1938

Notes

Third FIFA World Cup, the last before WW2 (no tournaments in 1942 or 1946). Originally 16 teams: Austria qualified but withdrew after the March 1938 Anschluss annexed it into Nazi Germany; Sweden received a walkover into the QFs. Italy retained their title under coach Vittorio Pozzo — the only manager to win two World Cups. Spain absent (Civil War); England, Argentina, Uruguay declined. Brazil's Leônidas won the Golden Boot with 7 goals including a famous hat-trick in Brazil 6-5 Poland (a.e.t.). Two R16 ties needed replays (Switzerland-Germany; Cuba-Romania) and one QF tie did (Brazil-Czechoslovakia).

📚 Trivia

• contextAustria qualified for 1938 but withdrew after the March 1938 Anschluss annexed it into Nazi Germany. Sweden received a walkover into the quarter-finals. Several Austrian players (Sindelar, Bican) refused to join the German national team afterwards — Sindelar died mysteriously a few months later. Eight ex-Austrian players were forced into Germany's 1938 squad post-Anschluss.
• recordsVittorio Pozzo of Italy is the only manager ever to win two FIFA World Cups (1934 + 1938). Italy in 1938 became the first nation to retain the World Cup title.
• matchesBrazil 6-5 Poland in the 1938 round of 16 was an extra-time goal-fest with hat-tricks on both sides — Leônidas for Brazil and Ernst Wilimowski for Poland. Wilimowski's 4 goals in a single match remain a World Cup record matched only a handful of times since.
• firstsCuba made their only-ever World Cup appearance in 1938 and reached the quarter-finals (after upsetting Romania in a R16 replay). They have never qualified again.
• format1938 needed three replays — Switzerland-Germany (R16), Cuba-Romania (R16), and Brazil-Czechoslovakia (QF) — bringing the total to 18 matches in 16 days. Penalty shootouts didn't yet exist; ties went to a full replay 24-48 hours later.