1930 FIFA World Cup final

• 1. Introduction

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  The 1930 FIFA World Cup final was played at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on the 30th of July 1930 - and before a single ball was kicked, the two teams were already fighting over which ball it would be. Uruguay and Argentina, neighbors separated by the Rio de la Plata, arrived at the first-ever World Cup final unable to agree on whose match ball should be used. FIFA stepped in with a compromise that has never been repeated at this level: Argentina would supply the ball for the first half, and Uruguay for the second.

  The stadium opened its gates at eight in the morning, six hours before kick-off. By noon, all 93,000 seats were filled. What followed was a match that swung back and forth - with Uruguay trailing at halftime and fighting back in front of the world. By the final whistle, the hosts had won 4-2, and the following day was declared a national holiday. But who were these two nations, and how had they arrived at this particular afternoon? Those questions are where the story begins.

• 2. Two Golden Nations

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  Uruguay came into 1930 carrying something rare: a genuine claim to being the best team in the world. They had won the gold medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, then repeated the feat at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. At South American level, Uruguay had won half of the continent's championship - the forerunner to what is now the Copa America.

  Argentina were no less formidable. They had taken the last two South American Championships in 1927 and 1929 and earned a silver medal at the 1928 Olympics. The two nations had met in the 1928 Olympics final, with Uruguay winning 2-1 in a replay after the first match could not separate them.

  By the time the 1930 tournament arrived, these two teams had faced each other one hundred and ten times across all competitions. Their last meeting before the World Cup was at the 1930 Copa Newton, played on the 25th of May in Buenos Aires - just two months before the final. That match ended 1-1, though Uruguay claimed the trophy because they were the visiting nation.

  The path to the final had been straightforward for both sides. Uruguay finished top of Group 3 with two wins over Peru and Romania, then defeated Yugoslavia 6-1 in the semi-final. Argentina topped Group 1 with three wins and eliminated the United States 6-1 in their semi-final.

• 3. The Match Itself

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  Pablo Dorado gave Uruguay the lead in the 12th minute, putting the hosts ahead in front of their vast home crowd. Argentina's response was swift. Carlos Peucelle equalized in the 20th minute with a powerful shot that beat goalkeeper Enrique Ballestrero.

  Guillermo Stabile, the tournament's top scorer, then put Argentina in front. His goal in the 37th minute sent Argentina into halftime with a 2-1 lead - and with the Argentine match ball at their feet for that opening period, the symbolism of the ball dispute felt briefly pointed.

  The second half began with Uruguay pressing, and Pedro Cea leveled the score 12 minutes in. Santos Iriarte then struck in the 68th minute to put Uruguay ahead for the first time since Dorado's early opener. With one minute remaining, Héctor Castro - who would later score in the group stage against Peru - sealed the match at 4-2.

  The referee was John Langenus from Belgium, assisted by Ulises Saucedo of Bolivia and Henri Christophe, also from Belgium. No substitutions were permitted under the match rules, and 30 minutes of extra time would have been played had scores been level at ninety minutes. It was not needed.

• 4. Aftermath Across the River

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  Jules Rimet, the president of FIFA, presented Uruguay with the World Cup Trophy that afternoon at the Estadio Centenario. The trophy would later be named after him. Uruguay's joy was immediate and official: the government declared the following day a national holiday.

  In Buenos Aires, the reaction was very different. A mob threw stones at the Uruguayan consulate - a blunt measure of how deeply the defeat cut across the river.

  Uruguay's manager that day was Alberto Suppici, who was 31 years old at the time. That age alone is enough to fix him in the record books; he remains the youngest coach to lead a team to a World Cup victory.

  The last Argentine player from the final, striker Francisco Varallo, died on the 30th of August 2010 at the age of 100. The last surviving Uruguayan from the match was Ernesto Mascheroni, the left back named in Uruguay's lineup that day, who died on the 3rd of July 1984 at the age of 76.