First World Cup
On July 13, 1930, France defeats Mexico 4-1 and the United
States defeats Belgium 3-0 in the first-ever World Cup football matches, played
simultaneously in host city Montevideo, Uruguay. The World Cup has since become
the world’s most watched sporting event.
After football (soccer, to Americans) was dropped from the
program for the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, FIFA President Jules Rimet helped
to organize an international tournament in 1930. Much to the dismay of European
footballers, Uruguay, winner of back-to-back gold medals at the 1924 Paris
Olympics and 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, was chosen to host the inaugural World
Cup.
Due to depression in Europe, many European players, afraid their
day jobs would not exist when they returned, were either unable or unwilling to
attend the tournament. As a result, some of the most accomplished European
teams, including three-time Olympic gold medalist England and football
enthusiasts Italy, Spain, Germany and Holland did not make an appearance at the
first World Cup. However, when Uruguay agreed to help pay traveling expenses,
Rimet was able to convince Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia to make the
trip. In Romania, King Carol selected the team members himself, gave them a
three-month vacation from their jobs and guaranteed the players would be
employed when they returned.
Going into the tournament, Uruguay and Argentina were the
overwhelming favorites, while France and the United States also fielded
competitive sides. In the first round, France’s Lucien Laurent scored the
first-ever World Cup goal. In its second game, France lost to Argentina 1-0
amid controversy over the referees ending the game six minutes early. Once the
problem was discovered, the referees had to bring the Argentine players back
onto the field to play the final minutes. After beating Belgium, the United
States beat Paraguay to set up a semi-final match with Argentina, which they
lost 6-1. Still, the semi-final placement was the best U.S. World Cup finish to
date.
In the first World Cup final, held on July 30, 1930, 93,000
spectators looked on as Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in a rematch of the 1928
Olympic gold medal game. Uruguay went on to win its second World Cup in 1950
with a 2-1 win over Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.