On July 16, 1950, Uruguay took on Brazil in the first Fifa World Cup final since the end of World War II. The match took place at the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
While the match was expected to be a big one for Brazil, it ended up becoming one of the biggest upsets in the history of soccer.
How They Got There
Uruguay, who won the first-ever World Cup in 1930, defeated Bolivia 8-0 during match play. Oscar Miguez scored a hat trick in that match.
The team was also supposed to play France but that team withdrew from the competition. Meanwhile, Brazil had a +6 goal differential in its three games in match play.
In the Final Round, Brazil defeated Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1. Ademir scored four of his eight goals in the World Cup during the match with Sweden, thus giving him the Golden Boot.
Uruguay played to a 2-2 draw with Spain and a 3-2 win over Sweden to get into the final.
This group stage was created with four teams that won their groups and would be placed in one final round-robin group.
This is the only time in World Cup history that such a format was used for determining who would play in the final.
Gameplay
The match was strongly in favor of Brazil with the Gazeta Esportiva publication in Sao Paolo going as far as to practically guarantee a victory.
Much of the start of the match came from Brazil staging a heavy attack on the defense. However, Uruguay was much more formidable in this process than Sweden and Spain. Were.
The match was in a scoreless tie at the half, and it would be just two minutes later that Friaca would score at 47′ to give Brazil the lead.
Uruguay captain Obdulio Varela vehemently contested the decision, claiming Franca was offside.
Brazil’s strong defense started to break down not too long after as Juan Alberto Schiaffino scored the tying goal at 66′. Alcides Ghiggia got through on the right to get the ball to Schiaffino for the assist.
At 79′, Ghiggia moved by Bigode and got the ball against Moacir Barbosa’s near post to give Uruguay the lead.
The crowd of nearly 200,000 people at the stadium became practically silent for the rest of the match as Uruguay won its second World Cup with a 2-1 win.
After the Match
While the people of Uruguay celebrated their Fifa World Cup Final win, there was a great deal of distress in Brazil.
The country threw out the twenty-two gold medals that it had already made for the players, and a large number of members of the team retired soon after.
In addition, Brazil changed the look of its uniform, feeling that the white uniform with a blue collar would be a jinx on the team.
The green and yellow template for Brazil’s uniform was introduced not too long after the match and are still in use in some form to this day.
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