FIFA Congress met in Amsterdam on May 28th 1928.
The 90,000 capacity Estadio Centenario. PA Images
Uruguay Wins The Inaugural Bid
On that historic day, Hungary, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands all submitted bids to host the first World Cup but Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo won out. The South American country was selected for a few reasons. First, they were celebrating their 100th anniversary of Independence in 1930 and they had dominated the international soccer landscape for years.
In 1924 and 1928, Uruguay took home the gold medal, challenging the rest of the world to come and take their crown on home soil. It also didn’t hurt that Uruguay offered to foot the bill for any and all participating countries during a massive European financial depression.
17 nations participated vied for the first World Cup. 7 from South America, 2 from North America but only four from Europe.
Come One, Come All, Please?
Unlike the World Cup today where over 200 countries across 6 continents play qualifiers for the right to play on the big stage, the first World Cup was an invitational tournament, meaning every FIFA-affiliated country was welcome. Unfortunately, due to dire financial straits of many European countries, only teams from the Americas initially accepted the invitation. As it turned out, most European players were afraid to travel so far. They worried that if they left for such a long time, they would return to find their positions had been taken.
Jules Rimet, the FIFA president, had to personally convince France and Yugoslavia to send teams, while FIFA vice-president Rodolphe Seeldrayers talked Belgium into participating. Funnily, In Romania, King Carol dismissed the European financial crisis, selecting the team members himself. He furnished them with a three-month vacation and also guaranteed the players would still have their jobs upon return.
Uruguay's World Cup winning team. PA Images
Temple Of Football
For the event, Uruguay built a 90,000 seat stadium dubbed Estadio Centenario. Rimet called it a “temple of football.” The four groups of teams went as follows:
Group 1: Argentina, Chile, France, Mexico
Group 2: Yugoslavia, Brazil, Bolivia
Group 3: Uruguay, Romania, Peru
Group 4: USA, Paraguay, Belgium
The winner of each group moved onto the semi-finals. Surprisingly, America fielded a strong team that won their group and faced the host country in the semi-final! Unfortunately, both Yugoslavia and the Americans were steamrolled by their South American opponents. That set up the blood feud final of Argentina against Uruguay.
Tensions were so high, the head referee worked on the condition that a boat to be ready within one hour of the final whistle.
A Hell Of a Final
Leading up to the final, tens of thousands of Argentines made a border crossing trip to Uruguay to cheer their team on. These countries hated each other, having just faced off in the 1928 Olympic Final that required two matches after the first ended in a tie. Before the match, chants of Victoria o muerte (victory or death) thundered through the streets. The teams even bitterly argued over who would provide the ball! Ultimately, it was settled by allowing an Argentina ball for the first half and Uruguay ball in the second.
The match was classic with Uruguay coming back from 2-1 at halftime to take a 4-2 victory with the last goal coming in the final minute. The streets of Montevideo were pandemonium and a national holiday was declared on July 31. What a way to start what would become the most anticipated soccer event across the globe!
