Curisities of the 1950 World Cup
Curiosities of the 1950 World Cup. See here are 16 curiosities about the 1950 World Cup. The 16th is quite unusual.
1) Brazilian Goals
The Brazil 7-1 over Sweden, and Brazil 6-1 over Spain, were the two biggest defeats by the Brazilian national team in men’s soccer World Cups.
2) The day Alcides Ghiggia died
Alcides Ghiggia, the “executioner” of the Brazilian national team in the 1950 World Cup, died at the age of 88 on July 16, 2015, exactly 65 years after the “maracanaço”. Creepy! In addition, he was the last living player who participated in that match.
3) Number on shirts
The 1950 World Cup was the first one to have numbers on the players’ shirts. Ghiggia, scorer of the decisive goal of that cup, wore the shirt with number 7.
4) Accident in the locker room
Yugoslavian player Rajko Mitić hit his head on a locker room pillar minutes before the game against the Brazilian national team. The striker was forced to take the field late. Unluck for Yugoslavia that while Mitić was still in the locker room to receive his band Aid, the Brazilian team scored 1-0.
5) Jules Rimet versus Hitler
During World War II, Jules Rimet moved FIFA’s headquarters from Paris, France to Zurich, Switzerland as a way to avoid Nazi influence, which had invaded France. There was talk that there was a plan by Hitler to take FIFA to Berlin. Could it be?
6) The quitters…
Several teams dropped out of the 1950 World Cup, including France, Turkey, Portugal, Scotland, India and Burma (now Myanmar). In general, the countries were discouraged by the cost of the trip to Brazil. But the case of Scotland was, to say the least, unusual. Outclassed by England in the British Qualifiers, the Scots felt that there was no reason to play in a tournament in which England would participate. It seems that the Scots thought they could not win a tournament in which England would participate, so they dropped out.
7) Goalkeepers with short-sleeved shirts
Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone became the first goalkeeper in the history of World Cups to wear short-sleeved shirts. This occurred in the matches in which Chile faced Spain at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, and against the United States in Recife, at the Ilha do Retiro stadium. It seems that the Chilean goalkeeper adapted his uniform to the heat of Rio de Janeiro and Recife.
8) Brazil in all World Cups
With the non-participation of France, Belgium and Romania, who had participated in all previous World Cups, Brazil became the only country in the world to send its national team to every World Cup, a mark that Brazil maintains to this day.
9) America’s surprise
The victory of the amateur United States soccer team over England is considered the biggest surprise in the history of World Cups, and perhaps, who knows, of world soccer. The English were participating in a World Cup for the first time and arrived in Brazil as one of the favorite teams for the title. The Americans, on the other hand, had an amateur team, formed basically by letter carriers, dishwashers, and immigrants. The scorer of the goal was Gaetjens, born in Haiti. In 2005 a movie about the match was released, “Duelo de Campeões” (Dusel of Champion). An adaptation of: The game of their lives.
10) Madrid Bullfights
While Brazil thrashed Spain, the audience sang the marching song “Touradas de Madrid (Madrid Bullfighting)“, composed by João de Barro, The Braguinha, in 1938.
11) Ghiggia’s goals
Curiously, the goal Ghiggia scored against Brazil, which decided that World Cup, was very similar to the goal he scored in the previous game against Sweden, in a move on the right side, where he beat the Swedish defender in a race and shot past the goalkeeper. Four days later, against Brazil, Ghiggia would score the decisive goal in a very similar way.
12) Record attendance
Around 200 thousand people, which represented 10% of the Carioca population at the time (199854 in attendance), went to Maracanã to see the decisive match against Uruguay. It would be the largest audience in the history of soccer if there were not “only” 173850 paying spectators.
13) Silence or encouragement?
Newspapers of the time say that the Brazilian fans, even after the Uruguayan turnaround, continued to encourage their national team, which goes against the legend that the Maracanã was silenced in the final minutes after Ghiggia’s goal.
14) The Tragedy of Superga
Italy’s national team went to the 1950 World Cup to defend its title, but had a weakened team due to the Superga Tragedy, an airplane crash that killed the entire Torino team (the base of the Italian national team) in 1949.
15) The overcrowding at Maracanã stadium
There is a legend in Maracanã that, due to the amount of people in the final game (almost 200,000 present), people had to stand up and sideways so that everyone could fit in the stadium. Could it be?
16) The Cruzeiro shirt from Porto Alegre
Cruzeiro de Porto Alegre was the second club in the world to have its jersey worn at a World Cup. This occurred in the match between Mexico and Switzerland, played at the Estádio dos Eucaliptos in Porto Alegre. Both teams had red uniforms and it was necessary to distinguish between them for the game to take place. Mexico ended up playing with the Cruzeiro shirt from Porto Alegre. Striped in blue and white, the Mexicans lost 2-1 to Switzerland.
