At a time Olympics was the real deal, Jules Rimet's idea of a World Cup found few takers
The Jules Rimet Trophy that was awarded to World Cup winners till 1970. Getty. Lead image above: Marcelo Campi/Wikimedia Commons
Call it the new French Renaissance, if you will. The impact of the sporting revolution at the turn of the 20th century in France has kept on giving. The spark was first lit by Pierre de Coubertin, educationist and sociologist, who founded the International Olympic Council (IOC) in 1894, launching the Games two years later.
The international football federation, FIFA, was also born in Paris, in 1904, with Coubertin’s compatriot, the business-minded lawyer Jules Rimet the driving
force. However, the modern Olympics, which began in 1896, and the sporting event rivalling it in scope and commercial size, the FIFA World Cup which started in 1930, could not have charted more divergent paths. Read more
Vittorio Pozzo during the 1934 final against Czechoslovakia. Getty
He started his career as a journalist and returned to take up media duties, but what Vittorio Pozzo achieved in between makes the most influential tactician in football during the pre-World War II era.
World football was stumbling through early pangs and arguments over the place of professionals in the game when the second World Cup was played in Italy in 1934. The venue for the edition was not popular to begin with, as Italy was under the fascist
rule of Benito Mussolini. Pozzo, handed the reins of the Italy team, set off a revolution by introducing his Metodo tactical formation, and going on to win the 1934 and 1938 World Cups. Read more
Diminutive forward Lucien Laurent scored only two goals in 11 appearances for France, but his name will forever be associated with one of the brightest moments in football. The honour of scoring the first goal in a World Cup goes to the then 23-year-old, who achieved that feat in the inaugural 1930 tournament in Uruguay. Read more
Lucien Laurent scored the first goal in World Cup history. Twitter/@FIFAWorldCup
