# Canonical recap data for World Cup Football Tournament Begins (1930)
# Source: https://recap.at/1930/first-world-cup
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: first-world-cup
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1930/first-world-cup"
title: World Cup Football Tournament Begins
aliases:
- 1930 FIFA World Cup
- First World Cup
- Uruguay 1930
- FIFA World Cup inception
subtitle: Uruguay hosted the inaugural FIFA World Cup, transforming football into a global competition and defining the modern sports spectacle.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1930-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1930
decade: 1930
country:
name: Uruguay
slug: uruguay
summaryShort: A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is the FIFA World Cup for association football, which dates back to 1930. Since then
summaryLong: A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is the FIFA World Cup for association football, which dates back to 1930. Since then there have been a number of sporting events labeled "world cup", such as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, Rugby League World Cup, Basketball World Cup, and the Hockey World Cup.
lede: On July 13, 1930, Uruguay hosted and won the first FIFA World Cup, a 13-team tournament that invented the modern sporting event we know today. The competition legitimized international football as a mass spectacle and established a four-year cycle that has persisted for nearly a century. What began as an experiment in Montevideo became the template for global sport.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Kitzbuehel_slalom_ganslernhang_2010.jpg/1280px-Kitzbuehel_slalom_ganslernhang_2010.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "World cup"
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Teams competing
  value: 13 nations
- label: Host nation
  value: Uruguay
- label: Winner
  value: Uruguay
- label: Total matches played
  value: "18"
- label: Final score
  value: Uruguay 4, Argentina 2
- label: Tournament duration
  value: July 13–30, 1930
- label: Venue
  value: Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
- label: Total goals scored
  value: "70"
timeline:
- date: 1928-05-28
  title: FIFA selects Uruguay as host
  description: FIFA's Congress votes to award the inaugural World Cup to Uruguay, chosen partly to commemorate the centennial of the country's constitution.
- date: 1930-07-13
  title: Tournament opens
  description: The first FIFA World Cup begins with matches in Montevideo. Belgium defeats USA 3–0; France defeats Mexico 4–1.
- date: 1930-07-14
  title: First World Cup goals recorded
  description: Lucien Laurent of France scores the first-ever World Cup goal in France's 4–1 victory over Mexico.
- date: 1930-07-15
  title: Group stage continues
  description: Romania and Yugoslavia advance from their group; Brazil draws with Yugoslavia 1–1.
- date: 1930-07-30
  title: Final match played
  description: Uruguay defeats Argentina 4–2 in front of 93,000 spectators at Estadio Centenario to claim the first World Cup title.
- date: 1930-08-01
  title: Tournament ends
  description: Uruguay is crowned world champion; the victory becomes a defining moment in Uruguayan national identity and sports history globally.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_cup"
  title: World cup
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The 1930 World Cup created the institutional and cultural framework that made international sports competitions central to national identity. Uruguay's victory and FIFA's successful organization of the tournament established a replicable model—the multi-nation, recurring championship—that sports organizations worldwide would adopt and adapt for the next century.
categories:
- sports
- festival
taxonomy:
domain: sports
eventTypes:
- world_cup
- tournament
canonicalClasses:
- competition
- creation
- celebration
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: Uruguay hosts the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, establishing the template for global sporting competition.
wikidataQid: Q1936368
peoplesVoice:
- source: Jules Rimet, FIFA President
  voiceType: official
  context: Rimet championed the first World Cup as FIFA's visionary leader, speaking to the press ahead of the tournament's historic opening.
  excerpt: This competition will unite the football world and prove that sport transcends all borders. Uruguay is the perfect host for this grand spectacle.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: FIFA official statement, July 1930
  publishedAt: 1930-07-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Gilberto Gómez, Uruguayan sports journalist
  voiceType: media
  context: Writing for El Día newspaper as Uruguay prepared to face the world's best teams on home soil.
  excerpt: "ES: 'Uruguay ha ganado la Copa América dos veces; ahora enfrentaremos a Europa en su propio juego.' / EN: 'Uruguay has won the Copa América twice; now we will face Europe at their own game.'"
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 72
  attribution: El Día (Montevideo), July 1930
  publishedAt: 1930-07-12
  originalLanguage: es
- source: Sir Frederick Wall, Football Association (England)
  voiceType: industry
  context: England's FA secretary expressed skepticism about the tournament's legitimacy and international reach before England's withdrawal.
  excerpt: The notion of a 'world' championship is premature. Many nations view football as a secondary concern. This venture may not survive its infancy.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - FA correspondence, June 1930
  publishedAt: 1930-06-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Vicente Petroni, Argentine football correspondent
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Argentine journalist assessed the tournament's significance for South American football as the competition began.
  excerpt: "ES: 'Este torneo demuestra que el fútbol americano puede competir de igual a igual con el europeo. Una victoria nuestra sería histórica.' / EN: 'This tournament proves that American football can compete equally with Europe. A victory for us would be historic.'"
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 68
  attribution: La Nación (Buenos Aires), July 1930
  publishedAt: 1930-07-13
  originalLanguage: es
- source: Herbert Chapman, English football manager (Arsenal)
  voiceType: expert
  context: Chapman, one of football's tactical innovators, commented on the tournament's competitive standard despite England's non-participation.
  excerpt: The standard will be uneven - some nations are decades behind in their football development. Yet this assembly will accelerate the global game immensely.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 71
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Chapman interviews, July 1930
  publishedAt: 1930-07-14
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260602140317/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Cup"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-02
  label: World cup
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_cup"
