1950 FIFA World Cup
| 1950 FIFA World Cup - Brazil IV Campeonato Mundial de Futebol |
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|---|---|
 Official Logo |
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| Teams | 13 (from 34 entrants) |
| Host | Brazil |
| Champions |  Uruguay (2nd title) |
| Matches played | 22 |
| Goals scored | 88 (average 4 per match) |
| Attendance | (average per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Ademir8 goals |
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from June 24 to July 16, was the fourth staging of the World Cup, and the first staged in 12 years due to World War II. Brazil was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1946. It was also the first tournament that the trophy itself would be referred to as the Jules Rimet Cup, to mark the 25th anniversary of Rimet's presidency of FIFA. It was won by Uruguay, who had won the inaugural competition in 1930, clinching the cup by beating the hosts Brazil 2-1 in the deciding match of the four-team final group (this was the only tournament not decided by a one-match final). Uruguay's victory over Brazil is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in sports history, commonly known as the Maracanazo.
Background
Because of World War II, the World Cup had not been staged since 1938; the planned World Cups of 1942 and 1946 were both cancelled. After the war, FIFA were keen to resurrect the competition as soon as possible, and they began making plans for a World Cup tournament to take place. In the aftermath of the war, much of Europe lay in ruins. As a result, FIFA had some difficulties finding a country interested in hosting the event, since many governments believed that the world scenario did not favour a sportive celebration, and also (more importantly) that the resources that would have to be put into organizing the World Cup could not be diverted from other more urgent fronts. For some time, the World Cup was at risk of not being held for sheer lack of interest from the international community, until Brazil presented a bid at the 1946 FIFA Congress, offering to host the event on condition that the tournament take place in 1950 (it was originally planned to take place in 1949).[1] Brazil and Germany had been the leading bidders to host the cancelled 1942 World Cup; since both the 1934 and 1938 tournaments had been held in Europe, football historians generally agree that the 1942 event would most likely have been awarded to a South American host country. Brazil's new bid was very similar to the mooted 1942 bid and was quickly accepted.
Qualification
Having secured a host nation, FIFA would still dedicate some time to persuading countries to send their national teams to compete. Italy was of particular interest: the Italians were the long-standing defending champions (winners in 1938), but the country was reconstructing from the end of World War II, and at first there was little to no interest from the country in participating. The Italians were finally persuaded to attend, although rumours have had it that FIFA had to cover all travelling expenses in order for Italy's national team to be able to come to Brazil and play.
With Italy and Austria, two successful pre-war teams had not been
subject to international sanctions, while Japan, still under occupation,
and occupied and partitioned Germany had not been permitted in time to compete or qualify. The French-occupied Saarland had been accepted by FIFA two weeks before the World Cup, several months before
The British nations were able to take part, having rejoined FIFA four years earlier, after 17 years of self-imposed exile. It was decided to use the 1949-1950 British Home Championship as a qualifying group, with whoever finished first and second qualifying. England finished first and Scotland second, but the Scots withdrew as they were not British Champions.
Two other teams, Turkey and India, also withdrew after qualifying, with India refusing to go because FIFA would not allow the team to play barefoot. France and Portugal were invited as replacements but declined. Initially France agreed to play but they worked out that the venues for their two group matches were over 3,000 kilometres away from each other. The French told the Brazilians that they would stay at home unless the arrangements were changed. The Brazilian Federation refused and France withdrew. Therefore, even though 16 teams were originally going to participate, after the withdrawals only 13 teams were left to take part.
Summary
Originally, the tournament format would be that the 16 teams be divided into four first round groups (or "pools" as they were then called) of four teams, with the group winners advancing to a final group stage, playing in round-robin format to determine the winner. However, because only 13 teams competed, this left two first round groups with four teams, another with three teams, and the last group with only two teams. In fact, the entire tournament was arranged in such a way that the four first round groups had no geographical basis. Hence, several teams were obliged to cover large distances to complete their program, although Brazil was allowed to play two of its three group matches in Rio de Janeiro while its other game was in (comparatively) nearby São Paulo.
A combined Great Britain team had recently beaten the rest of Europe 6-1 in an exhibition match and England went into the competition as one of the favourites. However, it was not to be, as they went crashing out in a shocking 1-0 defeat by the United States (when the score appeared in English newspapers, many thought it was a misprint) which, combined with their 1-0 defeat by Spain, led to England being eliminated.
The final group stage involved the teams who won their groups: Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and 1930 FIFA World Cup champions Uruguay, who were making their first World Cup appearance since winning the inaugural tournament. The World Cup winner would be the team that managed to finish on top of this group. The final group's six matches were shared between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Brazil played all its final group matches at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio while the games that didn't involve the host nation were played in São Paulo. Brazil won their first two matches with a 7-1 thrashing of Sweden and 6-1 rout of Spain. Before the decisive match, Brazil was sitting on top of the final group and had one game left to play against Uruguay, in second and only a point behind. On July 16, before a huge home crowd of 199,954 (some estimated as 205,000) in the Estádio do Maracanã, the host nation only had to draw against Uruguay and the trophy would be theirs. After such crushing victories over Spain and Sweden, it looked certain they would take the title, especially as the home nation went ahead in the second minute of the second half, thanks to a goal from Friaça. However, Uruguay equalised and then with just over 11 minutes left to play, went ahead 2-1 when Alcides Ghiggia squeaked a goal past Moacyr Barbosa, and Uruguay was crowned World Cup winners for a second time. This stunning defeat of Brazil is referred to as the Maracanazo.
The average attendance of nearly 61,000 per game, aided greatly by eight matches (including five featuring hosts Brazil) held in the newly-built Maracanã, set a record that would not be broken until 1994. Not counting the Maracanã matches, the average attendance was a still-impressive 37,500. However, the only venues that saw crowds comparable to or greater than those in recent World Cups were the Maracanã and São Paulo. Other venues saw considerably smaller crowds.
Venues
Six cities hosted the tournament:
- Belo Horizonte, Estadio Sete de Setembro
- Curitiba, Estádio Durival de Britto
- Porto Alegre, Estádio dos Eucaliptos
- Recife, Estádio Ilha do Retiro
- Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã
- São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu
Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1950 FIFA World Cup squads.
Results
First round
Group 1
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil |
5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
 |
4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
 Switzerland |
3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
 Mexico |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| June 24, 1950 15:00 |
|||
Brazil  |
4 – 0 | Mexico |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: +81000 Referee: Reader (England) |
Ademir  30'[2],
 79'Jair 65'Baltazar 71' |
(Report) |
| June 25, 1950 18:00 |
|||
| Yugoslavia |
3 – 0 | Switzerland |
Belo Horizonte, Estadio Sete de Setembro Attendance: ~8000 Referee: Galeati (Italy) |
| Mitić 58'[3] Tomašević 78'Ognjanov 84' |
(Report) |
| June 28, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Brazil |
2 – 2 | Switzerland |
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu Attendance: +42000 Referee: Azon (Spain) |
| Alfredo 3' Baltazar 32'[4] |
(Report) | Fatton 17', 88' |
| June 28, 1950 18:15 |
|||
Mexico .png) |
1 – 4 | |
Porto Alegre, Estádio dos Eucaliptos Attendance: +11000 Referee: Leafe (England) |
| Ortíz 89' (pen) |
(Report) | Bobek 19' Ž. Čajkovski 23'[5], 51'[6]Tomašević 81' |
| July 1, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Brazil |
2 – 0 | |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: +142000 Referee: Griffiths (Wales) |
| Ademir 4' Zizinho 69'[7] |
(Report) |
| July 2, 1950 15:40 |
|||
| Mexico |
1 – 2 | Switzerland |
Porto Alegre, Estádio dos Eucaliptos Attendance: +3500 Referee: Eklind (Sweden) |
| Casarín 89' |
(Report) | Bader 10' Tamini 37'[8] |
Group 2
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Spain |
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
 England |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
 Chile |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
 USA |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| June 25, 1950 15:00 |
|||
England  |
2 – 0 | Chile |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: +30000 Referee: van der Meer (Netherlands) |
| Mortensen 39' Mannion 51' |
(Report) |
| June 25, 1950 15:00 |
|||
Spain  |
3 – 1 | USA |
Curitiba, Estádio Durival de Britto Attendance: +9000 Referee: Vianna (Brazil) |
| Igoa 80' Basora 82'Zarra 85' |
(Report) | Pariani 17' |
| June 29, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Spain |
2 – 0 | Chile |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: -20000 Referee: Malcher (Brazil) |
| Basora 17' Zarra 30' |
(Report) |
| June 29, 1950 18:00 |
|||
USA  |
1 – 0 | England |
Belo Horizonte, Estádio Independência Attendance: +10000 Referee: Datillo (Italy) |
| Gaetjens 38' |
(Report) |
| July 2, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Spain |
1 – 0 | England |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: +74000 Referee: Galeati (Italy) |
| Zarra 48'[9] |
(Report) |
| July 2, 1950 18:00 |
|||
Chile  |
5 – 2 | USA |
Recife, Estádio Ilha do Retiro Attendance: +8000 Referee: Gardelli (Brazil) |
| Robledo 16' Cremaschi 32', 61', 82'Prieto 54' |
(Report) | Wallace 47' Maca 48' (pen) |
Group 3
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sweden |
3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
 Italy |
2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
 Paraguay |
1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| June 25, 1950 15:00 |
|||
Sweden  |
3 – 2 | Italy |
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu Attendance: +50000 Referee: Lutz (Switzerland) |
| Jeppson 25', 68'[10] Andersson 33'[11] |
(Report) | Carapellese 7' Muccinelli 75'[12] |
| June 29, 1950 15:30 |
|||
| Sweden |
2 – 2 | Paraguay |
Curitiba, Estádio Durival de Britto Attendance: -8000 Referee: Mitchell (Scotland) |
| Sundqvist 24'[13] Palmér 26'[14] |
(Report) | A. López 32'[15] C. López 89'[16] |
| July 2, 1950 15:00 |
|||
Italy  |
2 – 0 | Paraguay |
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu Attendance: -26000 Referee: Ellis (England) |
| Carapellese 12'[17] Pandolfini 62'[18] |
(Report) |
India withdrew
Group 4
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uruguay |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
 Bolivia |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| July 2, 1950 18:00 |
|||
Uruguay  |
8 – 0 | Bolivia |
Belo Horizonte, Estádio Independência Attendance: +5000 Referee: Reader (England) |
| Míguez 14'[19]
45'[20]
56'[21] Vidal 18'Schiaffino 23'[22]
59'[23]Pérez 73'[24]Ghiggia 83' |
(Report) |
Final round
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uruguay |
5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
 Brazil |
4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 4 |
| Sweden |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| Spain |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| July 9, 1950 15:00 |
|||
Brazil .svg) |
7 – 1 | Sweden |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: +138000 Referee: Ellis (England) |
| Ademir 17', 37', 51', 59' Chico 39', 87'Maneca 85' |
(Report) | Andersson 67' (pen) |
| July 9, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Uruguay |
2 – 2 | Spain |
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu Attendance: +44000 Referee: Griffiths (Wales) |
| Ghiggia 27' Varela 72' |
(Report) | Basora 39', 41' |
| July 13, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Brazil |
6 – 1 | Spain |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: +152000 Referee: Leafe (England) |
| Parra 15' (o.g.)[25] Jair 21'Chico 29', 55'Ademir 57'Zizinho 74'[26] |
(Report) | Igoa 71'[27] |
| July 13, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Uruguay |
3 – 2 | Sweden |
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu Attendance: -8000 Referee: Galeati (Italy) |
| Ghiggia 39' Míguez 77', 84' |
(Report) | Palmér 4' Sundqvist 41' |
| July 16, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Sweden |
3 – 1 | Spain |
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu Attendance: +11000 Referee: van der Meer (Netherlands) |
| Sundqvist 15' Mellberg 34'Palmér 79' |
(Report) | Zarra 82' |
| July 16, 1950 15:00 |
|||
| Uruguay |
2 – 1 | Brazil |
Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã Attendance: 199954 Referee: George Reader (England) |
| Schiaffino 66' Ghiggia 79' |
(Report) | Friaça |