It all started after the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football due to the low popularity of football and disagreement between Fifa and the IOC over the status of amateur players. Fifa president Jules Rimet thus set about organising the inaugural World Cup.
Uruguay was selected as the host nation, as the country was celebrating the centenary of its first constitution and their national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. In all 13 teams — seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America — entered the tournament.
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There were only few European teams as most gave the tournament a skip due to financial and travelling difficulties to South America. In the opener, France defeated Mexico 4-1 and United States thrashed Belgium 3—0. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history.
From the four groups — Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Yugoslavia topped their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. Pre-tournament favourites and hosts Uruguay defeated Argentina 4—2 in front of a crowd of 68,346 to become the first nation to win the World Cup.
