The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively.

Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while United States goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first clean sheet in the tournament the same day.

In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of 68,346 people to become the first nation to win the World Cup.

FIFA, the governing body of world football, had been discussing the creation of a competition for national teams for several years prior to 1930.

Plenty of interest was shown by nations in the Americas; Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the United States all entered.

However, because of the long, costly trip by ship across the Atlantic Ocean and the length of absence required for players,[8] very few European teams were inclined to take part due to an ongoing economic crisis.

[14] FIFA president Rimet intervened and four European teams eventually made the trip by sea: Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia.

The Romanians, managed by Constantin Rădulescu and coached by their captain Rudolf Wetzer and Octav Luchide, entered the competition following the intervention of the newly crowned King Carol II.

[15] The French entered at the personal intervention of Rimet, but neither France's star defender Manuel Anatol nor the team's regular coach Gaston Barreau could be persuaded to make the trip.

The Romanians boarded the SS Conte Verde at Genoa, Italy; the French and Yugoslavs were picked up at Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, on 21 June 1930;[19] and the Belgians embarked at Barcelona, Spain.

[20] The Conte Verde carried Rimet, the trophy and the three designated European referees: Belgians John Langenus and Henri Christophe, along with Thomas Balvay, a Parisian who may have been English.

[24] Early matches were played at smaller stadiums usually used by Montevideo football clubs Nacional and Peñarol, the 20,000 capacity Gran Parque Central and the Pocitos.

To eliminate differences in the application of the Laws of the Game, the referees were invited to one short meeting to iron out the most conflicting issues that could arise.

Injuries hindered France; goalkeeper Alex Thépot had to leave the field after 20 minutes and Laurent, after a fierce tackle by Luis Monti, spent most of the match limping.

[30] The game featured an officiating controversy when referee Almeida Rêgo erroneously blew the final whistle six minutes early, with Frenchman Marcel Langiller clear on goal; play resumed only after protests from the French players.

[33] Guillermo Stábile scored a hat-trick in his international debut[34] as Argentina won 6–3, despite the absence of their captain Manuel Ferreira, who had returned to Buenos Aires to take a law exam.

For their opener they paid tribute to the hosts by wearing shirts each emblazoned with a single letter, spelling "Viva Uruguay" as the team lined up.

The American team, which contained a significant number of new caps, were reputedly nicknamed "the shot-putters" by an unnamed source in the French contingent.

[44] The group's second match, played in windy conditions,[45] witnessed the first tournament hat-trick, scored by Bert Patenaude of the United States against Paraguay.

The United States team, which featured six British-born players, lost midfielder Raphael Tracey after 10 minutes to a broken leg as the match became violent.

In the second half, the strength of the United States team was overwhelmed by the pace of the Argentinian attacks, the match finishing 6–1 to Argentina.

[1] At the end of the championship, the captains of the United States team (Tom Florie)[51] and Yugoslavia (Milutin Ivković)[52] both received bronze medals.

Yet a FIFA technical committee report on the 1986 World Cup included full retrospective rankings of all teams at all previous World Cup finals; this report ranked the United States third and Yugoslavia fourth, due to a better goal difference on otherwise identical records,[2] a practice since continued by FIFA.

[3] The Yugoslavia team achieved the joint–biggest success in both Yugoslav and Serbian subsequent World Cup footballing history, by earning fourth place, a result that would be repeated in 1962.

Feelings ran high around the La Plata Basin as the Argentine supporters crossed the river with the war cry Victoria o muerte ("victory or death"), dispelling any uncertainty as to whether the tournament had captured the imagination of the public.

The ten boats earmarked to carry Argentine fans from Buenos Aires to Montevideo proved inadequate,[37] and any number of assorted craft attempted the crossing.

[62] Ten minutes later, a goal by Santos Iriarte gave Uruguay the lead, and just before full-time Castro made it 4–2 to seal the win.

[60] Langenus ended the match a minute later and Uruguay added the title of World Cup winner to their mantle of Olympic champions.

Jules Rimet presented the World Cup Trophy, which was later named for him, to the head of the Uruguayan Football Association, Raúl Jude.

[63] The following day was declared a national holiday in Uruguay;[59] in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, a mob threw stones at the Uruguayan consulate.