1938 FIFA World Cup

1938 FIFA World Cup

Coupe du Monde 1938
1938 FIFA World Cup official poster
Tournament details
Host country	France
Dates	4 June – 19 June
Teams	15 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)	10 (in 10 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Italy (2nd title)
Runners-up	Hungary
Third place	Brazil
Fourth place	Sweden
Tournament statistics
Matches played	18
Goals scored	84 (4.67 per match)
Attendance	483,000 (26,833 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Leônidas (7 goals)
← 1934 1950 →

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.

Contents 1 Host selection 2 Qualification 3 Format 4 Summary 5 Venues 6 Squads 7 Results 7.1 First round 7.1.1 Replays 7.2 Quarter-finals 7.2.1 Replay 7.3 Semi-finals 7.4 Match for third place 7.5 Final 8 Scorers 9 FIFA Retrospective Ranking 10 Footnotes 11 See also 12 External links

Host selection

France was chosen as hosts by FIFA in Berlin on August 13, 1936. France defeated Argentina and Germany in the first round of voting. The decision caused outrage in South America where it was believed that the venue would alternate between the two continents; instead, it was the second tournament in a row to be played in Europe. This was the last World Cup to be staged before the outbreak of World War II.

Qualification

Because of anger over the decision to hold a second successive World Cup in Europe, neither Uruguay nor Argentina entered the competition, while Spain became the first country to be prevented from competing by War.

It was the first time that the hosts (France) and the title holders (Italy) qualified automatically. Title holders were given an automatic entry into the World Cup until 2006 when this was abolished.

Of the fourteen remaining places, eleven were allocated to Europe, two to the Americas, and one to Asia. As a result, only three non-European nations took part: Brazil, Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. This is the smallest ever number of teams from outside the host continent to compete at a FIFA World Cup.

Austria qualified for the World Cup, but after qualification was complete, the Anschluss united Austria with Germany and Austria withdrew from the tournament, with some Austrian players joining the German squad. Latvia was the runner-up in Austria's qualification group, but was not invited to participate; instead Austria's place remained empty, and Sweden, which would have been Austria's initial opponent, progressed directly to the second-round by default.

This tournament saw the first, and as of 2010 the only, participation in a World Cup tournament from Cuba and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). It also saw the World Cup debuts of Poland and Norway. Norway would not qualify for another World Cup finals until 1994, while Poland and the Netherlands would not reappear at a finals tournament until 1974.

Format

The knockout format from 1934 was retained. If a match was tied after ninety minutes, then thirty minutes of extra time were played. If the score was still tied after extra time, the match would be replayed. This was the last of the two World Cup tournaments that used a straight knockout format.

Summary

Germany, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Cuba and Brazil were seeded for draw taking place in Paris, on 5 March 1938.^[1]

Five of the first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock; two games still went to a replay. In the replays, Switzerland ousted the team of Germany, to which some Austrian players had been added for political reasons, with a score of 4-2, while Cuba managed to advance to the next round at the expense of Romania. This remains, as of 2010, the only time in World Cup history in which Germany was eliminated in the first round, and the only tournament in which Germany competed but failed to finish in the final eight (the nation did not compete in 1930 and was banned from the 1950 competition).

Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals as a result of Austria's withdrawal, and they proceeded to beat Cuba 8-0. The hosts, France, were beaten by the holders, Italy, and Switzerland were seen off by Hungary. Czechoslovakia took Brazil to extra time in a notoriously feisty match in Bordeaux before succumbing in a replay; the South Americans proved too strong for the depleted Czechoslovak side (both Oldřich Nejedlý and František Plánička had suffered broken bones in the first game) and won 2-1. This was the last ever match to be replayed in a World Cup.

Hungary destroyed Sweden in one of the semi-finals 5-1, while Italy and Brazil had the first of their many important World Cup clashes in the other. The Brazilians rested their star player Leônidas confident that they would qualify for the final, but the Italians won 2-1. Brazil topped Sweden 4-2 for third place. It is notable that Sweden reached the final four having won only one match (as a result of Austria's withdrawal from the first round): the only time this has happened in a World Cup.

The final itself took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris. Vittorio Pozzo's Italian side took the lead early, but Hungary equalised within two minutes. The Italians took the lead again shortly after, and by the end of the first half were leading the Hungarians 3-1. Hungary never really got back into the game. With the final score favouring the Italians 4-2, Italy became the first team to successfully defend the title and were once more crowned World Cup winners.

Because of World War II, the World Cup would not be held for another 12 years, until 1950. As a result, Italy were the reigning World Cup holders for a record 16 years, from 1934 to 1950. The Italian Vice-President of FIFA, Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid the trophy in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops.^[2]

Venues

Ten cities hosted the tournament:

• Antibes, Stade du Fort Carré
• Bordeaux, Parc Lescure
• Le Havre, Stade Cavée Verte
• Lille, Stade Victor Boucquey
• Lyon, Stade Gerland (the only match there was cancelled)
• Marseille, Stade Vélodrome
• Paris, Parc des Princes and Stade Olympique de Colombes
• Reims, Vélodrome Municipal
• Strasbourg, Stade de la Meinau
• Toulouse, Stade Chapou

Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1938 FIFA World Cup squads.

Results

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

5 June - Marseille

Italy (a.e.t.)

2

12 June - Paris

Norway

1

Italy

3

5 June - Paris

France

1

France

3

16 June - Marseille

Belgium

1

Italy

2

5 June - Strasbourg

Brazil

1

Brazil (a.e.t.)

6

12 June – Bordeaux (replayed 14 June)

Poland

5

Brazil

1 (2)

5 June - Le Havre

Czechoslovakia

1 (1)

Czechoslovakia (a.e.t.)

3

19 June – Paris

Netherlands

0

Italy

4

5 June - Reims

Hungary

2

Hungary

6

12 June - Lille

Dutch East Indies

0

Hungary

2

4 June - Paris (replayed 9 June)

Switzerland

0

Switzerland

1 (4)

16 June – Paris

Germany

1 (2)

Hungary

5

5 June - Lyon

Sweden

1

Third place

Sweden

w/o

12 June - Antibes

19 June - Bordeaux

Austria[3]

—

Sweden

8

Brazil

4

5 June - Toulouse (replayed 9 June)

Cuba

0

Sweden

2

Cuba

3 (2)

Romania

3 (1)

First round

4 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Switzerland	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Germany	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 27,162 Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)
	Abegglen  43'	Report	Gauchel  29'

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Hungary	6 – 0	Dutch East Indies	Vélodrome Municipal, Reims Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Roger Conrié (France)
	Kohut  14' Toldi  16' Sárosi  25', 88' Zsengellér  30', 67'	Report

---

5 June 1938	Sweden	w/o[3]	Austria	Stade Gerland, Lyon

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Cuba	3 – 3 (a.e.t.)	Romania	Stade Chapou, Toulouse Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Giuseppe Scarpi (Italy)
	Socorro 44' Fernández 87' Tuñas  117'	Report	Bindea  35' Baratky  88' Dobay  105'

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	France	3 – 1	Belgium	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris Attendance: 30,454 Referee: Hans Wüthrich (Switzerland)
	Veinante  1' Nicolas  16', 69'	Report	Isemborghs  38'

---

5 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Italy	2 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Norway	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 19,000 Referee: Alois Beranek (Germany)[4]
	Ferraris  2' Piola  94'	Report	Brustad  83'

---

5 June 1938 17:30 (WEST)	Brazil	6 – 5 (a.e.t.)	Poland	Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg Attendance: 13,452 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
	Leônidas  18', 93', 104' Romeu  25' Perácio  44', 71'	Report	Scherfke  23' (pen.) Wilimowski  53', 59', 89', 118'

---

5 June 1938 18:30 (WEST)	Czechoslovakia	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Netherlands	Stade Cavée Verte, Le Havre Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Lucien Leclerq (France)
	Košťálek  93' Nejedlý  111'[5] Zeman  118'[6]	Report

Replays

9 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Germany	2 – 4	Switzerland	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 20,265 Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)
	Hahnemann  8' Lörtscher  22' (o.g.)	Report	Walaschek  42' Bickel  64' Abegglen  75', 78'

---

9 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Cuba	2 – 1	Romania	Stade Chapou, Toulouse Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Alfred Birlem (Germany)
	Socorro  51' Oliveira  57'	Report	Dobay  35'

Quarter-finals

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Switzerland	0 – 2	Hungary	Stade Victor Boucquey, Lille Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)
		Report	Sárosi  40' Zsengellér  89'[7]

---

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Sweden	8 – 0	Cuba	Stade du Fort Carré, Antibes Attendance: 6,846 Referee: Augustin Krist (Czechoslovakia)
	Keller  9', 80', 81'[8][9][10] Wetterström  32', 37', 44'[11] Nyberg  84' H. Andersson  90'[12]	Report

---

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	France	1 – 3	Italy	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris Attendance: 58,455 Referee: Louis Baert (Belgium)
	Heisserer  10'	Report	Colaussi  9' Piola  51', 72'

---

12 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Brazil	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Czechoslovakia	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 22,021 Referee: Pal von Hertzka (Hungary)
	Leônidas  30'	Report	Nejedlý  65' (pen.)

Replay

14 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Brazil	2 – 1	Czechoslovakia	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 18,141 Referee: George Capdeville (France)
	Leônidas  57' Roberto  62'[13]	Report	Kopecký  25'

Semi-finals

16 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Hungary	5 – 1	Sweden	Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 14,800 Referee: Lucien Leclerq (France)
	Zsengellér  19', 39', 85' Sas  37' Sárosi  65'	Report	Nyberg  1'

---

16 June 1938 18:00 (WEST)	Italy	2 – 1	Brazil	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille Attendance: 33,000 Referee: Hans Wüthrich (Switzerland)
	Colaussi  55' Meazza  60' (pen.)	Report	Romeu  87'

Match for third place

19 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Sweden	2 – 4	Brazil	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 12,000 Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)
	Jonasson  28' Nyberg  38'	Report	Romeu  44' Leônidas  63', 74' Perácio  80'

Final

19 June 1938 17:00 (WEST)	Hungary	2 – 4	Italy	Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris Attendance: 45,124 Referee: George Capdeville (France)
	Titkos  8' Sárosi  70'	Report	Colaussi  6', 35' Piola  16', 82'[14]

Scorers

7 goals

• Leônidas

6 goals

• Gyula Zsengellér

5 goals

• György Sárosi
• Silvio Piola

4 goals

• Gino Colaussi
• Ernest Wilimowski

3 goals

Perácio Romeu

Tore Keller Arne Nyberg

Gustav Wetterström André Abegglen

2 goals

• Héctor Socorro
• Oldřich Nejedlý
• Jean Nicolas
• Ştefan Dobay

1 goal

Henri Isemborghs Roberto Tomás Fernández José Magriñá Vlastimil Kopecký Josef Košťálek Josef Zeman Oscar Heisserer Émile Veinante

Josef Gauchel Wilhelm Hahnemann Vilmos Kohut Ferenc Sas Pál Titkos Géza Toldi Pietro Ferraris Giuseppe Meazza

Arne Brustad Fryderyk Scherfke Iuliu Baratky Silviu Bindea Harry Andersson Sven Jonasson Alfred Bickel Eugen Walaschek

Own goals

• Ernst Lörtscher (for Germany)

FIFA Retrospective Ranking

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition.^[15] The rankings for the 1938 tournament were as follows:

Final

1.  Italy
2.  Hungary

3rd and 4th place

3.  Brazil
4.  Sweden

Eliminated in the quarter-finals

5.  Czechoslovakia
6.  France
7.  Switzerland
8.  Cuba

Eliminated in the round of 16

9.  Romania
10.  Germany
11.  Poland
12.  Norway
13.  Belgium
14.  Netherlands
15.  Dutch East Indies

Footnotes

See also

• Polish roster at 1938 FIFA World Cup

External links

• FIFA World Cup 1938
• Details at RSSSF; note that they often disagree with FIFA on goal scorers and times
• History of the World Cup-1938

1938 FIFA World Cup finalists Champions Italy Runners-up Hungary Third place Brazil  Fourth place Sweden  Eliminated in the quarter-finals Cuba · Czechoslovakia · France · Switzerland Eliminated in the first round Austria · Belgium · Dutch East Indies · Germany · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Romania

FIFA World Cup Tournaments Uruguay 1930 Italy 1934 France 1938 Brazil 1950 Switzerland 1954 Sweden 1958 Chile 1962 England 1966 Mexico 1970 West Germany 1974 Argentina 1978 Spain 1982 Mexico 1986 Italy 1990 United States 1994 France 1998 South Korea & Japan 2002 Germany 2006 South Africa 2010 Brazil 2014 Russia 2018 Qatar 2022 Finals 1930 1934 1938 19501 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 Squads 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 Qualification 19302 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Other articles History Hosts Records Trophy Lists and statistics: Droughts Goalscorers Hat-tricks Milestone goals Penalty shoot-outs Red cards Referees Team appearances Teams with no appearances Undefeated teams Miscellaneous: Awards Balls Broadcasters Mascots Official songs Video games 1Decisive match of a final group stage. 2No qualification took place as places were given by invitation only.

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