1934 FIFA WORLD CUP

The '1934 FIFA World Cup' was the second World Cup staged, and was hosted in Italy from May 27 to June 10. Italy was chosen as hosts by FIFA in October 1932. It was the first World Cup for which teams would have to qualify in order to take part. 32 nations entered the competition, and after qualification, 16 teams participated in the finals tournament. Italy became the second World Cup champions, beating Czechoslovakia in the final, 2-1.

Contents

Qualification

Summary

Venues

Squads

Results

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

Scorers

Footnotes

External links

Qualification

Main articles: 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification

This World Cup was unique in that the reigning World Cup holders Uruguay declined an invitation to participate as a mark of defiance against the European snub from the previous World Cup in 1930, becoming the only holders not to compete in the following tournament. Another somewhat unique fact is that the hosts, Italy, had to qualify. Since 1938, the hosts have been given an automatic spot in the tournament.
Only ten of the 32 entrants, and four of the 16 qualified teams, were from outside Europe. The last spot in the finals was contested between the United States and Mexico only three days before the start of the tournament in a one-off match in Rome, which the United States won.

Summary

The tournament was held in knockout format. Eight European teams: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland advanced to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, the first replayed match in the World Cup history took place, after Italy and Spain drew 1-1 after extra time. Italy won the replay 1-0, and then went on to beat Austria in the semifinals by the same score. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakia secured their place in the final by beating Germany 3-1.
The Stadium of the National Fascist Party was the venue for the final. With 70 minutes played, the Czechoslovakians were ahead 1-0. The Italians managed to score before the final whistle, and then added another goal in extra time to be crowned World Cup Winners.
Italian leader Benito Mussolini used the hosting of the World Cup to promote nationalism and his National Fascist Party. There was also controversy regarding refereeing decisions perceived to be in Italy's favour, such as during its win over Spain in the quarter-final (the Swiss referee Rene Mercet was subsequently banned by the Swiss FA on account of his partiality toward the host nation) and the final victory over Czechoslovakia, refereed by Sweden Ivan Eklind. ^[2]

Venues

Eight cities hosted the tournament:

★ Bologna, Stadio Littorale

★ Florence, Stadio Giovanni Berta

★ Genoa, Stadio Luigi Ferraris

★ Milan, Stadio San Siro

★ Naples, Stadio Giorgio Ascarelli

★ Rome, Stadio Nazionale PNF

★ Trieste, Stadio Littorio

★ Turin, Stadio Benito Mussolini

Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see ''1934 FIFA World Cup squads''.

Results

First round

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Quarter-finals

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'Replay:'
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Semi-finals

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Third place match

Final

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Scorers

;5 goals ★ Oldřich Nejedlý ;4 goals ★ Edmund Conen ★ Angelo Schiavio ;3 goals ★ Raimundo Orsi ★ Leopold Kielholz ;2 goals ★ Hans Horvath ★ Bernard Voorhoof ★ Antonín Puč ★ Abdel Fawzi ★ Karl Hohmann ★ Ernst Lehner ★ Géza Toldi ★ Giovanni Ferrari ★ Giuseppe Meazza ★ José Iraragorri ★ Sven Jonasson

;1 goal ★ Ernesto Belis ★ Alberto Galateo ★ Josef Bican ★ Toni Schall ★ Karl Sesta ★ Matthias Sindelar ★ Karl Zischek ★ Leônidas ★ Jiří Sobotka ★ František Svoboda ★ Jean Nicolas ★ Georges Verriest ★ Stanislaus Kobierski ★ Rudolf Noack ★ Otto Siffling ★ György Sárosi ★ Pál Teleki ★ Jenő Vincze ★ Enrique Guaita ★ Kick Smit ★ Leen Vente ★ Ştefan Dobay ★ Isidro Lángara ★ Luis Regueiro ★ Gösta Dunker ★ Knut Kroon ★ André Abegglen ★ Willy Jäggi ★ Aldo Donelli

Footnotes

1. FIFA originally credited Czechoslovakia's Oldřich Nejedlý with scoring 4 goals, making him the joint top scorer with Germany's Edmund Conen and Italy's Angelo Schiavio. However, FIFA revised this in November 2006, giving Nejedlý a fifth goal and the outright leading scorer title. [1]
2. World Cup ITALY 1934 - Anecdotes Goal.com

External links

★ FIFA page for Italy 1934

★ Details at RSSSF; note that they often disagree with FIFA on goal scorers and times

★ History of the World Cup-1934