1938
Four more countries entered the
third World Cup in 1938, with 15 teams qualifying for the
Final Stage in France. For the first time, Brazil were one
of the favourites.
Brazil's great star was Leônidas da
Silva. The European newspapers called him the 'The
Black Diamond', and 'the Rubber Man’ because of his
incredible skill. He invented the bicycle kick, and
regularly scored great goals.
The fans loved Da Silva, and clubs would always attract at
least 2,000 extra spectators when the 'Black Diamond was
playing. Leônidas is second only to Pelé as the
greatest-ever Brazilian goal scorer. His goal scoring
record was 24 goals in 24 games.
Transfer Fee - two
pairs of shoes
Da Silva's first signing-on fee included two suits and two
pairs of shoes. Today his transfer fee would probably be
£20 million!
Leônidas was the leading scorer in the 1938 World Cup with
7 goals in 5 matches. He scored four times in an
extraordinary 6-5 win over Poland in the first round. In
the second round, he scored Brazil's goal in their 1-1 draw
with Czechoslovakia. In the replay he scored the winning
goal.
A selection
error
Unfortunately for Brazil, their manager did not play either
Leônidas or the other Brazil star, Tim, in the semi-final
against Italy. Before the game he said, ‘we are keeping
them for the final.’ But the Final never came because
Brazil lost 2-1.
Defending champion Italy faced Hungary
in the Final. Hungary had played very well in the
early games in the tournament, and they were the
favourites to win. Italy had, however, saved their
best football for the final. They took a 3-1 half-time
lead, and went on to win 4-2.
A year after the 1938 World Cup the Second World War began.
The 1942 World Cup was cancelled, and the tournament not
played again for another eleven years.