World Cup history

FIFA held the first ever World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

It was in 1920 when the first international intercontinental football tournament was held, when FIFA and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) joined hands to include the event in the 1920 summer Olympics for the first time.

The first Olympic event was won by Belgium and the next two in 1924 and 1928 were both won by Uruguay. However, it was decided that the 1932 summer Olympics will not feature a football championship due to differences over a few matters between FIFA and IOC and a perceived lack of interest for the sport in the host nation, the United States; it is perhaps ironic then that the US holds the records for the highest average and total attendance of any World Cup when they hosted it in 1994, albeit six decades after that decision.

In its place, FIFA decided to hold the first ever World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. However, the first edition of the tournament was by invitation only, and featured a mere 13 teams, especially since European countries were unwilling to bear the expense of a transatlantic trip.

The first two World Cup matches were played simultaneously; France vs Mexico and USA vs Belgium, with France and USA winning the matches 4-1 and 3-0. The host nation eventually triumphed 4-2 against Argentina in the final, completing a hat-trick of world event victories.