1934 World Cup hosted by Italy
1934 World Cup was hosted by Italy. This would also be the first and last time World Cup Champions from previous tournament did not participate.
One rumor had it that Uruguay did not participate in 1934 Soccer World Cup due to the financial problems while the other rumor was that Uruguay did not want to participate in Europe since only 4 teams from Europe made the trip to the first World Cup four years earlier hosted by the Champions "Uruguay".
This right away took the main attraction from the game as the Champion was not there to play and fight to retain the title.
World Cup Italy was played during the time when the Italian Fascist Dictator Mussolini was in power which made people think that the Champion of this 1934 Football World Cup was decided before the tournament was even started.
Italy also drafted 3 best players from Argentina. Orsi, De Maria and Monti were drafted by Italy during this 1934 World Cup Italy due to double nationalities.
There was not much surprise when Italy became Champion of this 1934 Soccer World Cup and although their victory was not that great for soccer/football history, Mussolini and the Italian people enjoyed the outcome.
1934 World Cup in Italy was also the first World Cup where teams had to qualify in order to make the tournament knockout stages.
It was the first and the last Soccer World Cup where the host nation, in this case Italy, would have to qualify for the spot as well. After this World Cup, host Nations would have a guaranteed spot in the 16 team knockout stage.
32 teams entered the 1934 Soccer World Cup but only 16 teams got the spot in the knockout stages.
Teams that would participate in this World Cup would be:
Sweden, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Belgium, France, Romania, United States, Argentina and Brazil.
1934 Soccer World Cup - CHAMPIONS
1934 Champion: Italy
1934 Runner Up: Czechoslovakia
1934 Italy World Cup - STANDINGS
| 1.Italy | 9 Points |
| 2.Czechoslovakia | 6 Points |
| 3.Germany | 6 Points |
| 4.Austria | 4 Points |
| 5.Spain | 3 Points |
| 6.Hungary | 2 Points |
| 7.Switzerland | 2 Points |
| 8.Sweden | 2 Points |
| 9.Argentina | 0 Points |
| 10 France | 0 Points |
| 11 Netherlands | 0 Points |
| 12.Romania | 0 Points |
| 13.Egypt | 0 Points |
| 14.Brazil | 0 Points |
| 15.Belgium | 0 Points |
| 16.United States | 0 Points |
1934 Football World Cup Italy - TOP GOALSCORERS
| Oldrich Nejedly (CZE) | 5 goals |
| Angelo Schiavio (ITA) | 4 goals |
| Edmund Conen (GER) | 4 goals |
| Raimundo Orsi (ITA) | 3 goals |
| Leopold Kielholz (SWI) | 3 goals |
1934 Italy World Cup - STATISTICS
| Number of games | 17 |
| Total Goals scored | 70 |
| Average per game | 4,12 |
| Total attendance | 390,000 |
| Average attendance | 22,235 |
| Final attendance | 57,250 |
1934 Soccer World Cup Italy - KNOCKOUT STAGE
| Spain vs Brazil | 3-1 |
| Austria vs France | 3-2 |
| Germany vs Belgium | 5-2 |
| Switzerland vs Netherlands | 3-2 |
| Czechoslovakia vs Romania | 2-1 |
| Italy vs United States | 7-1 |
| Hungary vs Egypt | 4-2 |
| Sweden vs Argentina | 3-2 |
1934 World Cup Soccer in Italy - QUARTER FINALS
| Czechoslovakia vs Switzerland | 3-2 |
| Germany vs Sweden | 2-1 |
| Austria vs Hungary | 2-1 |
| Italy vs Spain | 1-1 |
| Italy vs Spain | 1-0 |
1934 Football World Cup in Italy - SEMIFINALS
| Czechoslovakia vs Germany | 3-1 |
| Italy vs Austria | 1-0 |
1934 Italy World Cup Soccer - 3th and 4th PLACE
| Germany vs Austria | 3-2 |
1934 World Cup Italy - FINAL
| Italy vs Czechoslovakia 2-1 (in extra time) |
It is also important to mention that there was no penalties to decide tied games during this 1934 World Cup in Italy.
Instead games were played 90 minutes and if the game was tied there was 2 additional 15 minute halfs to decide the winner.
If the game was still tied after 120 minutes of play it would be called as a draw and re-played the next day.
Italy beat Czechoslovakia in extra time to become the 1934 World Cup Champion.
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| 1934 World Cup 1934 World Cup was hosted by Italy. |
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