The idea of hosting the World Cup was put forward at the first FIFA Congress in 1904, and the specific plan of hosting the World Cup in Switzerland the following year was adopted at the second FIFA Congress in 1905. Who knows that by the deadline for registration, no association has signed up for the competition. It was because of this anger that the first president of FIFA, Gailin, resigned. 1920 during the Antwerp Olympic Games, this plan was put forward again, but it was stillborn due to insufficient funds and traffic difficulties. The first World Cup has been pregnant for 26 years, and it was born in 1930 after several generations' unremitting efforts.
To host the first World Cup, the first thing to be solved is the choice of venue. Uruguay won the Olympic football championship with 1924 and 1928 for two consecutive years, becoming the number one football power at that time. Meanwhile, 1930 is the centenary of Uruguay's independence. Therefore, at the FIFA Congress held in Barcelona, Spain in May 18 and 19, Uruguay proposed that the first World Cup be held in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. As a result, Uruguay beat Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden and became the host country to celebrate national independence. Uruguay can become the host country, not only because its football team won two Olympic football champions, 1924 and 1928, but also because its Football Association has successfully held three national football championships in the United States since 19 16, and accumulated rich experience in tournament organization. In addition, the economic crisis in Europe has also brought some problems to European countries. These last two points are exactly what people ignore and what football historians need to emphasize.
Of course, if the first World Cup is hosted by a European country, it will be much more grand and enthusiastic than in Uruguay. It is difficult for European football powers to cross the ocean to participate in South America. The first thing to bear is that the excellent players who make up the national team have to leave their own games for a long time, which seriously affects the income of professional football clubs. Coupled with the long distance and huge cost, many countries are reluctant to sign up. At first, only France, the hometown of Jules Rimet, the founder of the World Cup, signed up for the competition in Europe. After lobbying by Jules Rimet, Romanian, Belgian, Yugoslav and South American countries took advantage of their geographical convenience and actively signed up. There are seven participating countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay. Together with Mexico and the United States in North America, there are 13 participating countries.
1930 In the midsummer, on the vast Atlantic Ocean, a regular passenger ship is breaking the waves. Leisure tourists are watching a team of football players doing gymnastics on the deck of the first World Cup. Although the pilot Charles Lindbergh completed the pioneering work of flying between the old and new continents three years ago, it was still many years after the civil airliner flew. When we watch these players' expeditions after the planet earth circled the sun for 60 times, we can't help but admire their indelible contribution to world football. At that time, Europe was troubled by the economic crisis, and the owners of football clubs in various countries were of course reluctant to let people play abroad, which affected the club's meager income. Although Uruguay Football Association is willing to provide round-trip tolls for all teams and share the total revenue of the stadium with all participating teams, who can make up for the physical and energy consumption of more than two months?
Jules Rimet, the third FIFA president who arrived on the other side of the Atlantic in advance, was also fidgeting in Montevideo, because the "Centennial Stadium" as the main venue could not be completed before the opening ceremony, and the group stage could only be held in the stadiums of several local clubs; Moreover, only 13 national football associations accepted the invitation, and only two of the seven founding countries of FIFA came. Fortunately, European countries came to France, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Romania. Otherwise, the first World Cup will be the 12 America's Cup National Football Championship.
Competition system-it is fair and reasonable to adopt round robin system, but the competition time is too long and objective conditions do not allow it. According to the traditional Olympic competition system-knockout, the participating teams should have 16 teams. Finally, a new method is proposed. First of all, the 13 team is divided into four groups, and the round robin system is adopted in the group competition. The team that won the first place in the group stage entered the rematch, and both the rematch and the final were eliminated. It is obviously unreasonable to divide the top teams into a certain group by drawing lots. The arrangement of the seed team is too subjective. Later, it was decided that the four teams in Europe would be separated, and the "top three" in South America-Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil-were also separated, and the remaining teams were allocated to each group by lot. Except for Group L, which is 4 teams, the other 3 teams are all 3 teams.
There was no preliminaries in the first World Cup. The final stage was held in Uruguay on July 1930, and the opening ceremony was held on July 18.