World Cup
Centenary World Cup will be utterly unrecognisable from 1930
The inaugural soccer World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 featured 13 teams, after a desperate late push to persuade any Europeans to attend and after Egypt missed their ship connection, and created only a ripple of news beyond South America.
On Wednesday FIFA announced that in recognition of the centenary, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay would each host a game in the 2030 edition that will be co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
In contrast to the little-noticed 1930 event, in 2030 billions of eyes, via technology unimaginable almost 100 years ago, will be focused on every minute of action. Instead of 13 teams, almost a quarter of the world’s countries will be in action after the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams for 2026.
And while most of the players of 1930 were amateurs, those taking to the field in 2030 will include some of the highest-paid and most recognisable sportsmen in the world.
For the modern fan it is almost impossible to visualise the 1930 World Cup. Even though international football had been in existence for almost 60 years, its reach was limited and cross-continent contests were relatively rare beyond the Olympic Games.
There was no qualification process for the 1930 tournament, instead the entire world was invited. Two months before kickoff no European team had accepted, while England, outside FIFA at the time, considered such a contest below them and did not deign to enter until 1950.
Eventually four were persuaded to make the long sea journey – Belgium, France, Yugoslavia and Romania. Siam, now Thailand, entered then withdrew and have never qualified since, as did Japan, who had to wait until 1998 to belatedly join the party.
Egypt were due to fly the flag for Africa but missed their connecting ship leaving an unwieldy 13 teams in the competition.
After an unexpectedly competitive group stage, both semi-finals were 6-1 thrashings as Argentina despatched the United States and Uruguay hammered Yugoslavia.
The U.S., one of three hosts of the 2026 tournament alongside Mexico and Canada, played much of their semi with nine men in days when substitutes were a distant dream.
After one violent assault on an American player, coach Jack Coll ran on to the pitch to remonstrate with the referee, famously tripped and smashed a bottle of chloroform. Knocked out by the fumes, he was stretchered off alongside his injured player.
In the final Uruguay, who had claimed the previous two Olympic football titles which made them unofficial world champions at the time, beat their fierce Argentine rivals 4-2 in Estadio Centenario, which will host one of the three games in 2030.
They won it again in 1950 and have been punching above their weight football-wise ever since. Argentina eventually claimed their first victory in 1978 and added two more in 1986 and 2022 as an established footballing superpower.
Quite why Paraguay, who played in the first tournament but have reached the quarter-finals only once, have been given a match, and automatic qualification according to their federation president, FIFA has yet to explain.
-Reuters
Paraguay held Uruguay to a goalless draw in their South American World Cup qualifier on Friday, with striker Luis Suarez bringing his 17-year international career to an end at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo.
The 37-year-old forward reached 143 appearances for his country, finishing as their all-time leading scorer with 69 goals.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side, who finished third in the Copa America, played without five players from their starting line-up, including Darwin Nunez, who were suspended for their involvement in clashes with fans following the defeat to Colombia in the continental showpiece in July.
Uruguay wasted several chances, most notably a first-half right-footed volley from Suarez that struck the post after Facundo Pellistri’s cross.
Paraguay also created clear-cut opportunities, with Miguel Almiron coming closest only to be denied by goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, but neither side managed to capitalise.
Uruguay remain second in the World Cup qualifying standings on 14 points, four behind leaders Argentina. They face Venezuela on Tuesday, while Paraguay take on Brazil.
-Reuters
Brazil got back to winning ways in the South American World Cup qualifiers with a drab 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Friday thanks to first-half goal by Real Madrid forward Rodrygo.
After its first streak of losses in three successive qualifiers, Brazil did just enough to earn the win that lifted the struggling five-time World Cup champions to fourth in the standings with 10 points.
They are eight points behind leaders Argentina and only two points over Ecuador in sixth, the last spot guaranteed a berth at the 2026 finals.
Playing their first match after a disappointing Copa America defeat to Uruguay in the quarter-final, Brazil had another lacklustre performance, dominating possession but failing to create clear chances throughout the match.
Brazil misplaced too many passes and struggled to connect up front, out of ideas on how to beat Ecuador’s rock solid defensive block.
Ecuador were relentless while applying a physically aggressive pressure high with three hardworking forwards, making the locals uncomfortable when putting the ball in play. They Brazil almost no room to get inside their box either, forcing them to roam the ball horizontally around their penalty area and resort to strikes from long range.
Brazil’s only two shots on target on the first half were made by Rodrygo, who, after stinging the goalkeeper’s hands from a free kick early, were lucky to break the deadlock in the 29th minute. His effort fired from the edge of the box deflected off a defender and arched around the wrong-footed goalkeeper before hitting the right post and finding the back of the net.
Ecuador almost levelled in a counterattack right before the break, but defender Gabriel Magalhaes denied Moises Caicedo’s effort with a last-minute goal-line clearance.
Brazil came back even worse in the second half, with an uninspired Vinicius Jr creating their only shot on target in an absolutely morose 45 minutes, with boos greeting the final whistle.
“We needed this win, doesn’t matter if it was ugly or not. I’m happy with the victory and to have scored, and I hope it helps us getting better and progressing to the level that we want to reach moving forward,” Rodrygo told Brazilian TV Globo. Brazil will face Paraguay at Asuncion on Tuesday while Ecuador is set to host Peru in Quito on Monday.
-Reuters
Spain’s soccer federation (RFEF) has proposed 11 stadiums as candidates to host matches during the 2030 World Cup, including the home arenas of LaLiga clubs Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Spain, who will co-host the tournament with Portugal and Morocco as well as centenary hosts Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, will also have 45 additional grounds as team bases, the RFEF said on Friday.
Other LaLiga clubs whose home arenas have made the list include Sevilla, Malaga, Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Las Palmas and promoted Espanyol.
Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, despite being the fifth-largest stadium in LaLiga with a capacity of 49,430, was not included in the list of potential venues.
“In order to define the venues, all the possibilities have been analysed, including the option of expanding to 13, an option that must be taken unanimously by the three federations,” the RFEF said in a statement.
The tournament will have a maximum of 20 venues, the RFEF added.
Co-hosts Morocco last year announced plans to build a stadium near Casablanca and upgrade six others before the World Cup.
-Reuters
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