World Cup History

The history of the World Cup Championship is colorful, rich with drama, politics, patriotism and triumph.  In 1928, the FIFA Congress convened in Amsterdam and decided that a new tournament, open to all of its members, should be created.  A year later, the privilege of hosting the first World Cup championship was awarded to Uruguay, to honor both its achievements in sports and its 100 years of independence.  The first World Cup took place in 1930.  Only 13 nations were willing to participate in the inaugural event, with the majority of nine coming from South America.  Major European contenders, including Italy, Germany, Spain and Hungary, didn’t enter the competition, and England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were ineligible, because of their withdrawal from FIFA over a dispute regarding payments to amateur players.  Only Belgium France, Yugoslavia and Romania participated.  (Romania entered on the personal instructions of King Carol, who also selected the squad.)  

The tournament was organized in two rounds:  group games and play-offs.  The teams were divided into 4 geographic regions; 5 teams were seeded:  Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and the USA.  All games were played in three stadiums in Montevideo and, as expected, the South American countries dominated.  Lucien Laurent, of France, took the honour of scoring the first World Cup goal in their opening game against Mexico.  France won the game 4-1.  The semi-finals were lop-sided affairs, and Uruguay ultimately prevailed in the first-ever World Cup.  100,000 fans packed the Centenario Stadium for the final on July 30th.  They watched Argentina throw away a 2-1 half-time lead, as Uruguay went on to win, beating Argentina 4-2.  Although there was no official third-place game in the regulations, the United States is credited with the third-place victory.  Jules Rimet, the FIFA president and brains behind the competition, presented the trophy to winning captain Jose Nazassi.  The golden trophy bore Jules Rimet’s name and was contested two more times before World War II halted the World Cup for 12 long years.

The first post-war competition provided the drama that has made the World Cup one of the greatest sporting events in the world.  In a stunning upset at the 1950 World Cup, the United States beat England in early competition, with Brazil taking home the trophy.  Since then, the World Cup has lived up to its reputation.  Remember North Korea’s defeat of Italy in 1966?  Cameroon’s opening-match defeat of Argentina?  Yet, sixteen post-war competitions have produced only seven different winners.  Modern-day play continues to live up to the historic moments in World Cup history.

Over 37 billion people around the globe watched each of the last two World Cup competitions. Travel insurance available through our partners at

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