The Football World Cup was staged in 1930. The games were hosted by the Olympic champions at the time, Uruguay. Uruguay became the inaugural champion, beating Argentina in the final, 4-2.
The first World Cup was the only one without qualification; teams were invited. Due to the long, harsh, and costly trip across the Atlantic, very few European team chose to participate; two months before the tournament started, no team from that continent entered. FIFA's president, Jules Rimet, intervened, and four teams: Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia made the trip.
The thirteen teams were drawn into four groups, and the first match of the first ever World Cup saw France beat Mexico 4-1 on July 13th. Lucient Laurent scored the first ever goal. USA's Bert Patenaude scored the first hat-trick in World Cup history, as his team beat Paraguay 3-0. The group winners, Argentina, Yugoslavia, Uruguay, and USA, moved to the semifinals.
The semifinals saw identical 6-1 scores, as Argentina beat the US and Uruguay took care of Yugoslavia. There was no third place match for the only time in World Cup history.
The first ever World Cup Final was played at the Centenario Stadium, Montevideo, on July 30th. The game ended 4-2 to Uruguay who added the title World Cup Winners to the already prestigious mantle of Olympic Champions, as Jules Rimet presented the World Cup Trophy, which was later to be named after the man himself.
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