Uruguay Football History.com
Online video museum on the history of Uruguayan football in English and Spanish.
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Museo de videos en línea sobre la historia del fútbol uruguayo en inglés y español.
Contact
• Twitter: @UruguayFootEng
• uruguayfootballenglish@gmail.com
4 Stars - Media Archive

1924 - Olympic gold medal reads "Champions of the World", reflecting the tournament's special character as FIFA's first open international tournament. It was won Zoilo Saldombide of Montevideo Wanderers.

1924 - Sporting powers of FIFA and the French Football Federation
Les pouvoirs sportifs - Organizational chart of the sporting authority according to the official report of the eighth Olympiad. This document clearly states that the FIFA and French Football Federation organized the tournament. Jules Rimet concentrated all of powers as president of the Court of Claims in charge of controlling the application of the regulation and dealing with possible protests.

1924 - Très Sports article
Pages from the Olympic Football supplement written by Lucien Gamblin in Très Sport• In this double page, Lucien Gamblin highlighted the 1924 World championship: "We are going to effectively assist in a true football world championship, the first ever organized."

1924 - The cover of the French issue proclaimed “Uruguay champions of the world”.

1924 - Article by Gabriel Hanot in Le Miroir des Sports• “A formidable football world championship”, subsequently stating that Uruguay had become world champions.





1924 Cover of L'Auto-Journal (France)• #1. "The 'Eleven' of Uruguay are champions of the world."
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1925 - A poster in Genoa (Italy) welcoming "Uruguay world champions” before a friendly vs. Nacional (Uruguay). La Celeste's team that won the 1924 Olympic Gold Medal had several players from the club.
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1924 - Covers of L'Auto-Journal and Le Miroir des Sports (France)• #1. "The 'Eleven' of Uruguay are champions of the world"• #2. A “formidable football world championship” had taken place, subsequently stating that Uruguay had become world champions.
1924 France Football article covering the proposed details of the world championship to be held at the Paris Olympics. The magazine also covered in detail FIFA and the French Football Federation's involvement in organizing the tournament.
1924 - The text, published in the official report of the eighth Olympiad, reaffirmed the global nature of the football tournament: "And no one will forget the splendid and masterful association football tournament in which the best teams from all over the world participated. For the first time, football from North and South America clashed with European football."

1924 - Article from the official French Football Federation publication France Football. It explains the start of the world football tournament at the Olympic game in Paris.

1950 - El Grafico (Argentina) references Uruguay's 4 world titles: 1924, 1928, 1930, 1950

1963 - El Grafico (Argentina) references Uruguay's 4 world titles

1950 - El Informador (Mexico) reports Uruguay's 4th world title win vs. Brazil in Maracana


1930 - Brazil reports Uruguay as 3x world champions following their win vs. Argentina in Montevideo
1929 - Chilean newspaper explaining why Uruguay may not be fielding their best XI in upcoming matches. The article references Uruguay as being back-to-back world champions in Colombes and Amsterdam.

Historians Atilio Garrido and Marcio Trevisan wrote 100 Years of Glory: The History of Uruguayan Football and A History of Football For those in a Hurry, respectively. In these books, the authors explain the documented history of the start of the first recognized open (non-amateur) world championship in 1924.

The book presents primary sources dedicated to Uruguay's recognized standing as a 4x open (non-amateur) world champion.

1930 - Graphic History of the World Cup (Chile) reports Uruguay as having won their 3rd world title.

During their tribute to Uruguay's football association, FIFA again publicly acknowledged that the 1924 and 1928 tournaments were the world championships, the first to be open for professionals directly organized by FIFA.

“Uruguay was the first nation to be crowned four-time world champion. That's right: our neighbours in the south boast four golden stars on the symbol of their confederation, and they do so with full knowledge and approval by FIFA." - Marcio Trevisan

"No doubts exist. Uruguay is a four time world champion" - Atilio Garrido’s detailed account of Uruguay’s official standing as a four-time FIFA world champion with several official primary documents presented.

The official website of the International Olympic Committee on FIFA's invovlement and recognition of the 1924 and 1928 men's Olympic tournaments as open (non-amateur) world championships equivalent to the World Cup.


Official FIFA document that explicitly confirms the special nature of the 1924 and 1928 FIFA World championships hosted at the Olympic Games of Paris and Amsterdam​​​​​​​​​​​​

Official FIFA document referenced describing how the 1924 and 1928 Olympic football tournaments are officially categorized as equivalents to the FIFA World Cup.

Historian Pierre Arrighi's books: "1924: The First Football World Championship of FIFA" and "Three Births of the Football World Championship" present an unprecedented collection of primary sources from the time detailing the organization of the 1924 and 1928 football world championships from an administrative perspective.
At the FIFA Museum in Zurich, the section on Pedro Cea mentions Uruguay's undefeated record at FIFA tournaments from 1924-1954.

The FIFA Museum also includes the 1924 and 1928 Olympics when referencing Uruguay’s record undefeated streak at the FIFA World Cup.: “Before their defeat by Hungary, Uruguay were undefeated in 21 world championship matches spread over 30 years, which includes two Olympics and three World Cups.”

From the FIFA Museum in Zürich: “By winning Olympic gold in 1924 and 1928 and the World Cup in 1930, Uruguay achieved a hat-trick of world titles.”

Spain's "Gran Vida" article summarizes the Olympic tournament and focuses on Uruguay "champions of the world".

1924 - The plaque reads: "Ici ont habite durant la VIII Olympiade les footballers Uruguayayens, champion du monde. Juin 1924."

2022 - FIFA Digital Museum in Qatar reads: "World champions four times by winning the pre-1930 Olympics of 1924 and 1928 plus the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, Uruguay also boast a joint-record 15 Copa America titles. The nation's track record is even more impressive when you consider its tiny participation of just three million and the eight Copa Libertadores triumphs of clubs Peñarol and Nacional.

1950 - Brazilian newspaper title reads: "The Uruguayans played four world tournaments. Celeste Olimpica won the four..."

1924 - Olympic gold medal reads "Champions of the World", reflecting the tournament's special character as FIFA's first open international tournament. It was won Zoilo Saldombide of Montevideo Wanderers.

Diario El Pais: A plaque was inaugurated at the Olympic Stadium in Colombes 🇫🇷, recognizing Uruguay ’s 1st of 4 FIFA world title on its 100th anniversary in a ceremony hosted by the French government & Olympic committee

100 years ago - Spanish magazine "Deportes" congratulates Uruguay on winning the title of "world champion of football" after winning gold in Paris 1924

For the 100th anniversary of Uruguay first world championship, FIFA.com published an article detailing the first three consecutive world championships won by Uruguay. The article also makes specific mention of FIFA organizing their first open tournament in 1924

1924 - Spanish magazine "Deportes" from Barcelona page 2
- "The Autograph of the World
Champions"

Page 2 of the FIFA commemorative article

1924 - French publication "Le Miroir des Sports" written by former footballer and prominent journalist Mr. Hanot, "It was the best of the 22 teams that won the formidable football world championship."

Page 3 of the FIFA commemorative article

Page 4 of the FIFA commemorative article


The newest edition of the "Official History of the FIFA World Cup" (released May 2024) re-confirms Uruguay's status as 4x FIFA (non-amateur) world champion.

At the July 4, 1980 FIFA congress, President Joao Havelange stated that the FIFA officially recognized the competition: ""At FIFA we have welcomed the initiative of the Uruguayan Football Association, granting official status to the Gold Cup. FIFA actively participates in the organization and offers its experience."

Newspaper Le Parisien 🇫🇷 published a video detailing how the 1924 Olympic tournament was always confirmed in France as FIFA's first true world championship
