Sambafoot publishes a retrospective of all World Cup editions as a warm-up for the 2022 World Cup. This week, we’ll discuss the second edition, which took place in 1934.
Do you recall the highlights of the 1934 World Cup, which was held in Italy? It’s time to recall what happened in the second installment of the story, in which Brazil was eliminated early once more.
That edition also marked the close relationship between politics and football, which would happen again in other sporting events in the following decades, despite the boycott of the previous edition’s champion and the dispute over the first Qualifiers to determine the qualified teams.
Check out our recap of the 1934 World Cup!
Datasheet
- Champion: Italy
- Headquarters: Italy
- Final: Italy 2 x 1 Czechoslovakia (PNF National Stadium, Roma-ITA)
- Participants: 16
- Top Scorer: Oldřich Nejedlý (Czechoslovakia – 5 goals)
About World Cup
Following the 1930 tournament, Sweden and Italy applied to host the World Cup. The procedure took a long time and included several FIFA meetings, although it was made simpler once the Swedes dropped out of the issue. The Executive Committee overwhelmingly accepted Italy as the seat as a result of this.
The dictator Benito Mussolini, who, in addition to negotiating with FIFA, invested considerably in the organization, was directly involved in the decision. The nation is expected to have spent 3.5 million lire on preparations for the event.
First edition with Qualifiers
In all, more than 30 teams expressed interest in competing in the World Cup, posing a challenge for FIFA. Because it was not economically viable to retain so many teams in another nation for an extended length of time, the first qualifications were held.
The 16 openings were distributed as follows: Europe (12), South America (2), North America (1), and Africa (1). The Old Continent, the birthplace of football, filled the great majority of openings. The strange issue is that Italy, the host nation, had to contest the classification, which is the first time this has occurred in history.
Four countries would compete for the two berths in South America, however Chile and Peru withdrew soon before the tournament. As a result, Brazil and Argentina qualified for the tournament without having to compete.
Uruguay boycotts the World Cup
Uruguay, the 1930 World Cup champion, opted not to defend their title in 1934. The decision was made in reaction to a four-year-old incident in which most European teams refused to cross the Atlantic, resulting in the tournament being canceled in the South American nation.
Another significant theft was England’s refusal to participate in the FIFA-organized event. The balance improved in compared to the start of the Cups, as major powers flocked to Italy.
Italy wins the title at home.
FIFA decided to change the format in 1934. The group stage ended, and 16 teams competed in a single game in the direct knockout round. In the event of a tie in regulation and overtime, the two teams would play an additional match the next day.
FIFA Archive
For all 16 games in the round of 16, the ball rolled at the same time. The four teams from outside Europe were eliminated in the first match, so the competition was limited to teams from Europe for the rest of the tournament. According to journalists who visited the stadium, Italy defeated the United States 7-1 in their opening match, a rout that could have been even bigger.
Following that, the home team needed two games to knock out Spain: the first match ended in a 1-1 draw, even after extra time, and a penalty shootout was not expected. The future champions won the second game 1 to 0. They defeated Austria 1-0 in the semi-finals, setting up the anticipated final. In the end, Italy came out on top against Czechoslovakia, although were tied with a contentious goal at the conclusion of regular time and went on to win in extra time.
After a few years of dominance by South America, the world title was won by Europe, specifically the Italians.
The World Cup was used as political motivation
Mussolini, like Mussolini in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, made an effort to win and use the title as political motivation. He searched for players of Italian heritage in South America to bolster the squad ahead of the World Cup. Filó, a Brazilian, was one of the selected few.
He conveyed a direct message to coach Vittorio Pozzo in the final: “win or suffer the consequences.” It’s impossible to say if there was direct intervention, but the final’s equalizing goal was off. In any event, the title benefited the dictator, who took use of the opportunity to promote his government.
Brazil disappoints and leaves in the initial phase
Brazil were once again distant from capturing the world championship in their second appearance. With the change in format, the squad had a big test in the round of 16 against Spain. Despite the fact that the Brazilian squad was seeded first, the opponents were superior and had the support of Real Madrid.
CBF Archive
Following the clash between Rio and Sao Paulo in the last World Cup, the Brazilian squad faced a fresh issue. The conflict this time was between the FBF, which advocated professionalism, and the CBD, which protected the country’s amateurism in sports.
CBD eventually caved in and several professional players, such as Leônidas da Silva, were summoned (Vasco). Diamante Negro scored the game-winning goal against Spain, but it was not enough to prevent a 3-1 loss. It’s worth mentioning that the game was quite contentious: in addition to a goal that was incorrectly disallowed, Brazil also saw an opponent defender use his hand to prevent another goal.
Facts about the 1934 World Cup
See some fun facts about the second edition of the World Cup’s history!
- Uruguay were the first (and only) current World Cup champion not to play in the next edition. Celeste Olímpica boycotted the 1934 World Cup in retaliation for what happened in 1930.
- Italy had to play in the qualifiers. They are the only host country in history to have contested for a spot in the competition
- Egypt were the first African team to play in the World Cup. After 1934, they would only return to the World Cup in 1990, which was also played in Italy.
- It was the first edition with radio broadcast, which reached 15 countries.
