1934 FIFA World Cup

 

1934 FIFA World Cup - Italy Campionato Mondiale di Calcio
Official Poster
Teams	16  (from 32 entrants)
Host	Italy
Champions	Italy (1st title)
Matches played	17
Goals scored	70  (average 4.118 per match)
Attendance	(average per match)
Top scorer(s)	Oldřich Nejedlý 5 goals[1]

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second World Cup staged, and was hosted in Italy from May 27 to June 10. Italy was chosen as hosts by FIFA in October 1932. It was the first World Cup for which teams would have to qualify in order to take part. 32 nations entered the competition, and after qualification, 16 teams participated in the finals tournament. Italy became the second World Cup champions, beating Czechoslovakia in the final, 2-1.

Qualification

Main article: 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification

This World Cup was unique in that the reigning World Cup holders Uruguay declined an invitation to participate as a mark of defiance against the European snub from the previous World Cup in 1930, becoming the only holders not to compete in the following tournament. Another somewhat unique fact is that the hosts, Italy, had to qualify. Since 1938, the hosts have been given an automatic spot in the tournament.

Only ten of the 32 entrants, and four of the 16 qualified teams, were from outside Europe. The last spot in the finals was contested between the United States and Mexico only three days before the start of the tournament in a one-off match in Rome, which the United States won.

Summary

The tournament was held in knockout format. Eight European teams: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland advanced to the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, the first replayed match in the World Cup history took place, after Italy and Spain drew 1-1 after extra time. Italy won the replay 1-0, and then went on to beat Austria in the semifinals by the same score. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakia secured their place in the final by beating Germany 3-1.

The Stadium of the National Fascist Party was the venue for the final. With 70 minutes played, the Czechoslovakians were ahead 1-0. The Italians managed to score before the final whistle, and then added another goal in extra time to be crowned World Cup Winners.

Italian leader Benito Mussolini used the hosting of the World Cup to promote nationalism and his National Fascist Party. There was also controversy regarding refereeing decisions perceived to be in Italy's favour, such as during its win over Spain in the quarter-final (the Swiss referee Rene Mercet was subsequently banned by the Swiss FA on account of his partiality toward the host nation) and the final victory over Czechoslovakia, refereed by Sweden Ivan Eklind. ^[2]

Venues

Eight cities hosted the tournament:

• Bologna, Stadio Littorale
• Florence, Stadio Giovanni Berta
• Genoa, Stadio Luigi Ferraris
• Milan, Stadio San Siro
• Naples, Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli
• Rome, Stadio Nazionale PNF
• Trieste, Stadio Littorio
• Turin, Stadio Benito Mussolini

Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1934 FIFA World Cup squads.

Results

First Round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

27 May - Rome

Italy

7

31 May – Florence (replayed 1 June)

USA

1

Italy

1 (1)

27 May - Genoa

Spain

1 (0)

Brazil

1

3 June - Milan

Spain

3

Italy

1

27 May - Naples

Austria

0

Hungary

4

31 May - Bologna

Egypt

2

Hungary

1

27 May - Turin

Austria

2

Austria (AET)

3

10 June – Rome

France

2

Italy (AET)

2

27 May - Trieste

Czechoslovakia

1

Czechoslovakia

2

31 May - Turin

Romania

1

Czechoslovakia

3

27 May - Milan

Switzerland

2

Netherlands

2

3 June – Rome

Switzerland

3

Czechoslovakia

3

27 May - Bologna

Germany

1

Third place

Argentina

2

31 May - Milan

7 June - Naples

Sweden

3

Sweden

1

Austria

2

27 May - Florence

Germany

2

Germany

3

Germany

5

Belgium

2

First round

May 27, 1934 16:30
	Germany	5 – 2	Belgium	Florence, Stadio Giovanni Berta Attendance: ~8000 Referee: Francesco Mattea (Italy)
	Kobierski  25' Siffling  49' Conen  66'  70'  87'	(Report)	Voorhoof  29'  43'

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Argentina	2 – 3	Sweden	Bologna, Stadio Littorale Attendance: ~15000 Referee: Eugen Braun (Austria)
	Belis  4' Galateo  48'[3]	(Report)	Jonasson  9'  67' Kroon  79'

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Netherlands	2 – 3	Switzerland	Milan, Stadio San Siro Attendance: ~40000 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
	Smit  19' Vente  84'	(Report)	Kielholz  7'  43'[4] Abegglen  69'

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Czechoslovakia	2 – 1	Romania	Trieste, Stadio Littorio Attendance: ~8000 Referee: Jean Langenus (Belgium)
	Puč  50' Nejedlý  67'	(Report)	Dobay  11'

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Austria	3 – 2 (a.e.t.)	France	Turin, Stadio Benito Mussolini Attendance: ~20000 Referee: Johannes van Moorsel (Netherlands)
	Sindelar  44' Schall  93' Bican  109'	(Report)	Nicolas  18' Verriest  116' (pen)[5]

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Hungary	4 – 2	Egypt	Naples, Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli Attendance: ~12000 Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)
	Teleki  11' Toldi  27'[6]  61' Vincze  53'	(Report)	Fawzi  31'[7]  39'

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Brazil	1 – 3	Spain	Genoa, Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: ~25000 Referee: Alfred Birlem (Germany)
	Leônidas  55'	(Report)	Iraragorri  18' (pen)  25'[8] Lángara  29'

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May 27, 1934 16:30
	Italy	7 – 1	USA	Rome, Stadio Nazionale PNF Attendance: ~13000 Referee: Rene Mercet (Switzerland)
	Schiavio  18'  29'  64' Orsi  20'  69' Ferrari  63' Meazza  90'[9]	(Report)	Donelli  57'

Quarter-finals

May 31, 1934 16:30
	Germany	2 – 1	Sweden	Milan, Stadio San Siro Attendance: ~15000 Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)
	Hohmann  60'  63'	(Report)	Dunker  82'

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May 31, 1934 16:30
	Switzerland	2 – 3	Czechoslovakia	Turin, Stadio Benito Mussolini Attendance: ~12000 Referee: Alois Beranek (Austria)
	Kielholz  18' Jaeggi  78'	(Report)	Svoboda  24' Sobotka  49' Nejedlý  82'

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May 31, 1934 16:30
	Austria	2 – 1	Hungary	Bologna, Stadio Littoriale Attendance: ~25000 Referee: Francesco Mattea (Italy)
	Horvath  8' Zischek  51'	(Report)	Sárosi  60' (pen)

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May 31, 1934 16:30
	Spain	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Italy	Florence, Stadio Giovanni Berta Attendance: ~35000 Referee: Louis Baert (Belgium)
	Regueiro  30'	(Report)	Ferrari  44'

Replay:

June 1, 1934 16:30
	Spain	0 – 1	Italy	Florence, Stadio Giovanni Berta Attendance: ~45000 Referee: Rene Mercet (Switzerland)
		(Report)	Meazza  11'

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Semi-finals

June 3, 1934 16:30
	Germany	1 – 3	Czechoslovakia	Rome, Stadio Nazionale PNF Attendance: ~10000 Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)
	Noack  62'[10]	(Report)	Nejedlý  19'[11]  71'[12] 80'[13]

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June 3, 1934 16:30
	Austria	0 – 1	Italy	Milan, Stadio San Siro Attendance: ~60000 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
		(Report)	Guaita  19'

Third place match

June 7, 1934 17:30
	Germany	3 – 2	Austria	Naples, Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli Attendance: ~8000 Referee: Albino Carraro (Italy)
	Lehner  1'[14]  42' Conen  27'[15]	(Report)	Horvath  28'[16] Sesta  54'[17]

Final

June 10, 1934 17:00
	Czechoslovakia	1 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Italy	Rome, Stadio Nazionale PNF Attendance: ~45000 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
	Puč  76'[18]	(Report)	Orsi  81' Schiavio  95'

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1934 World Cup Winners
Italy First title

Scorers

5 goals Oldřich Nejedlý 4 goals Edmund Conen Angelo Schiavio 3 goals Raimundo Orsi Leopold Kielholz 2 goals Hans Horvath Bernard Voorhoof Antonín Puč Abdel Fawzi Karl Hohmann Ernst Lehner Géza Toldi Giovanni Ferrari Giuseppe Meazza José Iraragorri Sven Jonasson

1 goal Ernesto Belis Alberto Galateo Josef Bican Toni Schall Karl Sesta Matthias Sindelar Karl Zischek Leônidas Jiří Sobotka František Svoboda Jean Nicolas Georges Verriest Stanislaus Kobierski Rudolf Noack Otto Siffling György Sárosi Pál Teleki Jenő Vincze Enrique Guaita Kick Smit Leen Vente Ştefan Dobay