Editing 1934 FIFA World Cup (section)

==Summary==
{{for|a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament|1934 FIFA World Cup squads}}
[[File:1934_FIFA_World_Cup.png|left|thumb|300px|Qualifying countries and their results]]

All eight first-round matches kicked off at the same time.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Hunt|2006|p=26}}</ref> Hosts and favourites Italy won handsomely, defeating the USA 7–1; ''[[The New York Times]]'' correspondent wrote that "only the fine goal-tending of [[Julius Hjulian]] of Chicago kept the score as low as it was".<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Wangerin|2006|p=98}}</ref>

[[File:1934 FIFA World Cup Final - Italy v Czechoslovakia - Pozzo, Monzeglio, Bertolini, Combi, Monti and Carcano.jpg|thumb|250px|From left to right: Italian manager [[Vittorio Pozzo|Pozzo]], [[Eraldo Monzeglio|Monzeglio]], [[Luigi Bertolini|Bertolini]], the goalkeeper and captain [[Gianpiero Combi|Combi]], [[Luis Monti|Monti]] (half-hidden) and the assistant manager [[Carlo Carcano|Carcano]] (behind) before the start of extra time in the victorious final versus Czechoslovakia]]
Internal disputes meant Argentina's squad for the tournament did not contain a single member of the team which had reached the final in 1930. In the end, ''La Albiceleste'' would partake with an amateur squad.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Glanville|2005|p=26}}</ref> Against Sweden in Bologna, Argentina twice took the lead, but two goals by [[Sven Jonasson]] and a winner by [[Knut Kroon]] gave Sweden a 3–2 victory.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Freddi|2006|p=20}}</ref> Fellow South Americans Brazil also suffered an early exit. Spain beat them comfortably, with 3–1 as the final score.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Hunt|2006|p=27}}</ref>

For the only time in World Cup history, the last eight consisted entirely of European teams – [[Austria national football team|Austria]], [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]], [[Germany national football team|Germany]], [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]], [[Italy national football team|Italy]], [[Spain men's national football team|Spain]], [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]], and [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]]. All four non-European teams who made the journey to Italy were eliminated after one match.

In the quarter-finals, the first replayed match in World Cup history took place, when Italy and Spain drew 1–1 after extra time. The match was played in a highly aggressive manner with several players of both sides injured: rough play injured the Spanish goalkeeper [[Ricardo Zamora]] in the first match, leaving him unable to participate in the replay, while on the other side rough play by Spaniards broke the leg of the Italian [[Mario Pizziolo]] who would not play in the national team again.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Baker|1988|p=248}}</ref> Italy won the replay 1–0; their play so physical that at least three Spaniards had to depart the field with injuries.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Wilson|2009|p=71}}</ref> Italy then went on to beat Austria in the semi-finals by the same score. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakia secured their place in the final by beating Germany 3–1.

The [[Stadio Nazionale PNF|Stadium of the National Fascist Party]] was the venue for the final. With 80&nbsp;minutes played, the Czechoslovaks led 1–0. The Italians managed to score before the final whistle and then added another goal in extra time to be crowned World Cup winners.

Throughout the years, several sources have reported that the tournament was marred by bribery and corruption, and could have been influenced by Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]], who used the tournament as a propaganda tool for [[fascism]]. According to these accusations, Mussolini personally selected referees for the matches where the Italy national team were playing, while the Italian government meddled in FIFA's organisation of events, re-organizing the logistics of the matches to further promote fascism.<ref name="bbc" >{{Cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS0yeCONIaM | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/oS0yeCONIaM| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live|title=Fascism and Football |date=2009 |publisher=[[BBC]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="football_times" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=25 April 2013 |title=Research: World Cup matches fixed in '34, '78 |url=http://www.espn.com/soccer/news/story/_/id/1425310/researchers-say-dictators-fixed-world-cup-matches-1934-1978 |access-date=9 July 2021 |website=[[ESPN]]}}</ref><ref name="cnn" >{{Cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/06/08/world.cup.soccer.politics/index.html |title=When worlds collide: Soccer vs. politics |last=Weiner |first=Matthew |date=8 June 2010 |website=[[CNN]] |language=en |access-date=14 June 2018}}</ref> Nonetheless, Italy also won the [[1938 FIFA World Cup|following edition]] of the World Cup (held in [[France]]) as well as the [[Football at the 1936 Summer Olympics|Olympic football tournament in 1936]].