• Uruguay and 12 other teams participated in the first FIFA World Cup

• Uruguay became the first nation to win the official competition

• In 1916, Uruguay won the first South American Championship

Akshat Mehrish Japan and Siam renounced their invitations. Egypt, in spite of their best efforts, missed the ship that would have taken them to South America. Europe hesitated, the long seaward journey amid an economic crisis turning nations against the prospect of participating in a tournament unlike any the world had witnessed before, but, after the intervention of FIFA, football’s leading body, sent four representatives to the other side of the Atlantic. A World Cup without teams from around the world would have lost some of its meaning. Crisis averted, 12 other teams lined up for the inaugural FIFA World Cup alongside the hosts and favourites, Uruguay.

Uruguayan football’s origins lie at the very beginning of the 20th century. Football travelled to South America on the back of European immigrants and the returning locals. As it happened with neighbours Brazil and Argentina during that period, the sport gained a foothold in Uruguayan society and expanded exponentially thereon. By 1916, when the first South American Championships took place in Buenos Aires, Uruguay had grown into a continental heavyweight. They beat Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to the maiden title, affixing the first milestone in a long, glittering path to greatness. La Celeste, Uruguay, stretched their continental dominance to blanket the world by winning the Olympic gold in 1924 and 1928 — both acknowledged as world championships before the creation of a tournament solely for football. As such, when the 13 teams gathered in Uruguay for the first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1930, the hosts entered the draw as heavy favourites. The Americas-heavy tournament lasted from July 13 to 30, 1930, with Uruguay not playing their first match until five days into the competition due to delays in the inauguration of the Estadio Centenario — an arena paying homage to the ratification of the first Constitution of Uruguay, which would also host the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final. In front of nearly sixty thousand people, packed inside the coliseum, the hosts beat South American peers Peru by a solitary strike, with attacker Hector Castro scoring the country’s maiden World Cup goal. La Celeste proved their prowess in the second — and final — group game against Romania, beating the European visitors 4-0 with four first-half goals, one each from Pablo Dorado, Hector Scarone, Peregrino Anselmo, and Pedro Cea.

With only four teams of the 13 progressing to the next round, Uruguay were accompanied to the semi-finals by rivals Argentina, Yugoslavia, and the United States of America. The hosts were drawn against Yugoslavia in the penultimate match, in which they romped to a 6-1 win courtesy of a treble from Cea and a brace from Anselmo despite falling behind early. Argentina, who beat the USA by the same scoreline, joined their neighbours for the first World Cup final in Montevideo. Tensions were high ahead of the trophy bout, so much so that Belgian referee John Langenus only agreed to officiate the game if the organisers had a boat prepared to take him back to Europe within half-hour of the final, should a quick escape be required. They rose higher still when Dorado gave Uruguay the lead early, only for the Argentinians to claw back the deficit and then claim the advantage through Carlos Peucelle and Guillermo Stabile before the interval. However, in the second half, a flurry of strikes from Uruguay settled the final in their favour. Pedro Cea scored first in the 57th minute, levelling the tie once more before Santos Iriarte re-established the Uruguayan lead 11 minutes later. In a pleasingly symmetrical fashion, Hector Castro — scorer of Uruguay’s first goal in the tournament — netted the last with mere minutes left to play, sealing the win for the hosts, 4-2.