Mayra Madrigal
World Cups have been held every four years since 1930 and the 22nd edition will be held in Qatar in 2022. Out of the 21 World Cups that have been held in history, seven have been held in Latin America in five different countries, with two of them repeating as host country. The following is a brief review of each of the occasions on which the World Cup has touched Latin American soil.
Uruguay 1930
The first World Cup in history was held in Uruguay between July 13 and 30, with the participation of 13 teams, in addition to the host country. The format used in that tournament was the creation of groups, three groups of three teams and one group of four. The group winners advanced directly to the semifinals, with Argentina facing the United States and Uruguay facing Yugoslavia.
In the first semifinal, the Albiceleste team defeated the Stars and Stripes by a score of 6-1, while in the second match, Uruguay also won 6-1 over its rival. The final between the Latin American neighbors took place on July 30 at Centenario Stadium in front of 93.000 fans. The champion of that edition was the host Uruguay, which won by a score of 4-2.
Brazil 1950 and 2014
Brazil is one of the countries that have had the privilege of hosting this world event on two occasions. The first time it hosted the event was in 1950, after the suspension of the two previous editions due to World War II.
The green and yellow side was already emerging as the favorite before the first match, and they upheld that status until the final against Uruguay, because the previous five-year history between the two was stacked in favor of Brazil, with five victories in 11 matchups. The Uruguayan team pulled off a surprise and beat Brazil 1-2 on July 16, 1950, in what became known as the “Maracanazo”, due to the name of the stadium where the match was played.
In 2014, they hosted the tournament again and although they tried to erase the history of the “Maracanazo”, this time it was worse, as Brazil faced Germany in the semifinals and ended up eliminated by a score of 1-7. In that edition, Germany was champion after defeating Argentina by a score of 1-0 in overtime.
Chile 1962
The Chilean country was in charge of organizing the seventh edition of the World Cup in 1962, with 16 participants. This time, there were four groups of four teams, and two teams from each group advanced to the final stage.
The Chilean National Team was eliminated in the semifinals against Brazil by a score of 4-2, and later the “Canarinha” would be crowned for the second time by defeating Czechoslovakia by a score of 3-1 in the final that took place at the National Stadium in Santiago.
Mexico 1970 and 1986
Mexico hosted the 9th edition of the World Cup in 1970. In that World Cup, for the first time, caution (yellow) and expulsion (red) cards were used. It is also considered one of the best World Cups due to the quality of the players who attended. Sixteen teams participated in the group stage, and two teams from each group advanced to the second stage of direct elimination.
Brazil and Italy reached the final on June 21 at the Azteca Stadium and it was the South American team led by Pelé who won the championship with a 4-1 score.
For the 1986 World Cup, Mexico wasn’t going to host the event, since in 1974 FIFA had chosen Colombia, but the coffee-growing country didn’t feel up to the task: the president at the time, Belisario Bentancur, announced his resignation to organize the sporting event in 1982. It was decided then that Mexico would host the event because it had the necessary infrastructure and experience after having hosted it in 1970. The event was attended by 24 teams and 52 matches were played between 31 May and 29 June 1986.
This World Cup is known for having been the place where the Argentinian Diego Armando Maradona was crowned champion with the Albiceleste team after a 3-2 victory over Germany. Moreover, the best goal of the century and the Hand of God, both scored by the Argentine star, occurred in this game.
Curiously, the Mexican National Team has reached the quarterfinals only in the editions organized in the Aztec country.
Argentina 1978
Amidst the social problems in Argentina due to the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla, the 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina. This was the 11th edition in the history of the World Cup. There were 16 participating teams, divided into four groups of four in the first stage. Two teams from each group advanced to the second stage, which was divided into two groups. The leaders of both groups competed in the final, which was Argentina vs Netherlands. The South American team won the World Cup for the first time by a score of 3-1 on June 25, 1978 at the Monumental Stadium.
