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1950 FIFA World Cup
Tournament details
Host country Sweden
Dates June 16-July 19
Teams 20 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s) 13 (in 13 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Flag of Sweden Sweden (1st title)
Runners-up Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Third place Flag of Norway Norway
Fourth place Flag of France France
Tournament statistics
Matches played 48
Goals scored 189 (3.94 per match)
Attendance 1,001,560 (20,866 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Ademir (7 goals)
Flag of Argentina 1938
Flag of Chile 1954

The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup to be held since its inception in 1906. It was the first World Cup after the Second World War after the planned 1942 and 1946 editions were cancelled.

This World Cup saw an attendance of over one million people for the first time in World Cup history which was reached in the final. Sweden who would take out the title after they defeated Great Britain by a score of 2-1 at Solna.

Background[]

After the Second World War ended in 1945 which cancelled the 1942 and 1946 editions of the World Cup, FIFA was keen to resurrect the competition as soon as possible so that they make plans. After the war, most of the European countries were in ruin and FIFA look towards the north as the Nordic countries stayed out of the war. On June 15, 1947, Sweden won the hosting rights for the 1950 edition. It was also discussed that the competition would expand to a twenty team competition to try and get more teams into international football. After Denmark qualified through to the World Cup, the Swedish FA decided to move some of the Group B games over to Copenhagen to create history by being the first World Cup to not be exclusivly feature in one country.

Qualifying[]

Main article: 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification

Qualifying for the World Cup began in 1948 with the first round of North American qualifying taking place with Cuba taking on Hawaii. With the competition expanded to twenty teams and Sweden (hosts) and Italy (defending champions) automatically qualifying, this left eighteen spots remaining. Of these, ten spots went to Europe, four spots went to North America, three spots went to South America and one spot went to Asia.

Seeding[]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5

Group Stage[]

Group A[]

Group A saw the hosts in Sweden being placed with two World Champions in Italy (1934 and 1938) and Belgium (1922) with the other two teams being Mexico and Chile. The big surprise in Group A was on the 20th June when Albert De Hert scored the winning goal for Belgium to later cause a shock elimination of the Italians. Despite some people thinking that Sweden would only just scrape through the group stage, they would finish on top spot after a shaky start against Mexico (who would finish in the last spot) before winning three on the trot including a 4-2 win over Italy in Stockholm.

Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Flag of Sweden Sweden 4 3 1 0 10 3 +7 7
Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium 4 3 0 1 6 1 +5 6
Flag of Italy Italy 4 2 0 2 9 5 +4 4
Flag of Chile Chile 4 1 0 3 3 11 −8 2
Flag of Mexico (1934–1968) Mexico 4 0 1 3 1 8 −7 1


June 16, 1950
Flag of Italy Italy 4-0 Flag of Chile Chile
Muccinelli Goal 15'
Amadei Goal 33'
Pandolfini Goal 64'
Parola Goal 86'
Jernvallen, Sandviken
Attendance: 19,496


June 16, 1950
Flag of Sweden Sweden 1-1 Flag of Mexico (1934–1968) Mexico
Palmér Goal 84' Velázquez Goal 77'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 45,141


June 20, 1950
Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium 1-0 Flag of Italy Italy
De Hert Goal 83'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 28,741


June 20, 1950
Flag of Chile Chile 1-4 Flag of Sweden Sweden
Prieto Goal 39' Jeppson Goal 15'61'
Mellberg Goal 32'78'
Malmö Idrottsplats, Malmö
Attendance: 18,331


June 24, 1950
Flag of Sweden Sweden 1-0 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium
Andersson Goal 79'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 48,218


June 24, 1950
Flag of Mexico (1934–1968) Mexico 0-2 Flag of Chile Chile
Ibáñez Goal 31'
Roldán Goal 58'
Eyravallen, Örebro
Attendance: 7,143


June 28, 1950
Flag of Italy Italy 3-0 Flag of Mexico (1934–1968) Mexico
Carapellse Goal 5'41'
Muccinelli Goal 79'
Olympia, Helsingborg
Attendance: 15,248


June 28, 1950
Flag of Chile Chile 0-3 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium
Mermans Goal 2'73'
Mees Goal 19'
Jernvallen, Sandviken
Attendance: 11,517


July 2, 1950
Flag of Sweden Sweden 4-2 Flag of Italy Italy
Palmér Goal 16'62'
Bodin Goal 5'
Rydell Goal 77'
Carapellese Goal 37'75'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 41,155


July 2, 1950
Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium 2-0 Flag of Mexico (1934–1968) Mexico
Mermans Goal 72'
Mordant Goal 88'
Eyravallen, Örebro
Attendance: 4,869

Group B[]

Group B saw a massive upset with the Netherlands struggling in the Group B with only a lonely win in the first match of the group against Jamaica who conceded 29 goals against them without even troubling the goalkeeper at the other end. The team that would replace the Netherlands would be Norway who claimed a surprise second in the group (Uruguay came in first) after Gunnar Dahlen scored a goal in the 76th minute to give Norway a victory over the second-ranked Netherlands. For Jamaica, as well as the worst World Cup record in history, they also were the wrong end of the record scoreline when the game against Uruguay saw a score line of eleven-nil in favour of Uruguay which is the biggest margin in a World Cup. Austria would be the unlucky one after the 2-2 draw against Norway on the final matchday couldn’t get the team into the quarter-finals.

Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 4 4 0 0 17 3 +14 8
Flag of Norway Norway 4 2 1 1 12 6 +6 5
Flag of Austria Austria 4 1 2 1 9 5 +4 4
Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 4 1 1 2 9 4 +5 3
File:Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg Jamaica 4 0 0 4 0 29 −29 0


June 17, 1950
Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 7-0 File:Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg Jamaica
Clavan Goal 10'65'
Lenstra Goal 17'43'
Huijbregts Goal 2'
Wilkes Goal 35'
Terlouw Goal 63'
Örjans Vall, Halmstad
Attendance: 6,167


June 17, 1950
Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 3-2 Flag of Norway Norway
Varela Goal 36'
Ortuño Goal 75'
Morán Goal 86'
H Anderson Goal 3'
Dahlen Goal 21'
Ryavallen, Borås
Attendance: 10,418


June 21, 1950
Flag of Austria Austria 1-1 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands
Melchior Goal 39' Lenstra Goal 61'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 25,866


June 21, 1950
File:Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg Jamaica 0-11 Flag of Uruguay Uruguay
Míguez Goal 4'17'38'66'
Morán Goal 31'47'89'
Ghiggia Goal 9'51'
Pini Goal 37'
Gambetta Goal 81'
Olympia, Helsingborg
Attendance: 5,511


June 25, 1950
Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 2-1 Flag of Austria Austria
Schiaffino Goal 4'
Míguez Goal 55'
Dienst Goal 76'
Malmö Idrottsplats, Malmo
Attendance: 11,536


June 25, 1950
Flag of Norway Norway 6-0 File:Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg Jamaica
H Anderson Goal 9'77'
Thoresen Goal 24'45'
Dahlen Goal 61'
V Anderson Goal 88'
Arosvallen, Västerås
Attendance: 1,355


June 29, 1950
Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 1-2 Flag of Norway Norway
Clavan Goal 55' H Anderson Goal 18'
Karlsen Goal 73'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 28,331


June 29, 1950
File:Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg Jamaica 0-5 Flag of Austria Austria
Ocwirk Goal 16'48'77'
Walzhofer Goal 23'
Körner Goal 33'
Eyravallen, Örebro
Attendance: 1,152


July 3, 1950
Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 1-0 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands
Míguez Goal 14'
Malmö Idrottsplats, Malmo
Attendance: 18,611


July 3, 1950
Flag of Austria Austria 2-2 Flag of Norway Norway
Aurednik Goal 20'
Melchior Goal 65'
H Anderson Goal 37'
Thoresen Goal 76'
Jernvallen, Sandviken
Attendance: 17,955

Group C[]

Group C went according to the seeds that were set earlier in the year with France and Brazil each booking a spot in the quarter-final. But that wasn’t almost the case with third place Denmark needing to win against Spain to book a spot at the expensive of France and after conceding early in the second half, they got one back in the second half from Edvin Hansen but they couldn’t get a winner. Also in this group was debutantes Costa Rica who couldn’t defend against tough opposition but did score two goals with both being late in the match.

Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil 4 3 1 0 18 3 +15 7
Flag of France France 4 2 1 1 10 5 +5 5
Flag of Denmark Denmark 4 1 1 2 10 5 +5 3
Flag of Spain (1945 - 1977) Spain 4 1 1 2 7 7 0 3
Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica 4 0 0 4 2 27 −25 0


June 18, 1950
Flag of France France 6-1 Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica
Baratte Goal 24'76'86'
Baillot Goal 14'
Kargu Goal 63'
Belver Goal 88'
??? Goal 35'
Rimnersvallen, Uddevalla
Attendance: 11,335


June 18, 1950
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil 6-0 Flag of Spain (1945 - 1977) Spain
Ademir Goal 36'72'85'
Jair Goal 4'55'
Rui Goal 71'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 30,966


June 22, 1950
Flag of Denmark Denmark 1-2 Flag of France France
Petersen Goal 35' Doye Goal 67'
Baratte Goal 83'
Idrætsparken, Copenhagen
Attendance: 19,586


June 22, 1950
Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica 0-8 Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil
Ademir Goal 13'45'75'
Chico Goal 22'56'84'
Ely Goal 7'
Jair Goal 77'
Tunavallen, Eskilstuna
Attendance: 7,629


June 26, 1950
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil 1-1 Flag of Denmark Denmark
Ely Goal 34' Lyngsaa Goal 71'
Idrætsparken, Copenhagen
Attendance: 18,594


June 26, 1950
Flag of Spain (1945 - 1977) Spain 6-0 Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica
Basora Goal 33'75'
Molowny Goal 65'81'
Puchades Goal 15'
Igoa Goal 59'
Rimnersvallen, Uddevalla
Attendance: 5,143


June 30, 1950
Flag of France France 0-0 Flag of Spain (1945 - 1977) Spain
Malmö Idrottsplats, Malmo
Attendance: 15,679


June 30, 1950
Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica 1-7 Flag of Denmark Denmark
??? Goal 88' Seebach Goal 15'77'
Petersen Goal 44'68'
Colberg Goal 2'
Lyngsaa Goal 24'
Hansen Goal 77'
Idrætsparken, Copenhagen
Attendance: 13,414


July 4, 1950
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil 3-2 Flag of France France
Ademir Goal 13'
Bauer Goal 36'
Baltazar Goal 62'
Luciano Goal 51'56'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 40,862


July 4, 1950
Flag of Denmark Denmark 1-1 Flag of Spain (1945 - 1977) Spain
Hansen Goal 74' Zarra Goal 57'
Idrætsparken, Copenhagen
Attendance: 18,155

Group D[]

Group D saw the debut of Great Britain in a FIFA World Cup and they delivered on the favourite tag that was given to them before the tournament when they easily got through the group with four from four. The only real test for them was second place Yugoslavia who kept the team to only two lucky goals in the second half. Korea who was the second team that was debuting in this group almost caused a massive boilover when they ahead of the United States who lost to Romania in the first game when they were 4-3 up with only fifteen minutes left to play. But the Americans held the nerves and score two goals from John Souza who also got his hat-trick in this match to give the United States their only win of the group stage.

Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain 4 4 0 0 12 1 +11 8
Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 4 2 1 1 12 4 +8 5
U.S. flag, 48 stars United States 4 1 1 2 8 10 −2 3
File:Flag of Romania (1948-1952).svg Romania 4 1 1 2 6 10 −4 3
File:Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea 4 0 1 3 8 21 −13 1


June 19, 1950
Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 7-0 File:Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Tomašević Goal 44'72'76'88'
Čajkovski Goal 11'34'
Katnić Goal 61'
Olympia, Helsingborg
Attendance: 18,797


June 19, 1950
U.S. flag, 48 stars United States 1-3 File:Flag of Romania (1948-1952).svg Romania
Pariani Goal 11' Mercea Goal 54'
Bodo Goal 73'
Farmati Goal 88'
Tunavallen, Eskilstuna
Attendance: 9,736


June 23, 1950
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain 2-0 Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Mortensen Goal 57'
Wright Goal 85'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 41,835


June 23, 1950
File:Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea 4-5 U.S. flag, 48 stars United States
Kook-Chin Goal 24'47'59'
Byung-Dae Goal 52'
Souza Goal 1'37'89'
Moniz Goal 14'
Wolanin Goal 81'
Jernvallen, Sandviken
Attendance: 13,584


June 27, 1950
U.S. flag, 48 stars United States 0-1 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Mortensen Goal 80'
Helsingborg, Olympia
Attendance: 41,163


June 27, 1950
File:Flag of Romania (1948-1952).svg Romania 3-3 File:Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea
Bodo Goal 46'51'
Apolzan Goal 13'
Nam-Sik Goal 25'
Jong-Soo Goal 58'
Kook-Chin Goal 84'
Jernvallen, Sandviken
Attendance: 14,682


July 1, 1950
Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 3-0 File:Flag of Romania (1948-1952).svg Romania
Čajkovski Goal 27'68'
Tomašević Goal 41'
Rimnersvallen, Uddevalla
Attendance: 14,655


July 1, 1950
File:Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea 1-6 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Kook-Chin Goal 84' Matthews Goal 21'47'68'
Griffiths Goal 35'39'71'
Ryavallen, Borås
Attendance: 3,166


July 5, 1950
U.S. flag, 48 stars United States 2-2 Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Gaetjens Goal 11'
Coombes Goal 62'
Palfi Goal 41'
Katnić Goal 84'
Olympia, Helsingborg
Attendance: 25,144


July 5, 1950
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain 3-0 File:Flag of Romania (1948-1952).svg Romania
Burgess Goal 14'
Bentley Goal 38'
Hughes Goal 83'
Örjans Vall, Halmstad
Attendance: 12,151

Knockout Stage[]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                   
9 July - Solna        
 Flag of Sweden Sweden  2 (aet)
15 July - Helsingborg
 Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia  1  
 Flag of Sweden Sweden  3
9 July - Helsingborg
   Flag of Norway Norway  0  
 Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil  0
19 July - Solna
 Flag of Norway Norway  2  
 Flag of Sweden Sweden  2
10 July - Malmö
   Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain  1
 Flag of Uruguay Uruguay  1
15 July - Gothenburg
 Flag of France France  2  
 Flag of France France  0 Third place
10 July - Gothenburg
   Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain (aet)  1  
 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain  3  Flag of Norway Norway  1
 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium  0    Flag of France France  0
19 July - Solna


Quarter Finals[]

In quarterfinal action, all of the semi-finalists would be European after Uruguay and Brazil both got knocked out in their quarterfinals to France and Norway respectively. Also happening in the quarter-finals was the host nation in Sweden making it through to their first semi-final after they defeated Yugoslavia in extra time after Bror Mellberg scored a goal in the 117th minute to record the victory. In the other quarter-final it was Great Britain who would take out a 3-0 victory over Belgium with Stanley Matthews scoring a double in the victory.

July 9, 1950
Flag of Sweden Sweden 2-1 (a.e.t) Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Jeppson Goal 51'
Mellberg Goal 117'
Ognjanov Goal 85'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 44,652


July 9, 1950
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil 0-2 Flag of Norway Norway
Hvidsten Goal 29'
Andresen Goal 71'
Olympia, Helsingborg
Attendance: 20,455


July 10, 1950
Flag of Uruguay Uruguay 1-2 Flag of France France
Vidal Goal 62' Baillot Goal 74'
Baratte Goal 86'
Malmö Idrottsplats, Malmo
Attendance: 21,133


July 10, 1950
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain 3-0 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium
Matthews Goal 14'62'
Burgess Goal 73'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 35,168

Semi Finals[]

The Semi-Finals of the 1950 FIFA World Cup saw two new nations make it to the final for the first time. The first semi-final saw Sweden completely outplay their fellow Nordic opponents in Norway with goals on either side of the half giving the victory to Sweden at home.

Unlike the first semi, the second saw a struggle between two neighbours battled it out for all ninety minutes with both teams having numerous chances in taking out the victory. Extra time was the same and a lucky fluke in the 113th minute from Bill Eckersley got the British into the final at the expense of the French.

July 15, 1950
Flag of Sweden Sweden 3-0 Flag of Norway Norway
Nilsson Goal 16'
Rydell Goal 37'
Palmér Goal 81'
Olympia, Helsingborg
Attendance: 26,363


July 15, 1950
Flag of France France 0-1 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Eckersley Goal 113'
Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
Attendance: 35,168

Third Place Playoff[]

In the curtain raiser to the final, it was Norway who would take out the victory by only a single goal over their French opponents with Harry Karlsen getting a goal in 63rd minute.

July 19, 1950
Flag of Norway Norway 1-0 Flag of France France
Karlsen Goal 63'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 24,161

Final[]

For the Swedes, this would be a moment that the nation would savour as their team became the seventh team to win the World Cup after they defeated Great Britain in the final which was held at Solna. The man that got them the critical goal was Karl-Erik Palmér who score the goal with ten minutes left to play in the match. This was also after they did fell behind early as Jim Taylor scored the first goal of the match.

July 19, 1950
Flag of Sweden Sweden 2-1 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Månsson Goal 52'
Palmér Goal 80'
Taylor Goal 37'
Råsunda Stadium, Solna
Attendance: 51,393

Goalscorers[]

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Unknown

  • Flag of Costa Rica ??? (2 goals)

Rankings[]

R Team G P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Flag of Sweden Sweden A 7 5 2 0 17 5 +12 12
2 Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain D 7 5 1 1 16 4 +12 11
3 Flag of Norway Norway B 7 4 1 2 15 9 +6 9
4 Flag of France France C 7 3 2 2 12 8 +4 8
Eliminated in the quarter finals
5 Flag of Uruguay Uruguay B 5 4 0 1 18 5 +13 8
6 Flag of Brazil (1889-1960) Brazil C 5 3 1 1 18 5 +13 8
7 Flag of SFR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia D 5 2 2 1 14 6 +8 6
8 Flag of Belgium (civil) Belgium A 5 3 0 2 6 4 +2 6
Eliminated in the group stage
9 Flag of Italy Italy A 4 2 0 2 9 5 +4 4
10 Flag of Austria Austria B 4 1 2 1 9 5 +4 4
11 Flag of Denmark Denmark C 4 1 1 2 10 5 +5 3
12 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands B 4 1 1 2 9 4 +5 3
13 Flag of Spain (1945 - 1977) Spain C 4 1 1 2 7 7 0 3
14 U.S. flag, 48 stars United States D 4 1 1 2 8 10 -2 3
15 File:Flag of Romania (1948-1952).svg Romania D 4 1 1 2 6 10 -4 3
16 Flag of Chile Chile A 4 1 0 3 3 11 -8 2
17 Flag of Mexico (1934–1968) Mexico A 4 0 1 3 1 8 -7 1
18 File:Flag of Korea (1899).svg Korea D 4 0 1 3 8 22 -14 1
19 Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica C 4 0 0 4 2 27 -25 0
20 File:Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg Jamaica B 4 0 0 4 0 29 -29 0

Trivia[]

  • This is the first time in World Cup history that the top two teams in the World have been eliminated in the group stage.
  • This would be the only time that the World Cup would have 20 teams as the next World Cup had four teams less which was the case until 1974.
  • This is also the first time that a World Cup winner came from a team that didn’t qualify in the previous edition.
  • Uruguay 11-0 win over Jamaica is the biggest win in the World Cup history and second only to the 17-1 result between Denmark and France at the 1908 Olympics.

External Links[]

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