No ceremony as Uruguay shock hosts

ENGLAND started well enough in 1950, beating Chile 2-0 in Rio before their monumental upset against the USA. Three days later they lost 1-0 to Spain, who topped Group Two and progressed to the final four-team round also featuring Sweden, Uruguay and the hosts. The final round saw each nation playing the others once. Brazil thrashed Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1 before a winner-takes-all last game against Uruguay in the Maracana. Uruguay had drawn with Spain and beaten Sweden and a 2-1 upset in the final match (right) gave them the Cup. There was no official ceremony because it had all been planned on the basis of a Brazil win. An estimated 210,000 people attended — the largest ever crowd for a match.