Brazil 1950 World Cup Finals

Travel Notes Directory

Brazil by Alex Braga on Unsplash.

Football Index: World Cup Finals: Brazil 1950.

For the first World Cup after the war, the fourth in total, we again journey to South America.

Once more, the qualified countries were playing silly boys and withdrawing while India, who failed in initial qualification, were offered a place in the finals but then withdrew as they were not allowed to play in bare feet.

World Cup History - Brazil 1950

France and Portugal also failed to qualify and then refused a vacant slot after other Europeans withdrew.

England made their first appearance in the World Cup Finals, after beating Wales (4:1), Northern Ireland (9:2) and Scotland (1:0); in qualifying matches played in Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow.

As with the first World Cup, in 1930, there were only 13 countries involved in the finals and Uruguay won the trophy to make it lucky 13 again.

After a four-group Preliminary Round, the four group winners were entered into another round-robin group to decide who would lift the Jules Rimet Cup.

Although there was no cup-final game as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game, in Rio de Janeiro on 16th July, with the winner guaranteed to be the champions -- a draw would have been enough for Brazil; who had strolled through their games against Sweden and Spain, with wins of (7:1) and (6:1) respectively.

Uruguay, playing in Sao Paulo, were previously held to a (2:2) draw with Spain and had a narrow (3:2) win against Sweden, after trailing (1:2) at half-time. Brazil, the hosts, must have been clear favourites to win again in Rio's enormous (220,000 capacity) Maracana Stadium.

13 Countries Competed at Brazil 1950

Bolivia
Group 4 (0:8).

Brazil
Group 1 (4:0) (2:2) (2:0); Finals (7:1) (6:1) (1:2).

Chile
Group 2 (0:2) (0:2) (5:2).

England
Group 2 (2:0) (0:1) (0:1).

Italy
Group 3 (2:3) (2:0).

Mexico
Group 1 (0:4) (1:4) (1:2).

Paraguay
Group 3 (2:2) (0:2).

Spain
Group 2 (3:1) (2:0) (1:0); Finals (2:2) (1:6) (1:3).

Sweden
Group 3 (3:2) (2:2); Finals (1:7) (2:3) (3:1).

Switzerland
Group 1 (0:3) (2:2) (2:1).

United States
Group 2 (1:3) (1:0) (2:5).

Uruguay
Group 4 (8:0); Finals (2:2) (3:2) (2:1).

Yugoslavia
Group 1 (3:0) (4:1) (0:2).

Preliminary Round - Group Stage

The 13 teams were arranged into two groups of 4 teams, one group of 3 teams and the Uruguay vs Bolivia match.

Group 1

24th June
Rio de Janeiro: Brazil vs Mexico (4:0)

25th June
Belo Horizonte: Yugoslavia vs Switzerland (3:0)

28th June
Porto Alegre: Yugoslavia vs Mexico (4:1)
Sao Paulo: Brazil vs Switzerland (2:2)

1st July
Rio de Janeiro: Brazil vs Yugoslavia (2:0)

2nd July
Porto Alegre: Switzerland vs Mexico (2:1)

Brazil qualify for the final round; thanks to the 2:0 win over Yugoslavia, who only needed a draw (after Brazil were held by Switzerland, in Sao Paulo).

Group 2

25th June
Rio de Janeiro: England vs Chile (2:0)
Curitiba: Spain vs United States (3:1)

29th June
Rio de Janeiro: Spain vs Chile (2:0)
Belo Horizonte: United States vs England (1:0)

2nd July
Rio de Janeiro: Spain vs England (1:0)
Recife: Chile vs United States (5:2)

Spain qualify for the final round; winning all three of their preliminary games.

Group 3

25th June
Sao Paulo: Sweden vs Italy (3:2)

29th June
Curitiba: Sweden vs Paraguay (2:2)

2nd July
Sao Paulo: Italy vs Paraguay (2:0)

Sweden qualify for the final round; by beating Italy and drawing with Paraguay.

Group 4

2nd July
Belo Horizonte: Uruguay vs Bolivia (8:0)

Uruguay didn't have too much to do to qualify for the final round.

Final Round - League Decider

9th July
Rio de Janeiro: Brazil vs Sweden (7:1)
Sao Paulo: Uruguay vs Spain (2:2)

13th July
Rio de Janeiro: Brazil vs Spain (6:1)
Sao Paulo: Uruguay vs Sweden (3:2)

16th July
Rio de Janeiro: Uruguay vs Brazil (2:1)
Sao Paulo: Sweden vs Spain (3:1)

In their crucial Maracana encounter, Uruguay may well have been fresher than Brazil, who had to play three group 1 matches (against Mexico, Switzerland and Yugoslavia) to Uruguay's solitary game against Bolivia.

Uruguay won the 1950 World Cup in Brazil; to lift the trophy for the second time.

Appearances:
How many appearances each country has made in the World Cup Finals.

World Cup Finals

Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2) on July 30th, 1930.

Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy for the home fans.

France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.

Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.

Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.

Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.

Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.

England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.

W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.

Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany, they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.

Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.

Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.

Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.

USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.

France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.

Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.

Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the semi-finals.

South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.

Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.

Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.

Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.

United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of Morocco.

More From Travel Notes

Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel

Africa - Asia - Caribbean - Europe - Middle East - North America - Oceania - South America.

The Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel helps visitors plan their trip with country and city travel guides, local tourist information, reviewed web sites, and inspiring travel content.