Johnston and the 1930 World Soccer Cup

The FIFA World Cup, the world championship for international football (soccer) teams, and the world’s largest sporting event, was first played in Uruguay in 1930, from July 13 to July 30. Uruguay was chosen because it was celebrating its 100th anniversary as an independent nation. Nine teams from the Americas and four from Europe participated in the competition. There were so few teams from Europe because of the cost of travel and the time involved.

A team of 16 players represented the United States. Remarkably, two of the players were from Johnston! One of them was Andrew Auld, who played for the Providence Gold Bugs. The other was the captain of the team, Tommy Florie, who lived in Hughesdale and played for the New Bedford Whalers.

The U.S. squad, to reach Uruguay, spent 18 days at sea aboard the S.S. Munargo. They reached their destination on July 1, 1930 and trained from then until their opening match on July 13, the first day of the competition. In just the second match of the tournament, the U.S. beat Belgium 3-0, recording the first shutout in World Cup history. Captain Tommy Florio, representing our town, scored a goal in that game, which was played at Central Park Stadium in Montevideo.

The U.S. won its next match, again a shutout, 3-0 over Paraguay. Playing next in the semi-finals on July 26, they lost, alas, to a superior team from Argentina, 6-1. Our other man on the team, midfielder Andrew Auld, set up James Brown for our only score.

Our national team did well, though, with its best ever finish in a World Cup. They were slated to play semifinal loser Yugoslavia for third place, but the European team refused to play. The U.S. team, thus, was awarded third place.

Of course, our Johnston boys did us proud. To have two players on a national team from a little town in Rhode Island was quite an achievement, indeed. Having both of them figuring in the team’s scoring was frosting on the cake!