From Chloroform to wearing Beret: Unknown and Fun facts about the first World Cup in 1930

Sailing
through
the
Waves

The
World
Cup
in
1930
was
held
in
Uruguay.
And
to
reach
there,
the
European
teams
travelled
together
on
a
single
ship.
They
travelled
across
the
Atlantic
and
picked
up
the
Brazilian
players
from
Rio.

Players
used
to
train
on
the
top
deck.
Jules
Rimet
travelled
on
the
ship
with
the
World
Cup
in
his
suitcase.

All
the
associate
teams
were
invited
to
play
as
it
was
the
only
tournament
without
the
qualifying
process,
but
most
of
the
countries
rejected
the
invitation
because
of
the
distance.

The
notorious
Argentines

Argentina
were
the
bad
boys
in
the
World
Cup
as
their
matches
had
the
most
on-field
violence.
Police
were
called
to
control
a
violent
scrap
in
their
6-1
win
over
Chile,
but
in
the
semifinal
against
the
USA,
it
escalated.

A
tackle
left
one
USA
player
with
a
broken
leg
and
it
broke
a
mass
brawl.
An
Argentine
player
uprooted
4
teeth
of
an
American,
while
another
ended
up
in
hospital
with
an
injured
stomach.

Chloroform
knocks
manager
out

In
a
match,
the
USA
manager
ran
to
the
referee
to
confront
him
as
a
decision
went
against
the
USA.
While
he
sprinted,
he
tripped
and
a
chloroform
bottle
in
his
pocket
got
smashed.
The
manager
was
left
unconscious
by
the
fumes
and
had
to
be
treated.
The
picture
shows
the
manager
being
checked
by
the
medical
officials.

Fog
on
the
way
and
riots

15000
Argentine
supporters
set
off
from
their
coast
to
watch
the
final
but
on
the
way
their
ship
got
lost
due
to
heavy
fog
and
they
reached
Montevideo
a
day
after
the
final.
Upon
hearing
that
Argentina
lost
the
final,
they
started
riots
in
Uruguay.

Also,
the
balls
back
in
those
days
used
to
be
heavy
and
in
that
World
Cup,
Bolivian
players
played
with
berets.

A
premature
funeral

Romania
player
Alfred
Feraru
fell
ill
during
the
trip
back
home.
He
was
taken
to
a
hospital
in
Italy’s
Genoa
when
the
boat
stopped
while
the
team
left
for
the
country.
After
the
team’s
arrival
in
Romania,
news
erupted
that
Feraru
had
passed
away.
Even
his
mother
was
convinced
and
made
funeral
arrangements
for
her
departed
son.
But
Feraru
came
back
in
full
health
and
his
mother
fainted
on
the
spot.