1938 World Cup: Complete Guide DEF

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1938 World Cup

The 1938 World Cup, held in June, was the 3rd Football World Cup and promoted the sport with great success around the world. However, major world political conflicts would already interfere with the competition.

The host country of the 1938 World Cup

Three countries were candidates to host the 1938 World Cup: Germany, Argentina and France.

Hitler’s Nazi Germany, which organised the 1936 Olympic Games, was interested in another event for propaganda of its regime.

Argentina, on the other hand, argued that there should be a rotation of continents, therefore, that it would be the American continent’s turn to host the cup again.

But in August 1936, in Berlin, during the Olympics, the FIFA Congress met and decided, as a tribute to Frenchman Jules Rimet, the creator of the World Cup, to have the Cup in France.

The decision caused outrage in South America and, as a result, all the American teams (except Brazil and Cuba) boycotted the 1938 World Cup as a gesture of solidarity with Argentina.

The squads for the 1938 World Cup

The 1938 World Cup was to be contested by 16 teams. Austria, invaded and annexed by Nazi Germany, left one spot open and the cup was played with only 15 teams.

This time, defending champions Italy and host nation France did not need to participate in the qualifiers to secure their places in the competition.

Only three countries outside the European continent took part in the 1938 World Cup: Brazil, Cuba and Indonesia.

Spain was prevented from participating because of the Spanish civil war.

The First Round of the 1938 World Cup

The 1938 World Cup was played in a single knockout format from the first round. If a match ended in a draw, there would be 30 minutes of extra time. Should the tie persist after extra time, there would be a play-off match.

The draw to determine the clashes was held at the Salon d’Horloge in Paris on 5 March 1938.

The head teams were Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Sweden and Czechoslovakia.

With Austria invaded and annexed by Germany, England were invited to compete for the spot in their place, but did not accept the invitation.

With this, Sweden won their first round match by W.O., as they would face Austria.

Five of the seven first round matches went to extra time, and two matches went to a tie-breaker.

Defending champions Italy beat Norway 2-1 after extra time. Czechoslovakia beat the Netherlands 3-0 after extra time, and Hungary thrashed Indonesia 6-0.

Brazil beat Poland in extra time, 6-5, in one of the great games in the history of the World Cup. In the first half, Brazil led 3-1. But at half time a heavy rainstorm hit and muddied the pitch. The Poles took advantage and the game ended in a 4-4 draw. In extra time, Brazil scored two more goals, winning the match by an incredible 6-5.

The quarter-finals of the 1938 World Cup

In the quarter-finals of the 1938 World Cup Sweden defeated Cuba 8-0. Hosts France were defeated by Italy, 3-1, and Switzerland was eliminated by Hungary, 2-0.

The match between Brazil and Czechoslovakia was the tie-breaker, in a match that became known as the “Battle of Bordeaux”, as it was considered a very violent match, with 3 players sent off, (Zezé Procópio and Martim Silveira from Brazil, and Jan Ríha from Czechoslovakia), and an incredible five injured, with the Czechs František Plánička and Oldřich Nejedlý having to be admitted to hospital. In the play-off match the Brazilians were better and won 2-1.

Semi-finals of the 1938 World Cup

Italy, Brazil, Sweden and Hungary were the semi-finalists.

The match between Brazil and Italy was considered an early final. After the first half ended 0-0, Gino Colaussi opened the scoring for the Squadra Azzurra early in the second half. Giuseppe Meazza then increased the lead after a penalty by Domingos da Guia. Romeu Pellicciari scored for Brazil at the end of the game.

This game would still be marked by a controversial decision by coach Ademar Pimenta of Brazil, Leonidas da Silva stayed on the bench and did not participate in the game that would give Italy a place in the great final.

Brazil’s main player in that cup, simply did not take part in the semi-final match by choice of the Brazilian coach, who wanted to save him for the final.

In the other semi-final, Hungary easily got past Sweden with a 5-1 thrashing.

The Final of the 1938 World Cup

Before the final, Brazil secured third place by beating Sweden 4-2, with two goals from top scorer Leonidas da Silva.

The 1938 World Cup Final took place in the Olympic Stadium in Colombes, Paris.

The Italian team of coach Vittorio Pozzo and star player Giuseppe Meazza scored the first goal of the final as early as the 6th minute, a goal scored by Colaussi.

Hungary quickly grabbed an equaliser in the eighth minute through Pál Titkos.

Italy led again with a goal from Silvio Piola and before the end of the first half they scored the third goal with Colaussi again.

In the second half, Hungary’s Gyorgy Sarosi reduced the deficit in the 25th minute, making the score 3-2 and giving the Hungarians hope.

In the 42nd minute, with a decisive goal by Piola, Italy closed the score 4-2 and became the first team to win the Football World Cup twice.

Curiosity about the 1938 World Cup Final

Hungarian goalkeeper Antal Szabó, who lost the 1938 World Cup final to Italy, reportedly stated that: “I conceded 4 goals, but I saved the lives of 11 Italians”. In a reference to the Italian fascist, Benito Mussolini, who would have sent a message to the Italian players that said: “victory or death”.