The FIFA World Cup is rich in tradition, recollections, and thrilling events.
The 22nd iteration of the competition, which has been around for over a century, will take place in Qatar this November and December.
The FIFA World Cup’s rich history influences today’s contemporary game, from illustrious players to historic matches and legendary arenas. The World Cup has been graced by players like Pele, Diego Maradona, Bobby Charlton, Ronaldo, Andrea Pirlo, Lionel Messi, and countless others with extraordinary talent and breathtaking performances.
The Sporting News provides all the information you require about the initial FIFA World Cup and how the event has changed to become what it is today.
When did the initial World Cup take place?
Uruguay served as the host nation for the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930. Naturally, the first competition to be held at home was won by the hosts.
Only 13 teams competed in the first World Cup, which was held in 1930. Four groups made up the tournament: three groups had three teams, and one group had four. The winners of the four groups progressed to a mini-knockout round, where Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in the championship game at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
Under the direction of 31-year-old Alberto Suppici, still, the youngest head coach to win a World Cup, Uruguay rallied from a 2-1 halftime deficit to defeat the United States 4-2 in a spectacular World Cup final in 1930.
Six players contributed to the game’s six goals, with Racing Montevideo forward Santos “El Canario” Iriarte scoring Uruguay’s third goal, which proved to be the game-winning tally.
The official World Cup trophy bore Jules Rimet’s name until 1974 when the present-day trophy took its place. Jules Rimet is the president of FIFA.
The two group champions, the US and Yugoslavia, also lost by a score of 6-1 in the semifinals. Although the captains of both those teams were awarded bronze medals, FIFA’s official technical report of the game, published in 1986, asserts that the United States finished third because of a higher goal differential throughout the competition. This method is still used to determine the official standings of teams in World Cup tournaments.
There are varying accounts as to whether a third-place match was initially planned but has yet to occur.
World Cup history: How format has changed
The sport’s premier event has changed as the FIFA World Cup has gained prominence and spread internationally.
That expansion started very quickly. 16 of the 32 participating nations in the pre-qualifying phase for the second FIFA men’s World Cup in 1934 advanced to the final event.
Before the Second World War caused a break, the World Cup was held again in 1938.
The 1950 World Cup, the first to include a “final round” in which four nations competed in a round-robin style to crown a champion, saw the competition resume. Although it wasn’t the official championship match, Uruguay’s victory over the host nation Brazil in the round robin’s last game effectively determined the victor.
Even though the World Cup’s format was occasionally altered, it would always feature 16 teams. FIFA began using “goal average” in 1962 in place of replays and playoff games to distinguish between teams that were tied on points.
A new structure was tested in 1974 and used for three tournaments. It used two different group rounds to produce a two-team final. The competition grew to 24 teams in 1982 and kept its two-group structure.
The current system, consisting of a group stage followed by a 16-team knockout bracket, underwent another change in 1986.
When the competition reached 32 teams in 1998, the top two teams from each of the eight groups of four moved on to the knockout round. The 16-team knockout bracket then starts, continuing until a champion is declared. The exact format will be used in Qatar 2022.
But there will soon be another update. An expanded 48-team competition, including a 32-team knockout bracket likely to cause plenty of mayhem, will be held in North America for the 2026 World Cup.
Tournament
The bulk of the public booed the guests in their first encounter against France to the point that the Argentines were told to leave the game, expressing an old hatred between Uruguay and Argentina without hesitation. It was up to Uruguay’s president to mediate. However, things got out of hand in the last group encounter between Argentina and Chile. In response to an altercation between two players, the majority of players from both teams engaged in a big scrimmage. Argentina won both the match and the group after the break in play.
Many people were shocked when Yugoslavia and the USA won their groups and made it to the Semi-finals. The Argentinians would humiliate the USA once more in the semifinals, this time by a score of 6-1, after insulting them by a score of 11-2 in the 1928 Olympics. For the sake of American pride, it should be stated that two of their players were hurt and couldn’t be replaced because of the strange regulation in effect at the time.
In their group, Uruguay would triumph against Peru and Yugoslavia, and in the semifinals, Uruguay would easily defeat Yugoslavia. But the outcome would need to represent the game accurately. The referee disallowed one goal by Yugoslavia, which had taken the lead, for an odd reason, and two of Uruguay’s opening goals were approved under dubious circumstances.
They competed against their arch-enemy Argentina in the championship match, just as they had done in the Olympic competition final from 1928. Uruguay could pull off another victory with four goals against two after Argentina had a 2-1 lead in front of over 80,000 spectators at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo (the attendance figures are disputed; the official attendance was 68,346, but it was undoubtedly more people watching the game, and some sources claim it was over 90,000 spectators). The Uruguayan football players would maintain their position as the country’s pride.
