1930 saw the first World Cup, with the reigning Olympic football champions Uruguay serving as hosts during the nation's centenary year. FIFA had already been in existence for 26 years but this was the first time that the fanciful dreams of Henri Delaunay and Jules Rimet had been realised. The prospect of a transatlantic boat trip deterred many nations (including all the British teams) from taking part, but 13 countries, including 4 European, took to the field.

The semi-finals saw Uruguay beat Yugoslavia 6-1, while Argentina dispatched surprise package USA by a similar scoreline. The final was thus to be the hosts (a taste of things to come - 6 host countries featured in the next 10 finals) against their fierce rivals from across the River Plate.

Many Argentina fans made the journey by boat to see their team put up a spirited performance in their 4-2 loss. They had in fact led the match 2-1 at half time.