by Matthew Adams

Created on: August 05, 2011   Last Updated: August 11, 2011

The World Cup began in the early 20th century, and during this century gradually expanded to include more teams and more great players. Jules Rimet was the President of Fifa who founded the Fifa World Cup which was first played in 1930. Although few teams beyond South America and Europe were actually involved in this first World Cup, it marked the beginning of a great international soccer cup.

After this first Fifa World Cup in 1930 a further two Fifa World Cups would be held before 1940. The first of these was played in 1934, and was hosted by Italy which became the first European country not only to host the Fifa World Cup, but also to win it. The Italians beat Czechoslovakia 2 – 1 to win their first trophy. The 1938 World Cup was hosted in France, and once again was won by the Italians who became the first team to defend the trophy.

The outbreak of hostilities in 1939 curtailed the World Cup during the ‘40s, but it would return in 1950 better than ever. This World Cup had a revised format, and reintroduced group stages with four groups of four teams. It was also the first Fifa World Cup that UK teams would play it, and so England made their debut in the World Cup. Although England had little to shout about in this first World Cup, despite winning their first game the second was one of the biggest shocks in Fifa World Cup history. The American amateurs defeated England 1 – 0, and then England also lost to Spain to go out in the first round. Uruguay had much more to celebrate as they won their second World Cup with a 2 – 1 victory against the hosts Brazil.

Further surprises would follow in the 1954 Fifa World Cup which was one that Hungary were widely expected to win. The mighty Magyars had already beaten England 6 – 3 in a friendly game, and had also won Olympic gold. With the likes of Puskas spearheading their forward line they were formidable opponents, and during this World Cup set a goal scoring record of 27 goals. They put eight past the West Germans in their group game, but when the teams played again in the final the Germans were a different team. As such, Hungary lost the final 3 – 2 as West Germany won their first Fifa World Cup.

The next two Fifa World Cups would be dominated by Brazil. In 1958 Brazil’s Pele inspired them to the final where they would play Sweden. Pele scored a further two goals in the final and Brazil won the game 5 – 2 to win their first World Cup. In 1962 Brazil would also defend

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