On 26 May 1928, at a meeting in Amsterdam, the Fifa congress decided that a new tournament（锦标赛，联赛） open to all its members should be played. A year later in Barcelona it was agreed that Uruguay, the Olympic champions and the era's footballing superpower, should celebrate 100 years of independence by hosting the first World Cup the following year.

Only 13 nations took part in the inaugural（开始的） tournament, with a majority of nine coming from South America. All games were played in three stadiums in Montevideo and, as expected, the South American countries dominated, although the European teams did not disgrace themselves.

Some 100,000 fans packed into the Centenario Stadium for the final on 30 July to see Argentina throw away a 2-1 half-time lead as Uruguay ran out 4-2 winners.

Jules Rimet, the Fifa president and brains behind the World Cup, presented the trophy（奖品，战利品） to winning captain Jose Nazassi and football's greatest tournament was born.

After a pre-match row over which ball to use for the final, it is believed the Argentine ball was used in one half and the Uruguayan ball in the other. Rumour has it that this is how the phrase "a game of two halves" evolved.