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Uruguay's crowning glory - Brazil hosts the Cup, 1950 |
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 Football News: Due to the outbreak of the Second World War the tournament had not been contested for 12 years, with the lengthy absence of top-class international competition serving only to heighten the anticipation of an expectant worldwide following.
And those in attendance were not to be disappointed, as the competition provided some notable shocks, an avalanche of goals and a dramatic finale.
A total of just 13 teams took part in the event due to a variety of expulsions and withdrawals, with holders Italy - winners in both 1934 and 1938 - badly affected by the horrific plane crash of 1949 that claimed the lives of Torino's championship-winning squad, many of whom were Italian internationals.
England travelled to the World Cup for the first time and beat Chile 2-0 in their opening game to justify their standing as one of the pre-tournament favourites.
But in their second outing they were on the receiving end of an upset that still ranks among the greatest ever World Cup shocks.
Haitian-born Joe 'Larry' Gaetjens headed the only goal of the game in Belo Horizonte to give the USA a memorable victory over an England team that boasted world stars such as Billy Wright, Tom Finney and Stan Mortensen; another defeat, at the hands of Spain, confirmed England's early exit.
Breathtaking
The host nation, meanwhile, were seemingly storming towards to the title with a series of breathtaking displays. After thrashing Sweden 7-1 and falling one goal short of repeating that feat against Spain they needed just a draw from their final pool game against Uruguay to be crowned champions.
But, despite taking a second-half lead, goals from Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia stunned a world record crowd of 199,854 inside Rio's Maracana stadium as Uruguay took the title.
On the domestic front, Portsmouth won the First Division title for the second successive season following one of the closest ever finishes to an English league campaign, edging out second-placed Wolves on goal average only.
In the FA Cup final Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 at Wembley thanks to a double from Reg Lewis. Arsenal were captained by the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year Joe Mercer, who would later enjoy a highly successful spell in charge of Manchester City and was also England's caretaker manager in 1974, and also included England cricketer Denis Compton in their side.
In Scotland, Rangers pipped Hibernian to the title by a single point and completed the double by beating East Fife in the Scottish Cup final.
Elsewhere, the tragic aforementioned events in Italy meant that a team other than Torino would be crowned champions for the first time since 1942; somewhat aptly, success for Juventus kept the title in Turin. (Sportasylum)
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