On this day: the first FIFA World Cup kicks off in Uruguay
On 13 July 1930, one of football's most enduring legacies was born in Montevideo, Uruguay: the opening matches of the first FIFA World Cup were played. Two games took place that day — France defeated Mexico 4-1, while the United States beat Belgium 3-0 to record one of the tournament's first victories.
Uruguay's selection as host was no accident. The country had just won back-to-back Olympic football titles and was celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence. FIFA chose the young, football-obsessed nation to host its newly created tournament.
By today's standards, though, the event was modest in scale. Only 13 national teams took part, most of them from South America, since travelling from Europe across the Atlantic to Uruguay meant a sea voyage of several weeks given the transport of the era. Many strong European teams declined to make the trip.
The Estadio Centenario, built specially for the tournament and dedicated to the centenary of independence, was one of the largest stadiums of its time. But construction wasn't finished in time for the opening matches, which were instead played on smaller grounds elsewhere in Montevideo.
In the tournament final, host nation Uruguay defeated neighbouring Argentina 4-2 to become the first-ever world champions. The victory triggered a wave of national pride across the country and helped establish Uruguay as one of world football's leading powers for years to come.
At the time, few could have predicted how this modest beginning would grow into a global phenomenon. The 13 teams that took part in that first tournament have since given way to a competition featuring 48 teams (as of the 2026 finals) watched by billions of people across television and digital platforms.
The tournament's format has also changed considerably over time. The elaborate structure of groups, knockout rounds and a final that fans recognise today had not yet developed; the first World Cup followed a comparatively simple structure by modern standards.
Brought to life through the vision of FIFA's founding president, Jules Rimet, that first tournament is also regarded as an early example of international sporting diplomacy. The idea of bringing nations from different continents together in a shared sporting contest was strikingly novel for its time.
Today, on the very date those first matches were played back in 1930, the world is once again swept up in World Cup excitement — on a far larger scale, but rooted in the same basic idea planted in Montevideo that July day: bringing nations together around a ball.
The legacy of that first World Cup has gone down in history not just as the birth of a sporting event, but as the starting point of football's journey to becoming a truly global language.
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