1950 Worl Cup- The Final Stages DVD

For the first time ever here is the only known footage of the 1950 Tournament in Brazil. Only 13 teams featured and it culminated in a titanic battle between favourites Brazil and World Champions Uruguay. In the newly-built Maracana stadium containing a staggering 205 000 fans Brazil are defeated by the brilliant Alcides Ghiggia. The silence in the stadium is deafening! Also features the defeat of a very strong English side by the USA. The 1950 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938... the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II. It was won by Uruguay who had won the inaugural competition in 1930 clinching the cup by beating the hosts Brazil 2-1 in the deciding match of the four-team final group (this was the only tournament not decided by a one-match final). It was also the first tournament where the trophy was referred to as the Jules Rimet Cup to mark the 25th anniversary of Rimet's presidency of FIFA. A combined Great Britain team had recently beaten the rest of Europe 6-1 in an exhibition match and England went into the competition as one of the favourites. However it was not to be as they went crashing out on 29 June in a shock 1-0 defeat by the United States (when the score appeared in English newspapers many thought it was a misprint) which combined with their 1-0 defeat by Spain led to England being eliminated. Italy the defending champions lost their unbeaten record at the World Cup finals when the team was defeated 3-2 by Sweden in its opening match. Because of this defeat Italy failed to progress to the second round. The final group stage involved the teams who won their groups: Brazil Spain Sweden and 1930 FIFA World Cup champions Uruguay who were making their first World Cup appearance since winning the inaugural tournament. The World Cup winner would be the team that managed to finish on top of this group. The final group's six matches were shared between Rio de Janeiro and So Paulo. Brazil played all its final group matches at the Estdio do Maracan in Rio while the games that didn't involve the host nation were played in So Paulo. Brazil won their first two matches with a 7-1 thrashing of Sweden and 6-1 rout of Spain. Before the decisive match Brazil was sitting on top of the final group and had one game left to play against Uruguay in second and only a point behind. On July 16 before a huge home crowd of 199 954 (some estimated as 205 000) in the Estdio do Maracan the host nation only had to draw against Uruguay and the trophy would be theirs. After such crushing victories over Spain and Sweden it looked certain they would take the title especially as the home nation went ahead in the second minute of the second half thanks to a goal from Friaa. However Uruguay equalised and then with just over 11 minutes left to play went ahead 2-1 when Alcides Ghiggia squeaked a goal past Moacyr Barbosa and Uruguay was crowned World Cup champions for a second time. This stunning defeat surprised Brazil and is referred to as the Maracanazo. Translated from the Spanish into English commentary. [show more]

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