The Official Poster for the Inaugural World Cup.
Uruguay, the defending Olympic Champions, were the natural choice to host the first FIFA World Cup, with the added bonus of 1930 being the centennial of Uruguayan independence. Unfortunately while the tournament brought in 9 New World teams only four European teams made the expensive effort to travel all the way to Uruguay. France and Belgium were cajoled into playing by FIFA officials and the monarchs of Romania and Yugoslavia stepped in for their teams, though the latter's team was 100% Serbian.
As such the teams were:
Argentina
Belgium
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
France
Mexico
Paraguay
Peru
Romania
United States
Uruguay
Yugoslavia
Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and the United States were declared "seeded" teams so when the draw occurred they were separated. Once all teams had arrived the groups were drawn.
Group 1:
Argentina
Romania
Mexico
Bolivia
Group 2:
United States
France
Belgium
Group 3:
Brazil
Paraguay
Chile
Group 4:
Uruguay
Peru
Yugoslavia
The American team had players from around the ASL as well as other places from around the country. Its coach was from the ailing Newark Skeeters, Robert Millar. However he had been selected for his work with the New York Nationals, soon to be Giants, where they had been quite successful. The team was mostly made up of ASL players, only 5 were not players in the league. The overwhelming favorites, especially in the absence of European teams, were the gold and silver Medalists from Amsterdam, Uruguay and Argentina respectively.
Group 1 was the realm of the Argentines. They opened their tournament by defeating Romania 3 goals to 1, cementing the perceived weakness of the European teams in the tournament. Bolivia would prevail over Mexico in their match with a goal near the end of the first half. Mexico would also fall to Argentina with two goals going to Guillermo Stábile. Romania and Boliva tied 1 all in a rather boring game. Bolivia, with 3 points, could have won the group over Argentina, who currently had 4, had they won the match. They did not, falling 3-0 with two more goals from Stábile. Romania and Mexico tied 1-1 in the consolation game.
Nation
Pts
GD
Argentina
6
+7
Bolivia
3
-2
Romania
2
-2
Mexico
1
-2
Billy Gonsalves of the Fall River Marksmen would score both of the American goals in a shutout victory over Belgium. The Belgians would then fall to a weakened France 1 to 0, opening the way for a de facto playoff between the USA and France to advance to the Semifinals. France would be relentless during the first half attack, but only one shot for past the National's Jimmy Douglas. The second half saw the Americans begin attacking, with much greater success, scoring two goals early in the half to take the lead and a third towards to end to deal the deal. A fourth goal at the very end undoubtedly reaffirmed America's strength.
Nation
Pts
GD
United States
4
+5
France
2
-2
Belgium
0
-3
The hosts, Uruguay, would open their cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Peru. Striker Pedro Cea recorded the first World Cup hat truck ever on the path to victory. Yugoslavia would prove better then expected by soundly defeating the Peruvians 3-0. Everyone favored the Uruguayans to win easily, only to be shocked when Yugoslavia entered halftime tied 1-1. Uruguay would take control of the game in the second half however, though they would only win 2-1.
Nation
Pts
GD
Uruguay
4
+5
Yugoslavia
2
+2
Peru
0
-7
Group 4 was the most boring group of the tournament. Despite being seeded Brazil failed to amaze the crowds of Montevideo. They first defeated Paraguay 1-0 in a dull match that saw the only goal scored off of a fluky deflection of the Paraguayan keeper. Brazil's winning goal against Chile would actually be intentional in the 6th Minute, but the rest of the game proved dull. Nobody really cared all that much when Chile defeated Paraguay to get runner up in the group, again by a score of 1-0.
Nation
Pts
GD
Brazil
4
+2
Chile
2
0
Paraguay
0
-2
Thus the Semifinals were
Uruguay vs Argentina
United States vs Brazil.
The Uruguay-Argentina semifinal was more widely focused on the the one between the United States and Brazil. "It is a shame," wrote one Montevideo Newspaper "that the winner of the tournament shall not be determined by the final." It would prove an exciting match with Argentine striker Guillermo Stábile opened early with a quick goal in the 9th minute. For the first section of the first half the Argentines would press onwards, but be unable to crack the Uruguayans a second time. A goal from Pedro Cea in the 24th minute came after a reversal of the tide. The hosts would take the lead in the 38th minute off of a corner kick that was tapped in by Héctor Castro. They would continue this momentum into the second half, Castro would score again followed by Pablo Dorado, giving the hosts a 4-1 lead by the 69th Minute. The Argentines would be relentlessly attacking for the rest of the game, and a break away by Stabile was controversially ruled offsides, preventing a shift of momentum. The Montevideo crowd cheered as if they had won the World Cup.
America and Brazil's game was seen as a battle for second place and was a solid victory for the Americans. SLSL star Raphael Tracey scored early in the first half and the United States controlled the first half of the game, with Bert Patenaude of Fall River scoring in the 23rd minute, giving them a 2-0 lead. The opening of the second half saw a series of Brazilian attacks that were a threat to the American defense but that never materialized into any goals for the Brazilians, with Goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas helping to hold off the onslaught. By the 55th minute the attacks slowed to a halt and play went back and forth. In the 66th minute Jim Brown scored, sealing the deal for the Americans who would coast onwards to the win.
Despite there never being a playoff, most pundits, then and now, recognize Argentina as being better then Brazil and deserving of recognition for being the third best team at the tournament.
It is hard to overstate just how large a favorite the Uruguayan team was going into a final. Almost every publication declared the tournament more or less over. With a home field advantage and a team hot off winning the Gold Medal the Uruguayans had been the pre-tournament favorites and vanquishing their nearest rivals in the Semifinals had only increased their stock. Preparations were in place for a massive celebration of victory. For the first half of the march it seemed to be coming true, the Uruguayans dominated the attack, keeping the American team hard pressed to find any advantages. It surely must have been a little disappointing to see Jimmy Douglass's save count rise and Frank Vaughn chase down a breakaway early, but a Castro goal in the 35th minute seemingly made it all worth it. The score at halftime was 1-0 Uruguay. The early second half saw similar dominance by the hosts, but they proved unable to score another goal. Eventually Vaughn would manage to get a good, long clearance that was chased down by the Scottish born Bart McGhee who initiated a counter attack that pressed hard onto the Uruguayan defense, it would be team captain Tom Florie who would manage to dodge two defenders and sneak the ball into the goal, tying the game 1-1 in the 71st minute. The crowd was stunned into silence. The following minutes would see a renewed Uruguayan offensive, however it was now punctuated by American counter attacks that looked increasingly dangerous as the Americans gained confidence. In the 87th minute another one of these assaults was managed, with Raphael Tracey making a long run towards the penalty box from midfield. He ended up forced towards the sideline, where he made a high, arcing pass to just in front of the goal. Both Jim Brown and the Uruguayan keeper, Enrique Ballestrero, leapt up for it. There was a collision and both players hit the ground as the ball sailed out of play. Uruguayans will claim that Brown leapt into Ballestrero, making the Americans in the foul. But Americans, and crucially referee John Langenus, saw Ballestrero push up off of Brown hard and illegally. The Americans were, to the horror of the crowd, awarded a penalty kick which would be buried in the net by Bert Patenaude. The final minutes of the match were marked by frantic attempts to score by the Uruguayans and frantic attempts to keep the crowd off the pitch. When the final whistle blew Langenus made a hasty exit via boat while Jules Remit gave the cup to the surprised but enthusiastic Americans.
The reports of "WORLD CHAMPIONS OF SOCCER" and the "MIRACLE OF MONTEVIDEO" made good newspaper headlines in a darkening economy in the United States and fans flocked to see the heroes of the tournament, and the touring World Cup trophy. "Soccer Fever" would boost attendance in the SLSL and ASL for a brief period from 1930-31, giving the leagues the crucial time to adapt as best the could to the new realities of the depression, and kept more then one team afloat.
But it would not end the struggles of American soccer.