By Ollie Irish
Italy’s triumphant players pose for a photo after winning the 1934 World Cup final on home soil
Photo: EMPICS
In front of 50,000 fans, crammed inside the Stadio Nazionale PNF in Rome (it was demolished in 1953 and replaced by the Stadio Flaminio), Italy won the second ever World Cup tournament, beating Czechoslovakia in a tight, tense final.
Antonin Puc put the Czechs 1-0 up with just 15 minutes of normal time to go, before Raimundo Orsi (a naturalised Argentine) equalised in the 81st minute. The match went to extra time, where the Italians won it thanks to a goal by striker Angelo Schiavio, playing in his final game for Italy.
Archive footage of the game:
Looks wonderfully brutal.
If you’re wondering where England or indeed any of the Home Nations were, they again declined to take part. An FA rep said at the time: “The national associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have quite enough to do in their own International Championship, which seems to me a far better World Championship than the one to be staged in Rome.”
And we wonder why half the world thinks the English are snobs.