Today marks the 89th anniversary of the start of the first World Cup, hosted in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July.

Uruguay was chosen to host the FIFA after a conference in Barcelona on May 18, 1929, as Uruguay would celebrate the centenary of its independence. However, this decision was not welcomed by some countries, especially the European ones, where the old continent was floundering Then in a severe financial crisis. The participation in a World Cup held outside the European border required the teams to travel long before reaching Montevideo, which means that European clubs will be deprived of the services of the most prominent players for a long time.

All the FIFA teams were invited to participate as a whole, with 13 countries participating in the first tournament, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America.

The World Cup was different from what it is now. It was not in the qualifying system at the time. All 13 teams were present by invitation, and the draw was drawn only after all the teams had arrived in Uruguay.

The participating teams presented impressive artistic performances, and the opening match saw a funny incident when the referee launched his final whistle six minutes before the end of the original time. After strong protests, the referee returned to ask the players to return to the field, some of them was the time to wash after the game.

The opening match brought France to his Mexican counterpart, with a deserved win of 4-1, while the final brought the hosts home to their Argentine neighbors. After a 2-1 defeat at the end of the first half, the hosts managed to return to a 4-2 win and then won the trophy designed by French sculptor Abel Lafleur.

The celebrations in Montevedo did not stop for several days, so that the authorities announced the next day of the game, corresponding to July 31, a national holiday.

Uruguay's first-round win was a real start to the FIFA World Cup, officially announcing the beginning of the global character of football and its spread across the world.

The idea of ​​a World Cup:

Football was officially established by FIFA in 1904, but it was not officially played in a major tournament until 1924 during the Olympic Games in Paris. In this major sporting event, held every four years, for the first time, teams from different continents participated for the title.

The Olympic Games were an outstanding success, especially in the final match between Uruguay and Switzerland, which ended in favor of the South American representative in the presence of 50,000 spectators.

But in the next edition, held in Amsterdam in 1928, several countries announced their reluctance to participate. It was necessary to develop a football tournament especially in light of the growth of professional football.

On May 26, 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam approved the creation of the first world tournament in 1930, where it was agreed to open to all FIFA-affiliated associations. On 18 May 1929, the FIFA Barcelona Conference in Barcelona recognized the honor of hosting the first FIFA World Cup in Uruguay.