Governing Bodies
VIDEO: ON THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD CUP 1ST GOAL, FIFA PAYS TRIBUTE TO LUCIEN LAURENT, THE SCORER
To mark the 90th anniversary of the first goal ever scored at the FIFA World Cup, FIFA.com recalls the career of the man who scored it: Lucien Laurent of France.
Firsts are never forgotten. In scoring the first ever goal in FIFA World Cup™ history, in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on 13 July 1930, France’s Lucien Laurent set his side on the road to a 4-1 victory over Mexico and wrote his name in the football record books.
Modest to a fault, however, Laurent barely spoke about his legendary contribution to the game in the years that followed.
Capped ten times by his country, he ended his career as player-coach at Besancon before buying a bar, where he very rarely discussed his 19th-minute volley against the Mexicans.
“[Ernest] Liberati put the cross in,” was all he would say if the topic came up, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Memories of his goal first came flooding back at a gala dinner held by the organisers of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy™. “I knew he’d played for France and taken part in the World Cup but that was it,” said his son Marc, with whom Laurent spent his final years.
By the time France 1998 came around, the former Sochaux player was virtually a national treasure, speaking at length as he dug deep into his memories and recalled tales that are part of World Cup folklore, such as the team’s voyage to Uruguay on the Italian liner Conte Verde, which set sail from Villefranche-sur-Mer on 19 June 1930. “Fifteen days to get there and 15 days to come back,” recalled Laurent.
A Uruguayan odyssey
The France squad was joined on the ship by the Belgium and Romania players and a number of dignitaries, among them Laurent’s fellow Frenchman Jules Rimet, the then FIFA president and the founder of the World Cup.
“The French federation had a job getting a team together because several of the players they selected had to pull out,” explained Laurent.
“Their bosses wouldn’t let them take two months off. I worked for Peugeot at the time, as did three of my team-mates: my brother Jean, Andre Maschinot and Etienne Mattler.”
The voyage was free of incident, the peace and tranquillity of the crossing only being broken by the sound of the three teams jogging on the deck.
France played their opening match of the tournament at Pocitos, Penarol’s home ground. Built especially for the competition, the now-legendary Estadio Centenario was not quite ready in time to host the match.
“When I scored my goal, which was the first of the tournament and my first for France, we congratulated each other but without jumping all over one another like they do now,” added Laurent, who was a somewhat critical observer of modern-day football: “There’s too much bad behaviour, too much cheating and not enough respect for the opposition and the referee. And international players are looked after like babies these days. Everything gets done for them, whereas we had to sort things out for ourselves.”
In France’s second match, a 1-0 defeat to Argentina, Laurent suffered an ankle injury and had to stand out on the left wing, those being the days when no substitutes were allowed. That injury kept him out of France’s third and final match against Chile, which ended in another 1-0 loss.
There was also emotion in his voice when he recalled his second and last international goal, which came against England in a friendly played on 14 May 1931. “We were still amateurs, while the English were already professionals,” he said.
Laurent died on 11 April 2005 in Besancon, but he will always be remembered for the part he played in the history of the World Cup.
Lucien Laurent in brief
- Born: 10 December 1907, Saint-Maur-des-Fosses (France)
- Height: 1.62m
- Weight: 65kg
- Position: Midfielder
- Caps: 10
- Goals: 2
Laurent’s France career
- 1 August 1930: BRAZIL 3-2 FRANCE (unofficial)
- 23 February 1930: PORTUGAL 2-0 FRANCE
- 13 April 1930: FRANCE 1-6 BELGIUM
- 13 July 1930: MEXICO 1-4 FRANCE
- 15 July 1930: ARGENTINA 1-0 FRANCE
- 15 March 1931: FRANCE 1-0 GERMANY
- 14 May 1931: FRANCE 5-2 ENGLAND
- 29 November 1931: FRANCE 3-4 NETHERLANDS
- 20 March 1932: SWITZERLAND 3-3 FRANCE
- 10 April 1932: FRANCE 1-2 ITALY
- 19 May 1935: FRANCE 2-0 HUNGARY
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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