9781422278314

1934World Cup Rimet was under the heavy expectation that the next World Cup would be held in Europe, and Italy eventually won out over Sweden to be the host in 1934. Following the success of the first event, 36 countries petitioned to be included, so qualification matches were held to select 16 teams. The United States was one of six teams to qualify that had played in the 1930 event as well. One significant change in 1934 was that the tournament used a knockout format only; meaning that there was no group stage this time around. As a result, the four teams that had traveled the farthest to participate—Brazil, Argentina, USA, and Egypt—were all eliminated after playing just a single match. The eight teams that won and advanced past the first round were all European. The second, or quarterfinal, round featured some tight matches and rough play. All four matches were decided by a single goal. The host Italians, for example, tangled with Spain in a match where midfielder Mario Pizziolo had his leg broken in a vicious tackle. The match was tied at 1–1 after regulation and 30 minutes of extra time had been played. There was no penalty kick shootout in those days. Rather,

the rules called for the match to be replayed the following day. In the second match, the rough play continued, this time resulting in three Spanish players suffering match-ending injuries. Italy won 1–0 to advance to the semifinals.

Austria’s Wunderteam were the favorites to win the 1934 World Cup, but lost in the semifinals to host, and eventual champions, Italy

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