June 10, 1934: Italy Win the World Cup On Home Soil

Angelo Schiavio

June 10, 1934: The Final is played in the 2nd FIFA World Cup tournament, at the Stadio Nazionale in Rome.

Only 13 countries competed in that 1st World Cup, in 1930. Due to the distance to Uruguay in South America, only 3 of them were from Europe, and none were from Africa or Asia. This time, with the tournament in Europe, 16 teams qualified:

* From Europe: Hosts Italy, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

* From South America, Brazil and Argentina. Defending Champions Uruguay boycotted the tournament, due to most European teams refusing to come to their country for the original tournament. From 1950 onward, FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, allowed all defending Champions, as well as all host nations, to qualify automatically.

* From the North American/Caribbean region, the United States qualified, by winning a Playoff in Italy, in their 1st-ever match against the country that would become its soccer arch-rival, Mexico. It would be a long time before they beat Mexico again.

* And Egypt became the 1st country on the African continent to qualify, though it's usually thought of as more "the Middle East" than "Africa."

* No Asian nations qualified.

The tournament began on May 27, as a straight 16-team tournament, with no group stage. As the old joke goes, like a teabag, America did not stay in the Cup for very long: Italy beat them, 7-1. Angelo Schiavio of Bologna scored a hat trick.

The only U.S. goal was scored by a man of Italian descent, Angelo "Buff" Donelli, in the 57th minute. Donelli was also a star in American football, playing at Duquesne University in his native Pittsburgh. He later coached there, and in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Rams.

Buff Donelli

In the other Round of 16 games, like that one played on May 27, Spain beat Brazil, 3-1 in Genoa; Hungary beat Brazil, 4-2 in Naples; Switzerland beat the Netherlands, 3-2 in Milan; Czechoslovakia beat Romania, 2-1 in Trieste; Sweden beat Argentina, 3-2 in Bologna; Germany beat Belgium, 5-2; and Austria needed extra time to beat France, 3-2 in Turin.

In the Quarterfinals, on May 31, Germany beat Sweden, 2-1 in Milan; Austria beat Hungary, 2-1 in Bologna; Czechoslovakia beat Switzerland, 3-2 in Turin; and Italy and Spain played to a 1-1 draw in Florence.

That required a replay, and, the next day, Italy won, 1-0, on a goal in the 11th minute, by Internazionale Milano star Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the San Siro Stadium in Milan, already in use by this point, would later be formally named, though everyone still calls it "The San Siro." It has been alleged that Italy cheated, interfering with the Spanish goalkeeper, Juan José Nogués, on the goal -- and he was already a substitute, with Ricardo Zamora having been injured the day before -- and having 2 legitimate Spanish goals disallowed.

The Semifinals were held on June 3, but were marred by torrential rain. Czechoslovakia beat Germany, 3-1 in Rome, with Sparta Prague star Oldřich Nejedlý scoring a hat trick. At the San Siro, host Italy wore light blue, like Lazio; while the "Wunderteam" of Austria, led by the illustrious Matthias Sindelaar, wore white.

And a 19th-minute goal by Enrique Guaita gave Italy a 1-0 win over Austria at the San Siro. Guaita was an Argentine of Italian descent, and thus allowed to play for Italy under the rules of the time, although this has been cited as an example of Italy "cheating" to win this World Cup.

Internazionale's Giuseppe Meazza, playing on a soaked version of his home field, hits the post in the 19th minute, but Enrique Guaita, an Argentine allowed to play for Italy, and his "club football" for AS Roma, puts the rebound in, for the only goal in a 1-0 Italy win.

Guaita was one of many Argentines to have played in Italy's league, Serie A, including his 1934 national teammates Luis Monti and Raymundo Orsi, both of Turin team Juventus. The most famous of these was a non-Italian: Diego Maradona, leading SSC Napoli to the title in 1987 and 1990.

The Final was played a week later, in 104-degree heat in Rome. The game was scoreless until the 71st minute, when Antonín Puč of Slavia Prague put the Czechs on the board. (A Czecher-board?) Orsi tied the game in the 81st, and it went to extra time. Schiavio scored in the 95th minute, and the Czechs could not find an equalizer. Italy won, 2-1, and took the World Cup on home soil, much to the delight of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who was in attendance.

It had been 10 years to the day since Mussolini had had Opposition Leader Giacomo Matteotti assassinated.

The 47,300-seat Stadio Nazionale was built in 1911, and both major Rome teams used it: SS Lazio starting in 1931, and AS Roma starting in 1940. It was torn down in 1953, and replaced by the Stadio Flaminio in 1957.

Italy would win the World Cup again in 1938, 1982 and 2006, reaching the Final but losing in 1970. They hosted again in 1990, reaching the Semifinals.

UPDATE: An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 23rd and last, citing the lack of competition and the seeming favoritism of the officials toward the hosts.

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June 10, 1934 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 7-3 at Yankee Stadium. Usually a reliever, Johnny Murphy started, and went 8 innings for the win. Burleigh Grimes, in his last season as the last pitcher legally allowed to throw the spitball, pitched the 9th. Babe Ruth went 0-for-1... with 3 walks. Lou Gehrig hit a grand slam. For the A's, Jimmie Foxx went 0-for-3 with a walk, and had an RBI on a sacrifice fly; while Roger "Doc" Cramer, of Beach Haven on New Jersey's Long Beach Island, hit a home run.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 18-7 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Player-manager Bill Terry went 2-for-4 with 2 walks. Mel Ott went 3-for-5 with a home run, a walk, and 5 RBIs. Carl Hubbell only went 4 2/3rds innings, so, while he was awarded the win under the rules of the time, he would not have gotten it under the rules of today.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Boston Braves, 10-8 at Ebbets Field. In the top of the 11th inning, Randy Moore singled Buck Jordan home, and then an error on a Pinky Whitney grounder allowed Hal Lee to score an insurance run.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-1 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Dizzy Dean went the distance for the win.

May 24, 1934: U.S. Soccer's 1st Game (and Win) vs. Mexico

May 24, 1934: The national soccer teams of the United States of America and the United Mexican States play each other for the 1st time -- not in either country, and not with the result most people would have expected then, or now.

It was in Rome, Italy, and it was for the 16th and last qualifying spot in the FIFA World Cup, which had only been contested once before, in 1930, with Uruguay winning on home soil, beating Argentina in the Final. In that tournament, the U.S. beat Belgium and Paraguay, before losing to Argentina in the Semifinal. It remains the U.S.' best World Cup performance ever.

For 1934, the U.S. squad consisted of the following, many of them immigrants, who nonetheless qualified for this team under the rules of that time:

* Goalkeepers: Julius Hjulian of Sweden and Chicago.

* Defenders: George Moorhouse of Liverpool and New York, Ed Czerkiewicz and Joe Martinelli of Rhode Island, Al Harker of Philadelphia, and Herman Rapp of Stuttgart and Philadelphia.

* Midfielders: Tom Amrhein of Baltimore, Bill Fiedler of Philadelphia, Jimmy Gallagher of Scotland and Cleveland, William Lehman of St. Louis, Tom Lynch of Brooklyn, Tom Florie of Harrison (New Jersey), Peter Pietras of Trenton (New Jersey), and Bill Gonsalves of Fall River (Massachusetts).

* Forwards: Aldo "Buff" Donelli of Pittsburgh, Walter Dick of Scotland and Niagara Falls, Willie McLean of Scotland and Chicago, Werner Nilsen of Norway and St. Louis, and Francis Ryan of Philadelphia.

Donelli also played gridiron football, and later coached in his hometown, both at Duquesne University and with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moorhouse, Florie, Gallagher and Gonsalves had played for the U.S. team in 1930.

Since the British "Home Nations" of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland did not participate in the World Cup until 1950, due to a dispute with FIFA, Moorhouse was the 1st native of England to play in the World Cup. Probably because he was trained to play in England, then considered the world's soccer capital, he was named Captain of this team.

George Moorhouse

The game against Mexico was played at the Stadio Nazionale in Rome, which would also host the World Cup Final. Since 1931, it had been the home of soccer team S.S. Lazio. In 1940, it would become the home of Lazio's arch-rivals, A.S. Roma. The Americans won, 4-2, with Donelli scoring all 4 goals.

Aldo "Buff" Donelli

The state of American soccer in 1934 was such that it was operating on what would now be considered a minor-league level. There were plenty of teams in the Northeast, in the Midwest, and on the West Coast, many of them ethnically based: Irish, Scottish, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Jewish.

Given that it was the Great Depression, there was room for the national team to become national heroes, if they could follow up a win over neighboring Mexico with a good performance at the World Cup. That year, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers both electrified the nation with their play, culminating in an epic World Series that the Cardinals won in Game 7. The Chicago Bears had become heroes of professional football. The Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks had already gotten Americans to cheer hockey. And boxers galore had excited people. If the U.S. soccer team could do well at the World Cup...

Stadio Nazionale

They didn't. Their 1st Round game was against the hosts, and Italy beat them, 7-1. Donelli scored the only U.S. goal. Angelo Schiavio of Bologna F.C. scored 3 goals. The last Italy goal was scored by Giuseppe Meazza of Internazionale Milano, the greatest Italian player of his generation, a man so loved that the home ground of both "Inter" and their rivals A.C. Milan, the greatest sporting venue in the country, known for its neighborhood as the San Siro, is officially named Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

So there would be no follow-up heroics for the U.S. team. They didn't even qualify for the 1938 World Cup in France. Their next game against Mexico didn't come until 1937, at Parque Asturias in Mexico City, and they lost, 7-2.

It would take until April 28, 1957 for the U.S. to play a home game against Mexico, a Qualifier for the 1958 World Cup, at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach, California, a 7-2 loss. The next U.S. win wouldn't happen until November 23, 1980, a Qualifier for the 1982 World Cup, at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a 2-1 U.S. win. And the U.S. wouldn't beat Mexico in Mexico until August 15, 2012, a 1-0 win in a friendly at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. 

In 1953, Roma and Lazio both moved into the Stadio Olimpico, which became the main stadium for the 1960 Olympics. After the move, the Stadio Nazionale, site of the 1934 U.S.-Mexico game, was demolished, and replaced with the Stadio Flaminio in 1959. It was used for the soccer games of the 1960 Olympics, and as the home of both Roma and Lazio in the 1989-90 season, while the Olimpico was demolished and rebuilt for the 1990 World Cup. The Flaminio is now home to Capitolina, a professional rugby team.

Stadio Flaminio

Buff Donelli died in 1994. The last survivor of the 1934 U.S. World Cup team was Al Harker, who lived until 2006.

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May 24, 1934 was a Thursday. Football, basketball and hockey were out of season. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Hall-of-Famer Lefty Gomez outpitched former Yankee Milt Gaston. Babe Ruth, in his last season as a Yankee, went 0-for-3, before being replaced in the field by Sammy Byrd, who was already known as "Babe Ruth's Legs." Lou Gehrig went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-1 at the Polo Grounds. Carl Hubbell went the distance for the win. Gus Mancuso hit a home run, Mel Ott went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI, and 1st baseman-manager Bill Terry had a double in 4 at-bats.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Ebbets Field. Frankie Frisch and Joe Medwick each had 2 hits for the eventual World Champions. They are remembered as "the Gashouse Gang," although they didn't get that nickname until the following season.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 7-3 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Curt Davis pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-3 at Navin Field in Detroit. (It was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938 and Tiger Stadium in 1961.) For the Tigers, Hank Greenberg went 2-for-4. For the A's, Jimmie Foxx went 0-for-5, but got on RBI on a groundout.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Washington Nationals, 6-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* And the Cleveland Indians were supposed to play the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, but the game was rained out. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 22, and the Indians swept, 4-2 and 6-5.