1938 FIFA World Cup

Infobox International Football Competition
tourney_name = FIFA World Cup
year = 1938
other_titles = Coupe du Monde 1938


size = 150px
caption = 1938 FIFA World Cup official poster
country = France
dates = June 4 – June 19
confederations = 4
num_teams = 15
venues = 10
cities = 10
champion = Italy
champion-flagvar = 1861
count = 2
second = Hungary
second-flagvar = 1940
third = Brazil
third-flagvar = 1889
fourth = Sweden
matches = 18
goals = 84
attendance = 483000
top_scorer = flagicon|BRA|1889 Leônidas (7 goals)The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from June 4 to June 19. France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in August 1936. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4-2 in the final.

Qualification

FIFA's decision during the celebration of the 1936 Summer Olympics to hold the tournament in France 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. As a result neither Uruguay nor Argentina entered the competition. Spain had the record to be the first country to be out of the World Cup because of a 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.

Originally 16 nations were going to take part. Austria had qualified but after the Anschluss to Germany in March, they withdrew, leaving 15 teams to take part. FIFA didn't offer participation to the runner-up of the qualification group, that Austria played in, Latvia.

ummary

The tournament was again held in a knockout format, similar to 1934. This was the last tournament where there was not a group stage.

Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for draw taking place in Paris, on March 5, 1938. [ [http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-201_10e_fwcdraw-history_8842.pdf History of the World Cup Final Draw] ]

Five of the first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock; two games still went to a replay. The replays saw Switzerland oust 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.

Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals due to Austria's withdrawal, and they proceeded to beat Cuba 8-0. The hosts, France, were beaten by the holders, Italy (wearing a provocative all-black 'fascist' strip), 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.

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.

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.

Some argued that Hungary - or at least its goalkeeper - allowed Italy to win, as a measure to save the lives of the Italian Team, which had received telegrams by Benito Mussolini with "Vincere o morire!" (mistranslated as "Win or die") written on them. Hungarian goalkeeper Antal Szabó expressed his relief following his side's defeat against Italy despite letting in four goals in the loss. Referring to Mussolini's pre-match threats, Szabó quipped "I may have let in four goals, but at least I saved their lives". Actually, this is not the case. "Win or die" was a typical slogan of encouragement from fascist era, meaning "Victory or bust!" or "do your best to get victory". The fascist regime held sporting heroes and champions in high regard, greatly using them in their propaganda machine, so an act like the one suggested by Szabó was not realistic. Szabó's words may have been perhaps an honest misunderstanding. [ "On this date in 1938, the most ominous of World Cup soccer games ever was played [...] The Italian team received a telegram from dictator Benito Mussolini reading simply, "Vincere o morire". The world, including Hungarian goalie Antal Szabó (ph), was told of the simple, terrifying translation, "Win or die". Hungary lost to Italy that day. Some say they lost deliberately, 4 to 1. "I may have let in four goals," said the net minder Szabó, "but at least I saved their lives." Only problem, "Vincere o morire," translated literally as "win or die", in Italian sports vernacular, however, it simply meant, “"Give it your all, guys." Oops." (Keith Olbermann, 19 june 2006) [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13438740/] ]

Due to 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. [ [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/h/rimet.html Jules Rimet Cup] FIFAWorldCup.com]

Venues

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

quads

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

Results

Round16
5 June - Paris|fb|FRA|3|fb|BEL|1
5 June - Marseille|fb|ITA|1861 (a.e.t.)|2|fb|NOR|1
5 June - Strasbourg|fb|BRA|1889 (a.e.t.)|6|fb|POL|5
5 June - Le Havre|fb|TCH (a.e.t.)|3|fb|NED|0
4 June - Paris
(replayed 9 June)|fb|GER|Nazi|1 (2)|fb|SUI|1 (4)
5 June - Reims|fb|HUN|1940|6|fb|Dutch East Indies|0
5 June - Lyon|fb|SWE|w/o|fb|AUTAustria unable to compete because of the Austrian Anschluss in March 1938, so Sweden advanced automatically]
5 June - Toulouse
(replayed 9 June)|fb|CUB|3 (2)|fb|ROU|3 (1)
12 June - Paris|fb|FRA|1|fb|ITA|1861|3
12 June – Bordeaux
(replayed 14 June)|fb|BRA|1889|1 (2)|fb|TCH|1 (1)
12 June - Lille|fb|SUI|0|fb|HUN|1940|2
12 June - Antibes|fb|SWE|8|fb|CUB|0
16 June - Marseille|fb|ITA|1861|2|fb|BRA|1889|1
16 June – Paris|fb|HUN|1940|5|fb|SWE|1
19 June – Paris|fb|ITA|1861|4|fb|HUN|1940|2
19 June - Bordeaux|fb|BRA|1889|4|fb|SWE|2
RD1=First Round

First round

footballbox
date = 1938-06-04
time = 18:00
team1 = fb-rt|GER|Nazi
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1165/report.html (Report)]
score = 1 – 1 (a.e.t.)
team2 = fb|SUI
goals1 = Gauchel goal|29
goals2 = Abegglen goal|43
stadium = Parc des Princes, Paris
attendance = ~30,000
referee = Langenus (Belgium) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|HUN|1940
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1173/report.html (Report)]
score = 6 – 0
team2 = fb|Dutch East Indies
goals1 = Kohut goal|14
Toldi goal|16
Sárosi goal|25 goal|88
Zsengellér goal|30 goal|67
goals2 =
stadium = Vélodrome Municipal, Reims
attendance = ~8,000
referee = Conrié (France) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
team1 = fb-rt|SWE
score = walkover
Austria withdrew
team2 = fb|AUT
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Stade Gerland, Lyon ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|CUB
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1156/report.html (Report)]
score = 3 – 3 (a.e.t.)
team2 = fb|ROU
goals1 = Socorrogoal|44
Fernándezgoal|87
Tuñas goal|117
goals2 = Bindea goal|35
Baratky goal|88
Dobay goal|105
stadium = Stade Chapou, Toulouse
attendance = ~6,000
referee = Scarpi (Italy) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|FRA
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1146/report.html (Report)]
score = 3 – 1
team2 = fb|BEL
goals1 = Veinante goal|1
Nicolas goal|16 goal|69
goals2 = Isemborghs goal|38
stadium = Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris
attendance = ~32,000
referee = Wüthrich (Switzerland) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|ITA|1861
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1179/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 1 (a.e.t.)
team2 = fb|NOR
goals1 = Ferraris goal|2
Piola goal|94
goals2 = Brustad goal|83
stadium = Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
attendance = ~18,000
referee = Beranek⁽¹⁾ (Germany) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
time = 17:30
team1 = fb-rt|BRA|1889
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1150/report.html (Report)]
score = 6 – 5 (a.e.t.)
team2 = fb|POL
goals1 = Leônidas goal|18 goal|93 goal|104
Romeu goal|25
Perácio goal|44 goal|71
goals2 = Scherfke goal|23|pen.
Wilimowski goal|53 goal|59 goal|89 goal|118
stadium = Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg
attendance = ~16,000
referee = Eklind (Sweden) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-05
time = 18:30
team1 = fb-rt|TCH
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1172/report.html (Report)]
score = 3 – 0 (a.e.t.)
team2 = fb|NED
goals1 = Košťálek goal|93
Nejedlý goal|111 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 118th minute.]
Zeman goal|118 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 111th minute.]
goals2 =
stadium = Stade Cavée Verte, Le Havre
attendance = ?
referee = Leclerq (France)

Replays

footballbox
date = 1938-06-09
time = 18:00
team1 = fb-rt|GER|Nazi
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1166/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 4
team2 = fb|SUI
goals1 = Hahnemann goal|8
Lörtscher goal|22|o.g.
goals2 = Walaschek goal|42
Bickel goal|64
Abegglen goal|75 goal|78
stadium = Parc des Princes, Paris
attendance = ~22,000
referee = Eklind (Sweden) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-09
time = 18:00
team1 = fb-rt|CUB
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1157/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 1
team2 = fb|ROU
goals1 = Socorro goal|51
Oliveira goal|57
goals2 = Dobay goal|35
stadium = Stade Chapou, Toulouse
attendance = ~5,000
referee = Birlem (Germany)

econd Round

footballbox
date = 1938-06-12
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|SUI
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1175/report.html (Report)]
score = 0 – 2
team2 = fb|HUN|1940
goals1 =
goals2 = Sárosi goal|40
Zsengellér goal|89 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 90th minute.]
stadium = Stade Victor Boucquey, Lille
attendance = ~14,000
referee = Barlassina (Italy) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-12
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|SWE
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1158/report.html (Report)]
score = 8 – 0
team2 = fb|CUB
goals1 = Keller goal|9 [RSSSF credits this goal to Harry Andersson] , goal|80 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 60th minute.] , goal|81 [RSSSF credits this goal to Harry Andersson in the 61st minute.]
Wetterström goal|32 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 22nd minute.] , goal|37 goal|44
Nyberg goal|84
Andersson goal|90 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 89th minute.]
goals2 =
stadium = Stade du Fort Carré, Antibes
attendance = ~6,000
referee = Krist (Czechoslovakia) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-12
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|FRA
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1164/report.html (Report)]
score = 1 – 3
team2 = fb|ITA|1861
goals1 = Heisserer goal|10
goals2 = Colaussi goal|9
Piola goal|51 goal|72
stadium = Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris
attendance = ~58,000
referee = Baert (Belgium) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-12
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|BRA|1889
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1152/report.html (Report)]
score = 1 – 1 (a.e.t.)
team2 = fb|TCH
goals1 = Leônidas goal|30
goals2 = Nejedlý goal|65|pen.
stadium = Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
attendance = ~25,000
referee = von Hertzka (Hungary)

Replay

footballbox
date = 1938-06-14
time = 18:00
team1 = fb-rt|BRA|1889
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1153/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 1
team2 = fb|TCH
goals1 = Leônidas goal|57
Roberto goal|62 [FIFA initially credits this goal to Leônidas, but changed it to Roberto in 2006. [http://www.fifa.com/en/media/index/0,1369,125346,00.html] ]
goals2 = Kopecký goal|25
stadium = Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
attendance = ~20,000
referee = Capdeville (France)

emi-finals

footballbox
date = 1938-06-16
time = 18:00
team1 = fb-rt|HUN|1940
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1176/report.html (Report)]
score = 5 – 1
team2 = fb|SWE
goals1 = Zsengellér goal|19 goal|39 goal|85
Titkos goal|37
Sárosi goal|65
goals2 = Nyberg goal|1
stadium = Parc des Princes, Paris
attendance = ~22,000
referee = Leclerq (France) ----footballbox
date = 1938-06-16
time = 18:00
team1 = fb-rt|ITA|1861
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1149/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 1
team2 = fb|BRA|1889
goals1 = Colaussi goal|55
Meazza goal|60|pen.
goals2 = Romeu goal|87
stadium = Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
attendance = ~30,000
referee = Wüthrich (Switzerland)

Third place match

footballbox
date = 1938-06-19
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|SWE
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1151/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 4
team2 = fb|BRA|1889
goals1 = Jonasson goal|28
Nyberg goal|38
goals2 = Romeu goal|44
Leônidas goal|63 goal|74
Perácio goal|80
stadium = Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
attendance = ~20,000
referee = Langenus (Belgium)

Final

footballbox
date = 1938-06-19
time = 17:00
team1 = fb-rt|HUN|1940
report = [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/results/matches/match=1174/report.html (Report)]
score = 2 – 4
team2 = fb|ITA|1861
goals1 = Titkos goal|8
Sárosi goal|70
goals2 = Colaussi goal|6 goal|35
Piola goal|16 goal|82 [RSSSF credits this goal as coming in the 85th minute.]
stadium = Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris
attendance = ~60,000
referee = Capdeville (France)

Awards

corers

7 goals
*flagicon|BRA|1889 Leônidas

6 goals
*flagicon|HUN|1940 Gyula Zsengellér

5 goals
*flagicon|HUN|1940 György Sárosi
*flagicon|ITA|1861 Silvio Piola

4 goals
*flagicon|ITA|1861 Gino Colaussi
*flagicon|POL Ernest Wilimowski

3 goals
*flagicon|BRA|1889 Perácio
*flagicon|BRA|1889 Romeu
*flagicon|SWE Tore Keller
*flagicon|SWE Arne Nyberg
*flagicon|SWE Gustav Wetterström
*flagicon|SUI André Abegglen

2 goals
*flagicon|CUB Héctor Socorro
*flagicon|TCH Oldřich Nejedlý
*flagicon|FRA Jean Nicolas
*flagicon|ROU Silviu Bindea

Own goals
*flagicon|SUI Ernst Lörtscher (for Germany)

1 goal
*flagicon|BEL Henri Isemborghs
*flagicon|BRA|1889 Roberto
*flagicon|CUB Tomás Fernández
*flagicon|CUB Carlos Oliveira
*flagicon|CUB Juan Tuñas
*flagicon|TCH Vlastimil Kopecký
*flagicon|TCH Josef Košťálek
*flagicon|TCH Josef Zeman
*flagicon|FRA Oscar Heisserer
*flagicon|FRA Émile Veinante
*flagicon|GER|Nazi Josef Gauchel
*flagicon|GER|Nazi Wilhelm Hahnemann
*flagicon|HUN|1940 Vilmos Kohut
*flagicon|HUN|1940 Ferenc Sas
*flagicon|HUN|1940 Pál Titkos
*flagicon|HUN|1940 Géza Toldi
*flagicon|ITA|1861 Pietro Ferraris
*flagicon|ITA|1861 Giuseppe Meazza
*flagicon|NOR Arne Brustad
*flagicon|POL Fryderyk Scherfke
*flagicon|ROU Iuliu Baratky
*flagicon|ROU Ştefan Dobay
*flagicon|SWE Harry Andersson
*flagicon|SWE Sven Jonasson
*flagicon|SUI Alfred Bickel
*flagicon|SUI Eugen Walaschek

Footnotes

ee also

*Polish roster at 1938 FIFA World Cup

External links

* [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=5/index.html FIFA World Cup 1938]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/38full.html Details at RSSSF; note that they often disagree with FIFA on goal scorers and times]
* [http://homepages.enterprise.net/eico/1938.htm History of the World Cup-1938]