Not a 1967 event
No World Cup was held in 1967. The tournament that first took place in the Western Hemisphere was the very first World Cup, played in Uruguay in July 1930, and it was won by the hosts, who beat Argentina in the final at Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario. Nothing about the competition’s own calendar suggests a 1967 edition: the World Cup was held every four years, and the tournament nearest to this year was the 1966 edition in England, where Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick in the final became one of the best known moments in the sport’s history. The next one, in 1970, was held in Mexico.
So this article sets the claim in its real place and looks at the 1930 tournament, which was a small and unusual affair by later standards.
How Uruguay got the tournament
By the late 1920s, FIFA, the world governing body for football, wanted its own championship. Until then, the Olympic Games had been the main international contest, and Uruguay had won the football tournaments at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. At a FIFA congress held in Barcelona in 1929, the right to host the first World Cup went to Uruguay.
Part of the case rested on a national anniversary. In 1930 Uruguay was marking the centenary of its first constitution, which dates from 1830 and is commonly treated as the hundredth anniversary of independence. The government promised to build a large new stadium for the tournament and to pay the travelling costs of the visiting teams. The stadium was named the Estadio Centenario in honour of the anniversary.
The thirteen teams
Only thirteen teams took part. Seven came from South America: Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia. The others were the United States and Mexico from North America, and four from Europe: France, Belgium, Romania and Yugoslavia. There was no qualifying competition, and the teams entered by invitation or by choice.
The small number of European entries is explained by the journey. Many of the stronger European sides declined to go, and Britain’s associations were not members of FIFA at the time. A trip to Montevideo meant roughly two weeks on an ocean liner, with players absent from their clubs and jobs for the better part of two months. The French, Belgian and Romanian teams are said to have travelled together on a single liner, which also carried the president of FIFA, Jules Rimet, and the trophy. The Yugoslav team travelled separately. Romania’s participation is often credited to the personal interest of its king, who is said to have helped arrange time off for the players.
The tournament
The matches began on 13 July 1930, with two games played at the same time in Montevideo. France beat Mexico in one of them, and Lucien Laurent of France is recorded as scoring the first goal in World Cup history. The competition was played as four groups, with the winner of each going through to the semi-finals. One group had four teams and the other three had three each.
In the semi-finals Argentina beat the United States 6-1 and Uruguay beat Yugoslavia by the same score. The American team, reportedly including several players born in Britain, had been one of the surprises of the tournament but was heavily beaten in the semi-final. Argentina’s Guillermo Stabile finished as the leading scorer with eight goals.
The final
The final was played on 30 July 1930 at the Estadio Centenario before a crowd that was reported to be in the tens of thousands. Uruguay and Argentina were neighbours across the River Plate and strong rivals, and the match was tense. Uruguay won 4-2. The result was celebrated in Uruguay as a national day, while in Argentina it caused bitterness, and the relationship between the two sides in later years often drew on the memory of the occasion.
There was a dispute before kick-off over which ball to use, a reminder that the rules and equipment were not yet standardised. Reports say that the two teams agreed that an Argentine ball would be used in the first half and a Uruguayan ball in the second. It is a small detail, but it is typical of the informality of the early World Cups.
Later World Cups in the Western Hemisphere
The tournament has returned to the Americas several times since. Brazil hosted in 1950, a competition remembered for the decisive final-round match at the Maracana in which Uruguay beat the hosts. Chile hosted in 1962, Mexico in 1970 and 1986, Argentina in 1978, and the United States in 1994. Brazil hosted again in 2014. The 2026 edition was awarded jointly to Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Mexico’s place in world sport is also visible in the Olympic movement, since Mexico City hosted the Olympic Games in 1968, where Bob Beamon’s long jump became a lasting memory. For this site, the point is simply that the 1930 tournament set a pattern of South American and North American hosting that has been repeated throughout the competition’s history.
The 1967 connection
The only link to 1967 is one of timing and interest. In 1967 football fans were still enjoying the memory of the 1966 final in England, and the following months brought other major matches, among them the Lisbon Lions’ European Cup victory in May and the Intercontinental Cup contest between Celtic and Racing Club of Argentina in the autumn. The Intercontinental Cup, which matched the European champions against the champions of South America, was itself a sign that the game was becoming global. It was a contest between club champions, however, and not a World Cup.