Soccer World Cup 1938

The 1938 FIFA World Cup France was the third edition of the men's soccer world championship organized by FIFA. It was held in France between June 4 and June 19, 1938.

For the last time, the organization maintained the format of the 1934 edition, consisting of a single-match direct elimination phase. In the event of a tie, a 30-minute extension would be played, and if the result remained the same, a tiebreaker match would be held the following day. Starting in 1938, the organizing country and the champion of the previous edition qualified directly.

The tournament was marked by the pre-war climate that existed before World War II. Only 15 countries participated because Austria, qualified for the finals, had been occupied by Nazi Germany and their place became vacant. In addition, 12 of the 15 teams were European and there were only three participating teams from the rest of the world. South America turned its back on the event in protest at the election of a European state, with the notable absences of Argentina (aspiring to organize it) and Uruguay. The only American representatives were Brazil and a newcomer Cuba. In addition, the Netherlands East Indies (present-day Indonesia) was the first country in Asia to participate.

In the final held at the Colombes stadium, Italy beat Hungary 4–2 to become the first country to win two titles. The coach Vittorio Pozzo was also the first coach (and to date the only one) to have won the World Cup twice.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the war events prevented FIFA from organizing the World Cup in its subsequent editions, and it did not resume it until the 1950 edition in Brazil.

Background

The choice of venue for the 1938 World Cup took place in Berlin (Germany) on August 13, 1936, in the midst of the Olympic Games. With the candidacies of France, Germany and Argentina on the table, the members of the FIFA chose the French by an absolute majority. It was the second time that a European country would host this event, after the previous edition took place in Italy.

The Argentines were certain that they would be the organizers, after the president of FIFA and founder of the Cup, Jules Rimet, insinuated it to the leaders of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) during an official visit. According to their version, they interpreted that there would be alternation between the continents of Europe and America for each edition. However, several leaders of French football such as Henri Delaunay and Robert Guérin (former FIFA president) lobbied for France to present a project. Rimet was convinced, and the rest of the members opted in favor of the Europeans due to the number of stadiums and transportation issues.

Since there was no alternation, almost all the countries of the Americas resigned from the qualifying phase. Uruguay was still upset with the weight of Europe in FIFA and its majority absence in the 1930 World Cup, so the Uruguayan Football Association did not register. Colombia acted in the same way. The AFA only wanted to participate if they did not play qualifiers, and although FIFA raised it, the First Division clubs pressured the AFA because they did not want to give up their players. For this reason, Argentina was absent from the World Cup for the first time in its history. Brazil, interested in organizing the 1942 edition, did attend and was the only South American representative.

The 1938 World Cup was held against a backdrop of political crisis in the late 1930s. Spain had been embroiled in a Civil War for two years, and the rise of totalitarianism in Italy and Germany posed a threat to freedom of Europe. Three months before the World Cup, the regime of Adolf Hitler had annexed the state of Austria as a province of the Third Reich, as part of its expansionist policy. This affected the organization because Austria, which was classified for the final tournament, he left a place vacant. In response, the French public was very hostile against Italians and Germans in their matches. In Asia the situation was also complicated due to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Participating teams

For the first time in a World Cup, the host team (France) and the reigning champions (Italy) had their place secured. The rest of the applicants had to compete in a more eventful qualifying phase than usual, marked by withdrawals and the global political situation. 11 of the 14 available slots went to European states.

The European phase had difficulties setting up the playoffs. An example was the Switzerland against Portugal: the Swiss did not want to go to Lisbon so as not to cross a Spain at war, so a single match was agreed in Milan that ended in a Swiss victory. Egypt and Palestine, the sole representatives of Africa and Western Asia respectively, ended up in the European groups because they had no closer rivals on their continents. The Palestinians lost to Greece, while Egypt was sent off for refusing to play Romania in Ramadan. The four British teams were also left out because they were not part of FIFA. The only newcomers from the old continent were Norway and Poland.

The most lamented absence was that of Austria. Although it had qualified, Germany annexed the country three months before the inauguration.

Almost all the South American teams resigned in disagreement with the choice of venue. Brazil was the only representative from the continent.

The North American quota was filled with Cuba, debutant in the World Cup thanks to the resignation of all its rivals. Initially planned for a direct tie between four countries, the departure of Colombia and El Salvador led to the proposal of a triangular phase in Havana between Cuba, Costa Rica and Dutch Guiana. The winner would travel to France to face a South American country. However, the withdrawal of Costa Ricans and Guyanese for economic reasons gave the Cubans a direct ticket to the final phase, since when they arrived in Europe they had no other opponents.

In the same way, the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) qualified, the first representative of Asia in the World Cups. In January 1938, they were scheduled to play a match against the Japanese team in Saigon (Indochina). The Japanese resigned because of the Sino-Japanese war and the Indies, without a guaranteed place, had to travel to Rotterdam (Netherlands) in May to face the United States, the only North American rival. The Americans did not want to make such a long trip, and although Dutch Guiana asked to replace them, as it was a Dutch colony it had no problems for the trip, FIFA did not allow it.

Participating teams
Germany	Czechoslovakia	Italy	Romania
Belgium	France	Norway	Sweden
Brazil	Hungary	Netherlands	Switzerland
Cuba	Netherlands East India	Poland	Austria

Organization

Competition format

Official World Cup Ball Replica of 1938.

The III World Cup took place between June 4 and June 19, 1938. The system used was the same as in the last edition, a single-match direct elimination phase among the 16 participants. This was the last time it was used. If there was a tie in regulation time, it would go to a 30-minute extension. And if the score was still tied, a tiebreaker match had to be played on another date. All the games of each phase were played on the same day at the same time, in different venues.

To set up the playoffs, the organizing committee established "seeds" that would not face each other in the round of 16. In this way, they wanted to ensure that the strongest teams reached the end. The draw took place on May 5, 1938 and left an image for history; the innocent hand that drew the names was a child, Yves Rimet, grandson of the leader Jules Rimet. Austria was taken into account in the draw, despite the fact that it had already been annexed by Germany.

Ball

In the games, an "Allen" regulation ball was used, similar to those of the two previous editions. Each part of the ball has two segments except the cord, where it has three. The new ball allowed players to head in without fear of getting hurt, although it still needed to be inflated by a specialist. "Allen" was the first company that assumed the exclusive manufacture of an official ball for the World Cup.

Locations

A total of 10 stadiums, distributed in 9 cities, hosted the championship matches. The capital Paris hosted two venues: the Colombes Olympic Stadium, which would host the final, and the Parc des Princes. Both facilities were remodeled for the occasion. Among the new fields, the construction of the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille (1937) and the Parc Lescure in Bordeaux (1938) stood out.

It was planned that the Gerland Stadium in Lyon would host the Sweden-Austria round of 16 match, but it never did because the Austrians left.

City	Stadium	Capacity
Antibes	Fort Carré Stadium	7000
Bordeaux	Parc Lescure	35 000
The Havre	Stade de la Cavée Verte	3000
Strasbourg	Stadium of the Meinau	29 000
Lille	Victor Boucquey Stadium	15 000
Marseille	Vélodrome Stadium	60 000
Paris	Princes Park	49 500
	Stade Olympique de Colombes	45 124
Reims	Estadio Vélodrome Municipal	9000
Toulouse	Stadium Chapou	22 000

Development

Round of 16

Lance of the match between Brazil and Poland.

The first game of the World Cup was played on June 4 between Switzerland and Germany. The Germans arrived at the Parque de los Príncipes with the band of favourites, even more so when the coach Sepp Herberger had added nine Austrian players to the block that came third in 1934. Gauchel put the Teutonic team ahead, but the Swiss stood up and tied through André Abegglen. With no more goals in regulation time and extra time, a tiebreaker was necessary. Five days later, on June 9, the Swiss coach Karl Rappan arranged a third defender on the field behind the usual two, a technique known as "Catenaccio". In this way, Switzerland won 4-2 and left out to the Germans.

The rest of the games were played on June 5. France smugly beat Belgium 3–1, just as Hungary defeated the Netherlands East Indies a resounding 6–0. In more trouble than expected, Italy defeated debutants Norway 2–1 after the Scandinavians forced extra time. Czechoslovakia also suffered to beat the Netherlands, although already in extra time they were endorsed three goals.

The match between Brazil and Poland ended 6–5, reflecting the showy attacking game that witnessed the Strasbourg stadium. Ernst Wilimowski's four goals for the Poles were to no avail before Leônidas da Silva's drive. The nicknamed "black diamond" scored two goals, one of them barefoot because they were fixing his boots, and he led his team to victory.

The big surprise was Cuba's pass, a team with only 15 men compared to the 20 allowed. In the first match against Romania they put the Europeans against the ropes, although everything ended in a draw (3–3) and a tiebreaker was necessary. Five days later, the team faced a surprising absence: goalkeeper Benito Carvajales could not be called up because he preferred to be a commentator on the game for Cuban radio. Despite Ștefan Dobay's Romanian goal, the islanders came back thanks to Fernández and Socorro, leaving the final score of 2–1. The absence of Austria benefited Sweden, their hypothetical rival, who went directly to the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

On June 12, hosts France received current champions Italy at the Colombes stadium, in a very tense environment due to the political situation. The visitors played with a completely black second kit (symbol of Italian fascism) and, as was customary during the Benito Mussolini dictatorship, they gave the Roman salute when the anthem was played, to the boos of the French public. Despite the hostile atmosphere, the The Italians were not intimidated and took the initiative at all times. The clash was resolved in the second half with two goals from Silvio Piola that led to the final 3–1. France was eliminated and was the first host of a World Cup that did not win its edition.

Hungary, led by striker György Sárosi, beat a casualty-shocked Switzerland 2–0. In its debut in the tournament, Sweden put an end to Cuba's dream by defeating it 8–0, with four goals in the first half and the rest in the last ten minutes. The most disputed duel was between Brazil and Czechoslovakia, with such a violent result in the first game (1–1) that even today it is still called "the battle of Bordeaux". The Brazilians Martim and Zezé Procópio and the Czech Jan Říha ended up sent off, and several footballers missed the tiebreaker due to injury, including Czech stars František Plánička and Oldřich Nejedlý. Despite such sensitive casualties, the Brazilians needed to come from behind to overcome them 2–1.

Semi-finals

Hungary reached the first end of its history after beating Sweden.

The semifinal between Italy and Brazil was played on June 16 at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. While Vittorio Pozzo lined up all his starting team, the Brazilian coach Ademar Pimenta, for reasons still unknown, preferred to reserve three of his stars on the bench: Leônidas, Tim and Brandão. The Brazilians even booked plane tickets to Paris before of time, something that Pozzo used to motivate his men. In the end, Italy won 2–1 thanks to the tactical discipline with which they maintained control at all times, taking the lead in the second half thanks to Gino Colaussi and Giuseppe Meazza, this penalty. Brazil ended up missing the talent of Leônidas, and although Romeu cut the gap in the 87th minute, it was not enough to avoid elimination. In a show of pride, Pimenta refused to sell the plane tickets and the Italians had to go to Paris by train.

That same day the semifinal between Hungary and Sweden was played in the Parc des Princes. The Swedes took the lead on the scoreboard after 35 seconds, through Arne Nyberg. But the Magyars were not discouraged at any time. Taking the opportunity to equalize with an own goal, they deployed their usual attacking game and overwhelmed the Scandinavian side thanks to the fearsome striker of Gyula Zsengellér, Pál Titkos, Jenő Vincze and György Sárosi. The final result was 5–1.

Third place

The 1938 edition brought about an unusual situation, since the match for third place was played on the same day and time as the final; June 19 at 5:00 p.m. The Parc Lescure stadium in Bordeaux received Brazil and Sweden, in a duel where the South Americans were clear favorites. The Swedes took the lead thanks to a goal from Jonasson after half an hour, and Nyberg extended the lead shortly after. With that setback, Romeu closed the gap at the end of the first half and captain Leônidas led his team with two goals that completely changed the score. Finally, José Perácio made it 2–4 definitive.

Ending

The Italian Silvio Piola, author of two goals at the end.

The World Cup final between Hungary and Italy was held in Paris on June 19, 1938, at 5:00 p.m., with more than 45,000 spectators at the Colombes Olympic Stadium. Two very different styles faced each other on the pitch: the defensive rigor and strength of Vittorio Pozzo's Italy against the Magyar technique and goalscoring efficiency, led by Sárosi. Hungary, led by Károly Dietz and Alfréd Schaffer, entered the field with four line-up changes from the semi-finals, although they kept their stars. The referee was the Frenchman Georges Capdeville.

After six minutes, Italy took the lead through Colaussi, who quickly collected an assist from Piola. With no time to celebrate, Pál Titkos equalized on 8 minutes. The Hungarians set a frantic pace and the match turned into a succession of back and forth attacks, but the Italian defense managed to contain Sárosi, who disappeared in the first half. After fifteen minutes, Piola once again gave Italy the advantage with a cross shot from a vertical play. From there, the azzurri dominated and Colaussi made it 3–1 with which they reached the break.

Hungary attacked furiously throughout the second half, however they were unable to overcome the staunch transalpine defence. In the 70th minute, Zsengellér headed Sarosi to make it 3–2. That goal still gave the Magyars hope to force extension. Even so, Italy maintained its tactical order and did not lose its nerve. With ten minutes remaining, Biavati surprised goalkeeper Szabó with a low pass into the heart of the box that Piola pushed into the net. Thanks to the 4–2 final, Italy won the second World Cup in its history.

The French public, hostile in previous matches, applauded with sportsmanship the victory of Italy and the show that both teams had offered. The President of France, Albert Lebrun, was in charge of presenting the Victory Cup to captain Giuseppe Meazza. Upon arriving in Italy, President Benito Mussolini gave the footballers a prize of 8,000 lire, as recognized years later by Pietro Rava, the last survivor of that final.

Results

Final Octavos

Final rooms

Semifinals

Final

5 June - Paris

FRAFrance

3

12 June - Paris

BELBelgium

1

FRAFrance

1

5 June - Marseille

ItalyItaly

3

ItalyItaly (t.s.)

2

16 June - Marseille

NORNorway

1

ItalyItaly

2

5 June - Strasbourg

BRABrazil

1

BRABrazil (t.s.)

6

12-14 June - Bordeaux

POLPoland

5

BRABrazil

1 (2)

5 June - El Havre

TCHCzechoslovakia

1 (1)

TCHCzechoslovakia (t.s.)

3

19 June - Paris

NEDNetherlands

0

ItalyItaly

4

5-9 June − Toulouse

HungaryHungary

2

CUBCuba

3 (2)

12 June - Antibes

ROURomania

3 (1)

CUBCuba

0

Not disputed

SWESweden

8

SWESweden

-

16 June - Paris

AUTAustria

-

SWESweden

1

5 June - Reims

HungaryHungary

5

Party for third place

HungaryHungary

6

12 June − Lille

June 19 - Bordeaux

Netherlands East India

0

HungaryHungary

2

BRABrazil

4

4-9 June - Paris

SUISwitzerland

0

SWESweden

2

SUISwitzerland

1 (4)

Germany

1 (2)

Round of 16

4 June 1938, 17:00	Switzerland	1:1 (1:1, 1:1) (t. s.)	Germany	Parc des Princes, Paris
	Abegglen 43'	Report	Gauchel 23'	Assistance: 27,152 spectators Arbitrator: Jean Langenus

June 5, 1938, 17:00	France	3:1 (2:1)	Belgium	Olympique de Colombes, Paris
	Twenty. 1' Nicolas 16',69'	Report	Isemborghs 38'	Assistance: 30,454 spectators Arbitrator: Hans Wuethrich

June 5, 1938, 17:00	Italy	2:1 (1:1, 1:1) (t. s.)	Norway	Velodrome, Marseille
	Ferraris 2' Piola 94'	Report	Brustad 83'	Assistance: 19,000 spectators Arbitrator: Alois Beranek

June 5, 1938, 17:30	Brazil	6:5 (4:4, 3:1) (t. s.)	Poland	Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg
	Leônidas 18',93',104' Romeu 25' Perez 44',71'	Report	Szerfke 23' (pen.) Wilimowski 53',59',89',118'	Attendance: 13,452 spectators Arbitrator: Ivan Eklind
Ernest Wilimowski is the first player to score 4 goals at the World Cup. Final Octavos with more annotations in history. More goals in a defeat.

June 5, 1938, 18:30	Czechoslovakia	3:0 (0:0, 3:0) (t. s.)	Netherlands	Stade de la Cavée Verte, The Havre
	Košťálek 93' Zeman 111' Nejedlý 118'	Report		Assistance: 11,000 spectators Arbitrator: Lucien Leclercq

June 5, 1938, 17:00	Cuba	3:3 (2:2, 1:1) (t. s.)	Romania	Stade Chapou, Toulouse
	Help 44',103' Magriñá 69'	Report	Bindea 35' Baratky 88' Dobay 105'	Assistance: 7,000 spectators Arbitrator: Giuseppe Scarpi

June 5, 1938, 17:00	Hungary	6:0 (4:0)	Netherlands East India	Stade Vélodrome Municipal, Reims
	Kohut 13' Toldi 15' Sárosi 28',89' Zsengellér 35',76'	Report		Assistance: 9,000 spectators Arbitrator: Roger Conrie

• The match between Sweden and Austria was not disputed by Anschluss. Sweden automatically classified quarterfinals.

Tiebreakers

9 June 1938, 18:00	Cuba	2:1 (0:1)	Romania	Stade Chapou, Toulouse
	Help 51' Fernández 57'	Report	Dobay 35'	Assistance: 8,000 spectators Arbitrator: Alfred Birlem

9 June 1938, 18:00	Switzerland	4:2 (1:2)	Germany	Parc des Princes, Paris
	Walaschek 42' Bickel 64' Abegglen 75',78'	Report	Hahnemann 8' Loertscher 22' (a.g.)	Attendance: 2,025 spectators Arbitrator: Ivan Eklind
The Swiss Ernst Loertscher marked the second autogol of World Cup history.

Quarterfinals

12 June 1938, 17:00	Italy	3:1 (1:1)	France	Olympique de Colombes, Paris
	Colaussi 9' Piola 51',72'	Report	Heisserer 10'	Assistance: 58,455 spectators Arbitrator: Luis Baert
First time the host is eliminated from their World Cup.

12 June 1938, 17:00	Brazil	1:1 (1:1, 1:0) (t. s.)	Czechoslovakia	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
	Leônidas 30'	Report	Nejedlý 65' (pen.)	Assistance: 22.021 spectators Arbitrator: Pal von Hertzka

12 June 1938, 17:00	Hungary	2:0 (1:0)	Switzerland	Stade Victor Boucquey, Lille
	Sárosi 40' Zsengellér 89'	Report		Assistance: 15,000 spectators Arbitrator: Rinaldo Barlassina

12 June 1938, 17:00	Sweden	8:0 (4:0)	Cuba	Fort Carreé, Antibes
	Andersson 9',81',89' Wetterström 22',37',44' Keller 80's Nyberg 84'	Report		Assistance: 7,000 spectators Arbitrator: Augustin Krist

Tiebreaker

14 June 1938, 18:00	Brazil	2:1 (0:1)	Czechoslovakia	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
	Leônidas 57' Roberto 63'	Report	Kopecký 25'	Assistance: 18,141 spectators Arbitrator: George Capdeville

Semi-finals

June 16, 1938, 18:00	Hungary	5:1 (3:1)	Sweden	Parc des Princes, Paris
	Jacobsson 19' (a.g.) Titkos 37' Zsengellér 39',85' Sárosi 65'	Report	Nyberg 1'	Attendance: 20,000 spectators Arbitrator: Lucien Leclercq

June 16, 1938, 18:00	Italy	2:1 (0:0)	Brazil	Velodrome, Marseille
	Colaussi 51' Meazza 60' (pen.)	Report	Romeu 87'	Assistance: 33,000 spectators Arbitrator: Hans Wuethrich

Third place

19 June 1938, 17:00	Brazil	4:2 (1:2)	Sweden	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
	Romeu 44' Leônidas 63',74' Perez 80's	Report	Jonasson 28' Nyberg 38'	Assistance: 12,000 spectators Arbitrator: Jean Langenus

Ending

19 June 1938, 17:00	Italy	4:2 (3:1)	Hungary	Olympique de Colombes, Paris
	Colaussi 6',35' Piola 16',82'	Report	Titkos 8' Sárosi 70'	Assistance: 45,000 spectators Arbitrator: Georges Capdeville
Italy is the second world champion who wins all his games. Vittorio Pozzo is the first (and to the single date) coach who has won the World Cup twice

Champion Italy 2.o title

Statistics

In the following table, 2 points are added per match won and 1 per match tied.

Equipment		Pts	PJ	PG	PE	P	GF	GC	Dif	Rend
1	Italy	8	4	4	0	0	11	5	+6	100%
2	Hungary	6	4	3	0	1	15	5	+10	75.0 %
3	Brazil	7	5	3	1	1	14	11	+3	70.0 %
4	Sweden	2	3	1	0	2	11	9	+2	33.3 %
5	Czechoslovakia	3	3	1	1	1	5	3	+2	50.0 %
6	Switzerland	3	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	50.0 %
7	Cuba	3	3	1	1	1	5	12	-7	50.0 %
8	France	2	2	1	0	1	4	4	0	50.0 %
9	Romania	1	2	0	1	1	4	5	-1	25.0 %
10	Germany	1	2	0	1	1	3	5	-2	25.0 %
11	Poland	0	1	0	0	1	5	6	-1	0.0 %
12	Norway	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0.0 %
13	Belgium	0	1	0	0	1	1	3	-2	0.0 %
14	Netherlands	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0.0 %
15	Netherlands East India	0	1	0	0	1	0	6	-6	0.0 %

Acknowledgments

Scorers

Player	Selection	Goles
Leônidas da Silva	Brazil	7
Gyula Zsengellér	Hungary	5
Silvio Piola	Italy	5
György Sárosi	Hungary	5
Gino Colaussi	Italy	4
Ernest Wilimowski	Poland	4

All-Star Team