The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.
Across 22 iterations of the World Cup, eight different countries have lifted the trophy. But only one had the honor of winning the inaugural tournament: Uruguay, which won the very first World Cup back in 1930.
Home-field advantage likely helped Uruguay’s success, with the country hosting 13 countries that all hailed from Europe or the Americas. All of the tournament’s matches took place in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
The tournament culminated in a final between Uruguay and Argentina, which had both crushed their opponents 6-1 in the semifinals. Argentina took a 2-1 lead in the first half, but three second-half goals elevated Uruguay to a 4-2 win and the first World Cup victory.
Uruguay was presented with a trophy by FIFA president Jules Rimet, who had overseen the creation of the World Cup. The trophy — a depiction of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory — was later named after Rimet, and was used from 1930 until 1970. (In 1974, FIFA introduced the iconic golden globe-shaped trophy that is still used today.)
Uruguay went on to win the World Cup again in 1950, picking up two trophies early in the tournament’s history, but hasn’t return to the final since. In the 75 years after their second trophy, Uruguay has racked up four fourth-place finishes, including as recently as 2010, but hasn’t made it past the quarterfinals in the past three World Cup appearances. La Celeste will now try to change that this summer.