Uruguay were handed the the responsibility of organising the first ever World Cup in 1930 after they dangled a financial carrot before the world governing body Fifa too tasty to refuse.
Not only did the Uruguayans promise to build a brand new 80,000 capacity stadium in which the games would be played, but they also offered to pay all the hotel expenses and travel costs of each of the teams taking part.
The Uruguayans were also handy footballers, having won the last two Olympic tournaments at Paris in 1924 and Amsterdam four years later, a victory which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the country's independence.
Partly due to the three-week boat trip, European participation was limited to four nations: France, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Romania.
A first round "round-robin" format took place, producing group winners who advanced to the semi-finals.
France took on Mexico in the first ever World Cup match and France's Lucien Laurent goes down in history as the scorer of the first ever World Cup goal in the 19th minute, helping "Les Bleus" to an easy 4-1 victory.
Tension rises between bitter rivals
As expected, the favourites Uruguay emerged from their group and comprehensively disposed of Yugoslavia 6-1 in a one-sided semi-final to set up a mouth-watering final against arch rivals Argentina, who had despatched the USA by the same score in the other semi.
Pablo Dorado sent the crowd into a frenzy after only 12 minutes with the opening goal for Uruguay, but Peucelle equalised and when Guillermo Stabile put Argentina 2-1 up, the crowd went eerily silent.
The home fans were forced to bite their nails for nearly half an hour before Pedro Cea found the back of the Argentine goal with a superb individual effort that went a long way to breaking the spirit of the challengers.
Left-winger Santos Iriarte put Uruguay in front and with time running out and Argentina desperately pushing forward, Castro put the result beyond doubt with the fourth goal for the hosts.
The win sparked celebrations right across the country, while back in Argentina the streets were quiet, and a few hundred furious fans protested in front of the Uruguayan embassy.
Later the two federations broke off relations.
Tags: world Cup/world cup memories