The Early History of the World Cup final

A look at the early history of the World Cup final dominated by Uruguay and Vittorio Pozzo's Italian side of the 1930's.

Uruguay 4-2 Argentina – 1930

The first ever World Cup was held in Uruguay and consisted of just 13 teams. The final was played between the hosts and Argentina in the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on July 30 1930. The first ever World Cup final goal was scored by Uruguay’s Pablo Dorado just 12 minutes into the game but Argentina led 2-1 at half-time thanks to goals from Carlos Peucelle and Guillermo Stabile.

Uruguay came back strongly in the second half with goals from Pedro Cea, Santos Iriate and a very late strike from Hector Castro. The victory meant that the host nation were crowned the first ever World Champions.

Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia – 1934

The 1934 World Cup was held in Italy and the group stages were discarded in favour of a knockout tournament consisting of 16 teams. Once again the host nation reached the final, beating the United States, Spain and Austria along the way, where they faced Czechoslovakia. The final took place in Rome on June 10 and they game went into extra time.

Antonin Puc had given the Czechs the lead with 14 minutes to go before Raimundo Orsi levelled for Italy five minutes later. With just five minutes of extra time played, Angelo Schiavio put the Italians ahead and Vittorio Pozzo’s side held on to claim their first title.

Italy 4-2 Hungary – 1938

In 1938, Italy became the first team to win the World Cup on foreign soil which, on this occasion, was France. The tournament’s format was the same as 1934 and the Italians beat Norway, France and Brazil on their way to the final where they faced Hungary.

Vittorio Pozzo was still in charge of the national team and secured his second title as coach in Paris on June 19. Gino Colaussi gave Italy the lead after just six minutes but the Hungarians were level through Pal Titkos just two minutes later. Silvio Piola, one of Italy’s most celebrated strikers, scored shortly after before Colaussi made it 3-1 before half-time. Gyorgy Sarosi netted with twenty minutes of the game to go to give Hungary hope but Piola’s second goal sealed the win for the Italians.

Uruguay 2-1 Brazil – 1950

In the first World Cup since the end of the Second World War, the knockout system was scrapped in favour of a two group stages. The first stage consisted of four groups of four teams with the group winners competing in a further round-robin format group to determine the winner.

The final group game was between hosts Brazil and Uruguay and was played in the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on July 16. Brazil needed only a draw having won both their other group games while Uruguay needed to win to claim the trophy. After a goal-less first half, Friaca gave Brazil the lead and they were well on their way to winning their first World Cup. Uruguay hit back with goals from Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia which meant that Uruguay topped the group and secured their second title.