1930 World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930. The international football federation, FIFA, selected Uruguay as host nation as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its first constitution, and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament.

Thirteen teams, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America entered the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate due to the duration and cost of travel. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history.

Argentina, Uruguay, the USA and Yugoslavia each won their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, and became the first nation to win the World Cup.

Origins
In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic football tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event at the next three Olympiads: from 1920 to 1928. In the 1908 Olympic Games and the 1912 Olympic Games the football competitions had been organised by The Football Association and the Swedish Football Association respectively.

The preliminary schedule for the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles did not include football. FIFA and the International Olympic Committee disagreed over the status of amateur players, so association football was dropped from the Games. On 26 May 1928, at FIFA's Amsterdam conference and on the opening day of the Olympic football tournament, FIFA president Jules Rimet announced plans to stage a tournament independent of the Olympics, open to all FIFA members and with professionalism permitted. The membership voted 25–5 to accept the proposal. Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay all lodged applications to host the event. Uruguay's bid became the clear favourite for a number of reasons. Uruguay were reigning Olympic champions, and thus de facto world champions, the bid included plans to build a new stadium as a centrepiece, and the Uruguayan authorities also offered to refund the expenses of all participants. The other nations withdrew their bids, and Uruguay was chosen to host the tournament.