FIFA World Cup France 1938

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.

Contents  [hide] 1 Host selection 2 Qualification 3 Format 4 Summary 5 Venues 6 Squads 7 Results 7.1 First round 7.1.1 Replays 7.2 Quarter-finals 7.2.1 Replay 7.3 Semi-finals 7.4 Match for third place 7.5 Final 8 Scorers 9 FIFA Retrospective Ranking 10 Footnotes 11 See also 12 External links

[edit]Host selection

Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts

France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in Berlin on August 13, 1936. France defeated Argentina and Germany in the first round of voting. The decision caused outrage in South America where it was believed that the venue would alternate between the two continents. Instead, it was the second tournament in a row to be played in Europe.

[edit]Qualification

Main article: 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification

Qualifying countries

Because of anger over the decision to hold a second successive World Cup in Europe, neither Uruguay norArgentina entered the competition. Spain became the first country to be prevented from competing by war (the Spanish Civil War).

It was the first time that the hosts (France) and the title holders (Italy) qualified automatically. Title holders were given an automatic entry into the World Cup until 2006 when this was abolished.

Of the fourteen remaining places, eleven were allocated to Europe, two to the Americas, and one to Asia. As a result, only three non-European nations took part: Brazil, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. This is the smallest ever number of teams from outside the host continent to compete at a FIFA World Cup.

Austria qualified for the World Cup, but after qualification was complete the Anschluss united Austria with Germany. As a result, Austria withdrew from the tournament, with some Austrian players joining the German squad. Latvia was the runner-up in Austria's qualification group, but was not invited to participate. Instead Austria's place remained empty, and Sweden, which would have been Austria's initial opponent, progressed directly to the second-round by default.

This tournament saw the first, and as of 2010 the only, participation in a World Cup finals from Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. It also saw the World Cup debuts of Poland and Norway. Norway would not qualify for another World Cup finals until 1994, while Poland and the Netherlands would not reappear at a finals tournament until 1974.

[edit]Format

The knockout format from 1934 was retained. If a match was tied after ninety minutes, then thirty minutes of extra time were played. If the score was still tied after extra time, the match would be replayed. This was the last of the two World Cup tournaments that used a straight knockout format.

[edit]Summary

Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for draw taking place in Paris, on 5 March 1938.^[1]

Five of the first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock; two games still went to a replay. In the replays, Switzerland ousted the team of Germany, to which some Austrian players had been added for political reasons, with a score of 4-2, while Cuba managed to advance to the next round at the expense of Romania. This remains, as of 2010, the only time in World Cup history in which Germany was eliminated in the first round, and the only tournament in which Germany competed but failed to finish in the final eight (the nation did not compete in 1930 and was banned from the 1950 competition).

Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals as a result of Austria's withdrawal, and they proceeded to beat Cuba 8-0. The hosts, France, were beaten by the holders, Italy, and Switzerland were seen off by Hungary. Czechoslovakia took Brazil to extra time in a notoriously feisty match in Bordeaux before succumbing in a replay; the South Americans proved too strong for the depleted Czechoslovak side (both Oldřich Nejedlý and František Plánička had suffered broken bones in the first game) and won 2-1. This was the last ever match to be replayed in a World Cup.

Hungary destroyed Sweden in one of the semi-finals 5-1, while Italy and Brazil had the first of their many important World Cup clashes in the other. The Brazilians rested their star player Leônidas confident that they would qualify for the final, but the Italians won 2-1. Brazil topped Sweden 4-2 for third place. It is notable that Sweden reached the final four having won only one match (as a result of Austria's withdrawal from the first round): the only time this has happened in a World Cup.

The final itself took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris. Vittorio Pozzo's Italian side took the lead early, but Hungary equalised within two minutes. The Italians took the lead again shortly after, and by the end of the first half were leading the Hungarians 3-1. Hungary never really got back into the game. With the final score favouring the Italians 4-2, Italy became the first team to successfully defend the title and were once more crowned World Cup winners.

Because of World War II, the World Cup would not be held for another 12 years, until 1950. As a result, Italy were the reigning World Cup holders for a record 16 years, from 1934 to 1950. The Italian Vice-President of FIFA, Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid the trophy in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops.^[2]

[edit]Venues

The match between Czechoslovakia and The Netherlandsin Le Havre

Ten cities hosted the tournament:

• Antibes, Stade du Fort Carré
• Bordeaux, Parc Lescure
• Le Havre, Stade Cavée Verte
• Lille, Stade Victor Boucquey
• Lyon, Stade Gerland (the only match there was cancelled)
• Marseille, Stade Vélodrome
• Paris, Parc des Princes and Stade Olympique de Colombes
• Reims, Vélodrome Municipal
• Strasbourg, Stade de la Meinau
• Toulouse, Stade Chapou

[edit]Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1938 FIFA World Cup squads.

[edit]Results

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

5 June - Marseille

Italy (a.e.t.)

2

12 June - Paris

Norway

1

Italy

3

5 June - Paris

France

1

France

3

16 June - Marseille

Belgium

1

Italy

2

5 June - Strasbourg

Brazil

1

Brazil (a.e.t.)

6

12 June – Bordeaux (replayed 14 June)

Poland

5

Brazil

1 (2)

5 June - Le Havre

Czechoslovakia

1 (1)

Czechoslovakia(a.e.t.)

3

19 June – Paris

Netherlands

0

Italy

4

5 June - Reims

Hungary

2

Hungary

6

12 June - Lille

Dutch East Indies

0

Hungary

2

4 June - Paris (replayed 9 June)

Switzerland

0

Switzerland

1 (4)

16 June – Paris

Germany

1 (2)

Hungary

5

5 June - Lyon

Sweden

1

Third place

Sweden

w/o

12 June - Antibes

19 June - Bordeaux

Austria[3]

—

Sweden

8

Brazil

4

5 June - Toulouse (replayed 9 June)

Cuba

0

Sweden

2

Cuba

3 (2)

Romania

3 (1)

[edit]First round

4 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Switzerland	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Germany	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: ~30,000 Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)
	Abegglen  43'	Report	Gauchel  29'

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Hungary	6 – 0	Dutch East Indies	Vélodrome Municipal, Reims Attendance: ~8,000 Referee: Roger Conrié (France)
	Kohut  14' Toldi  16' Sárosi  25', 88' Zsengellér  30', 67'	Report

---

5 June 1938	Sweden	w/o	Austria	Stade Gerland, Lyon
			withdrew [3]

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Cuba	3 – 3 (a.e.t.)	Romania	Stade Chapou, Toulouse Attendance: ~6,000 Referee: Giuseppe Scarpi (Italy)
	Socorro 44' Fernández 87' Tuñas  117'	Report	Bindea  35' Baratky  88' Dobay  105'

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	France	3 – 1	Belgium	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris Attendance: ~32,000 Referee: Hans Wüthrich (Switzerland)
	Veinante  1' Nicolas  16', 69'	Report	Isemborghs  38'

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Italy	2 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Norway	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: ~18,000 Referee: Alois Beranek (Germany)[4]
	Ferraris  2' Piola  94'	Report	Brustad  83'

---

5 June 1938 17:30 (WEST)	Brazil	6 – 5 (a.e.t.)	Poland	Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg Attendance: ~16,000 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
	Leônidas  18', 93', 104' Romeu  25' Perácio  44', 71'	Report	Scherfke  23' (pen.) Wilimowski  53', 59', 89', 118'

---

5 June 1938 18:30 (WEST)	Czechoslovakia	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Netherlands	Stade Cavée Verte, Le Havre Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Lucien Leclerq (France)
	Košťálek  93' Nejedlý  111'[5] Zeman  118'[6]	Report

[edit]Replays

9 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Germany	2 – 4	Switzerland	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: ~22,000 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
	Hahnemann  8' Lörtscher  22' (o.g.)	Report	Walaschek  42' Bickel  64' Abegglen  75', 78'

---

9 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Cuba	2 – 1	Romania	Stade Chapou, Toulouse Attendance: ~5,000 Referee: Alfred Birlem (Germany)
	Socorro  51' Oliveira  57'	Report	Dobay  35'

[edit]Quarter-finals

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Switzerland	0 – 2	Hungary	Stade Victor Boucquey, Lille Attendance: ~14,000 Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)
		Report	Sárosi  40' Zsengellér  89'[7]

---

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Sweden	8 – 0	Cuba	Stade du Fort Carré, Antibes Attendance: 6,846 Referee: Augustin Krist(Czechoslovakia)
	Keller  9', 80', 81'[8][9][10] Wetterström  32', 37', 44'[11] Nyberg  84' H. Andersson  90'[12]	Report

---

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	France	1 – 3	Italy	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris Attendance: ~58,000 Referee: Louis Baert (Belgium)
	Heisserer  10'	Report	Colaussi  9' Piola  51', 72'

---

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Brazil	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Czechoslovakia	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: ~25,000 Referee: Pal von Hertzka (Hungary)
	Leônidas  30'	Report	Nejedlý  65' (pen.)

[edit]Replay

14 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Brazil	2 – 1	Czechoslovakia	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: ~20,000 Referee: George Capdeville (France)
	Leônidas  57' Roberto  62'[13]	Report	Kopecký  25'

[edit]Semi-finals

16 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Hungary	5 – 1	Sweden	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: ~22,000 Referee: Lucien Leclerq (France)
	Zsengellér  19', 39', 85' Sas  37' Sárosi  65'	Report	Nyberg  1'

---

16 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Italy	2 – 1	Brazil	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: ~30,000 Referee: Hans Wüthrich (Switzerland)
	Colaussi  55' Meazza  60' (pen.)	Report	Romeu  87'

[edit]Match for third place

19 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Sweden	2 – 4	Brazil	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: ~20,000 Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)
	Jonasson  28' Nyberg  38'	Report	Romeu  44' Leônidas  63', 74' Perácio  80'

[edit]Final

Main article: 1938 FIFA World Cup Final

19 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Hungary	2 – 4	Italy	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris Attendance: 45,000 Referee: George Capdeville (France)
	Titkos  8' Sárosi  70'	Report	Colaussi  6', 35' Piola  16', 82'[14]

[edit]Scorers

7 goals

•  Leônidas

6 goals

•  Gyula Zsengellér

5 goals

•  György Sárosi
•  Silvio Piola

4 goals

•  Gino Colaussi
•  Ernest Wilimowski

3 goals

Perácio  Romeu

Tore Keller  Arne Nyberg

Gustav Wetterström  André Abegglen

2 goals

•  Héctor Socorro
•  Oldřich Nejedlý
•  Jean Nicolas
•  Ştefan Dobay

1 goal

Henri Isemborghs  Roberto  Tomás Fernández  José Magriñá  Vlastimil Kopecký  Josef Košťálek  Josef Zeman  Oscar Heisserer  Émile Veinante

Josef Gauchel  Wilhelm Hahnemann  Vilmos Kohut  Ferenc Sas  Pál Titkos  Géza Toldi  Pietro Ferraris  Giuseppe Meazza

Arne Brustad  Fryderyk Scherfke  Iuliu Baratky  Silviu Bindea  Harry Andersson  Sven Jonasson  Alfred Bickel  Eugen Walaschek

Own goals

•  Ernst Lörtscher (for Germany)

[edit]FIFA Retrospective Ranking

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.^[15]. The rankings for the 1938 tournament were as follows:

Final

1.  Italy
2.  Hungary

3rd and 4th place

3.  Brazil
4.  Sweden

Eliminated in the quarter-finals

5.  Czechoslovakia
6.  France
7.  Switzerland
8.  Cuba

Eliminated in the round of 16

9.  Romania
10.  Germany
11.  Poland
12.  Norway
13.  Belgium
14.  Netherlands
15.  Dutch East Indies