Leônidas da Silva was the top scorer at the 1938 World Cup. Photo credit: FIFA Museum
Doha: War loomed over Europe in 1938 when the FIFA World Cup was held in France.
A total of 37 teams participated in the qualification round, with only 16 teams making it to the main game. The tournament was dominated by European countries, consisting of 13 out of 16 nations, still with the absence of Uruguay. Italy, prior World Cup holder in 1934, and France, as the host nation at the time, were directly qualified.
This edition of the World Cup is also one for the books as Asia was represented for the first time in the tournment with the participation of Dutch East Indies, what is now known as Indonesia.
Matches were held in nine stadiums across ten cities in France including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Le Havre, Reims, and Lille. However, a match was cancelled leaving Lyon vacant.
The format of the competition was a knock-out tournament, wherein a tie in match after regular time would mean that a period of 30 minutes extra time will be added. In case that a winner still hasn't been decided, a rematch will be arranged the following day. This is because a penalty shootout was not introduced yet at the time. Due to this, six games went into extra time during the tournament.
Brazil's Leonidas makes an impact
Brazil was the sole country representing Latin America in this World Cup and they would cause quite a stir with striker Leonidas Da Silva scoring a hat trick against Poland. Leonidas was renowned for his agility and is one of the several possible players credited with inventing the bicycle kick.
Humorous moment
In the semi-finals against Brazil, Italians were awarded a penalty and captain Giuseppe Meazza stepped up to take the shot. His short's, the elastic of which were ripped, fell down. Without stressing on the wardrobe malfunction, Meazza pulled up his shorts, held it with one hand and shot the ball past the Brazilian goalkeeper Walter who was still busy laughing. The goal sent Italy to their second consecutive finals.
Defending Champions
The 1938 World Cup was a breakthrough for Italian coach as he wrote history by leading its team to two consecutive wins. Coming from its 1934 triumph, players Giuseppe Meazza, Giovanni Ferrari, and Silvio Piola also starred in the game.
In the final match against Hungary, Italy secured their trophy with a 4-1 win and a silver shoe award for Silvio Piola for scoring two goals.
Italy's triumph marked the team as the first to successfully defend their title.
The third World Cup held at France in 1938 was the last in the pre-World War II era. Two World Cups did not occur and the tournament would later resume in 1950, after 12 years.
1938 World Cup in Numbers / 1938 World Cup Facts:
Host: France
Teams: 16
Format: Knockouts, semi-finals, final
Matches: 18
Goals: 84
Winners: Italy
Runners-up: Hungary
Third place: Brazil
Fourth place: Sweden
Golden boot: Leonidas (Brazil)
Silver shoe: Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary; Gyula Zsengeller (Hungary); Silvio Piola (Italy)
