Fun facts about the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, the first one

On 13th July 1930 at the Gran Parque Central stadium in Montevideo, France and Mexico played what would be the first match of a recently created tournament: the football World Cup. Mexico were beaten 4-1 the match was played in front of 1000 fans. They did not know that that game would be the start of something huge. 

Since then, 20 more editions have been played in the next 92 years in all corners of the world, where football was the main topic of conversation between countries who were fighting for the trophy. Before continuing any further, let us start from the beginning. The World Cup was the idea of Jules Rimet, the third FIFA president. Rimet pushed for the creation of this tournament as he wanted many countries to face off in a tournament where countries could fell represented. 

In order to achieve this, FIFA decided to establish this competition which would take place every four years. Uruguay were the first hosts given that they won the Olympic tournaments in 1924 and 1928. 

That is how the tournament began and a lot has been spoken about in its 92 years of life. It is for that reason that at BeSoccer we are going to recap the history of this competition and there is no better place to start than with the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. 

Who won the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay?

The 1930 World Cup took place in Uruguay from 13th until 30th July. 13 teams took part, of which four qualified for the semi-finals. Argentina, USA, Uruguay and Yugoslavia reached the final stages of the tournament while Brazil, Bolivia, France, Peru, Paraguay, Belgium, Chile, Mexico and Romania were eliminated.

The final look place on 30th July at the Estadio Centario. Argentina faced hosts Uruguay respectively and the Uruguayans lifted the trophy. They repeated the feat 20 years later shocking Brazil in the final at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. 

Who starred at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay?

Top goalscorer at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay 

Guillermo Stabile (Argentina) – 8 goals

Best goalkeeper at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay:

Enrique Ballesteros (Uruguay)

Best player at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay

Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay)

Fun facts about the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay

The first World Cup trophy measured 35 centimetres and weighed 4 kilos. It was made of pure gold. 

– Matches were played in just one city in three stadiums. El Centenario was built in a year, record time for that era.

– 70 goals were scored in 18 matches, with an average of 3.9 goals per match. 

– Peruvian Placido Galindo went down in history for being the first player to be sent off in a World Cup match. 

– The first goal in a World Cup was scored by Lucien Laurent. The Frenchman opened the scoring against Mexico. 

– Both USA and Romania played with Scottish players as the Scottish national decided not to play. 

– England, possibly the best team at the team, refused to take part in it.

– Brazil were knocked out in the group stages.

– The winning goal of the final was scored by Uruguayan Hector Castro, who had just one arm. 

– The World Cup clash between Romania and Peru had an attendance of just 300, the lowest ever for a World Cup. 

– It was the only time a third place play-off did not take place. It would have been between Yugoslavia and USA.

– There was not an official ball for the tournament. Each team played with its own ball. The leather balls were so hard that some players with a beret.

– Mexican defender Manuel Rosas was the first player to score an own goal for his team, Chile. 

– The first hat-trick was scored by an American. He was signed by Bert Patenaude against Paraguay. 

MAIN FUN FACT: Because of the tension in the final, 300 soldiers attended the encounter between Argentina and Uruguay to calm tension. 

Iconic moment of the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay: 

Do you recognise this moment?

– In this famous image, you can see the Uruguay players giving each other a hug after winning the first edition of the World Cup.