The 1934 World Cup in Italy was in many ways a fascinating tournament, for both good reasons and bad. As previously mentioned, it was used as a platform to promote a political ideology, with the intention of showcasing fascism abroad and gaining support for the regime at home. It took place in a time of great European political upheaval. It was the only World Cup in the tournaments history where every team in the last 8 was European. It was also the first World Cup for which teams had to actually qualify. In some ways, by todays standards of professionalism at least, it was somewhat farcical. For example, the reigning champions Uruguay refused to participate, in retaliation for many European teams being unwilling to make the journey to South America for the 1930 tournament. The UK nations wanted no part either, believing a world football tournament to be beneath them. Chile and Peru withdrew, so Argentina and Brazil qualified without even playing a match, however they both travelled halfway around the world only to be knocked out in their first game, the cup being a straight knockout tournament. The United States qualified just 3 days before the competition began. Plus, Italy had to qualify, even though they were hosts!

 

Nethertheless, under the watchful stare of Benito Mussolini, a number of superb teams made their mark on history, among them the Austrian Wunderteam, hosts and one of the all-time great sides Italy, an excellent Argentina side, a fantastic Hungarian team - and this squad.  Czechoslovakia put in outstanding performances at both 1930’s World Cups. In Italy, they saw off their first rivals Romania 2-1, and fought a hard battle against Switzerland before Nejedly scored the winner in the 84th minute. They found themselves facing Germany in the semi-finals. Mussolini was banking on a German win in order to set up a final match between the two leading fascist powers, Germany and Italy, using the game as a showpiece for the regime. However, the Czechs had the guts to spoil his plans, beating the Italians 3-1 thanks to a Nejedly hat-trick and securing their spot in the final instead.

 

The Czechs were extremely unfortunate not to win this World Cup. With 20 minutes left in the final, Puc scored to put them in the lead. With the clock ticking down and tension building up, Orsi rescued Italy with just nine minutes to go, and in the fifth minute of extra time, Angelo Schiavio scored the winner. The Swedish referee, Ivan Eklind, was seen talking with Mussolini before the game, and the Czechs argued that he was far from impartial during the final. Eklind, who also allegedly favoured Italy over Austria in the previous match, was banned from officiating for life.  The Czechs were back in 1938, defeating Holland by scoring 3 goals in the dying moments, before facing up to Brazil in the infamous ‘Battle of Bordeaux’. Unable to beat the Czechs by playing fair, Brazil turned the match into a kicking contest. Brazil’s Procopia was sent off in the 14th minute for breaking Nejedly’s leg, ending his football career. The match culminated in an all out brawl in which two additional players, one from each side, were sent off. The Czech goalie even played through extra-time with a broken arm. In the end, Brazil won the replay, and Czechoslovakia became one of the best teams that never won the World Cup.

Achievements: FIFA World Cup – Runners up x1

Star player: Antonin Puc DoB 16 May 1907, Jinonice, Austria-Hungary

Antonin Puc is the all time leading goal-scorer for the Czechoslovakian national team. In a 12 year international career, Puc played 61 matches for Czechoslovakia and notched up 31 goals. Two of these occurred in the 1934 World Cup where he hit the net in the final against Italy. He also played in the 1938 World Cup. Most of Puc’s club career was spent with Sparta Prague. After the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Jan Koller finally surpassed his scoring record in 2005. Puc died in 1988 at 80 years old.