If the inaugural World Cup was held at the commencement of a worldwide economic depression, the subsequent edition came along in the middle of an ongoing economic malaise, with the added socio-political development of dictatorial governments in a number of European countries.
1934 would be the first time the World Cup was held in Europe, in fascist Italy, and similar to the Berlin Olympics two years later, Benito Mussolini would use the event for political and propaganda purposes.
Italy had been chosen to host the tournament ahead of Sweden, and it was also the first time that countries had to qualify. A total of 32 countries were part of a qualification stage, to come down to the final 16 participants.
Four non-European countries were represented. Three from the Americas – Argentina, Brazil and the USA – while Egypt would be the first African country to compete in the event, and the first outside of Europe and the Americas.
Uruguay became the first, and to date only, nation to not defend its title, choosing to boycott in response to several European nations not making the trip to their nation four years earlier.
A unique aspect of this edition was that it was organised on a knock-out basis. This meant Argentina, Brazil and the USA made the Atlantic crossing simply to play one game, all three losing as follows:
Italy 7 defeated USA 1
Spain 3 defeated Brazil 1
Sweden 3 defeated Argentina 2
Egypt also lost its one game, to Hungary, 4-2 – although their sea crossing was shorter.
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A noteworthy aspect about the eight knock-out games played in the first round is that every team scored at least one goal, for an average rate of 5.4 per game. Such was football in 1934.
Even this early, draws in knock-out games had to be contended with, and this had to be dealt with in the second round when Italy drew with Spain 1-1. They replayed a full game, which Italy won 1-0.
Italy then defeated one of the pre-tournament favourites, Austria, by the same scoreline to make the final.
In the other semi-final, Czechoslovakia had a strong win against their more fancied neighbours, Germany, winning 3-1.
Given the time period, it’s unclear what the qualification rules were for players, but Italy had at least two players who were born in Argentina to Italian immigrant parents.
One of the stars of the tournament was Raimundo Orsi, who not only was born in Argentina, he had won an Olympic silver medal with said nation in 1928. In 1929, he was recruited by Juventus and represented Italy for the next five years.
In the final itself, Czechoslovakia took the lead late in the game, via winger Antonín Puč. Within ten minutes, Orsi equalised with a curling strike into the top corner and the game went into extra time (the first it was used in a World Cup final).
In the 97th minute, Bologna striker Angelo Schiavio put Italy in the lead and they held on, giving the home nation its very first World Cup with a 2-1 win.
This also meant that the first two editions of the World Cup had been won by the host nation, but this would not be repeated until 1966.
Buddy
Guest
Are you going to continue the series or is lack of discussion / debate / feedback a little offputting? From my own experience I find the children/ teenagers I coach and talk to struggle to be interested in history that is covering periods before they were born or that isn’t modern. I have shown videos (yes those VHS tapes) of games and goals from the 60’s and 70’s and the boys spend more time laughing at the fashions and hairstyles and don’t really appreciate the players and where they fit into the fabric of history of the game. This is especially true if pictures are black and white, or grainy. Maybe It were not that different when I was a child though? It was hard to get enthusiastic watching old footage that seemed incredibly stilted; the old pathe newsreels come to mind. The video footage of the 1953 cup final between Blackpool and Bolton with Stanley Mathews and co was kind of fun but they looked peculiar in the kits of the day and brylcreamed hair. The crowds were all wearing hats and waving rattles - it was a world away from London’s East End of the late 60’s and 70’s. The earlier years of the world cup met so many obstacles - not least being world war II and then the changes that followed and the political influences as europe divided east and west. Well that has reminded me that in the back of my cupboard lies the box set of the world cup - this time on DVD so time to relive some of the magical moments - and not so magical bits from yester-year. I hope you continue, even if in a condensed format, there must be plenty of readers on here that can surely relate to events prior to 2006? The final of 1974 is one of my best memories. I was dating an Arsenal supporter - yes I had a knack of finding girls who liked football..........but she wasn’t that interested in the world cup whereas I was in love with the dutch team of the time. Krol. Neeskens, Johnny Rep, Rensenbrink, Van De Kerkoff and my all time favourite - the mercurial Johan Cruyff. We were seeing the sights of London that day but I had to watch the game. Too young for the pub unfortunately and that was well before the days of sports bars. I managed to lure her into a Wimpey bar which had a tv on and I don’t believe I have ever eaten a meal quite as slowly as that day nor did I ever feel so torn between the love of football and the lovely tingling sensations you felt as a teenager when out dating a young lady. Late in the second half she made me leave although I did manage to watch the final few minutes through the window of a television shop a few blocks down the road. Sadly of course, the dutch lost the game and a few weeks later I lost the girl - mainly due to me being more in love with football than anything else but the final remains a cherished memory alongside quite a few others from down the years.
Brian
Guest
A few reasons 1. They have split themselves up what was once Yugoslavia is now Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Kosovo. Combined with Modric, Mandzukic, Dzeko, Rakitic, Handanovic, Pandev, Matic they'd still be damm good. Likewise the old Czechoslovakia is now 2 countries 2. Their doping programs these days ain't what it was in the old Communist days of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Many a good run was probably aided by lets call them "supplements". Those Poles looked really fit in 1982. 3. The massive upheaval of the 1990s left their youth doing free market things like going on facebook and hanging out at cafes rather then football training as a potential ticket to freedom. Note how good Romania and Bulgaria were in 1994 but have since fallen off a cliff.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
You can throw Uruguay into the mix. Yes, there appears to be a clear correlation between size of population/economy and success at the World Cup, although first and foremost you need to be a football nation,
Kangajets
Guest
Why are the Czech s Hungarian and former Yugoslavia countries so much poorer in world cups nowadays? Is is all proportional to population size and hence why Germany and Brazil are always great teams .
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
Still, you have to make allowances for the time, 1934, middle of the great depression, politically, Europe is in a state of flux with WWII only 5 years away, long voyages to cross the Atlantic, etc, etc. It remains a remarkable feat that they managed to to have 3 world cups prior to the start of WWII.
Buddy
Guest
It all goes to show that in spite of its name, it hasn’t always truly been a world cup and it has always been influenced by world events, politics and alliances. It also shows that the world governing body has been open to change etc. as you go down the years therewill be a multitude of changes ranging from number of participants, to competition format, later squads and selections etc etc. Perhaps governing bodies are not totally intransigent.