1934 FIFA World Cup in the context of "Football in Italy"

The Italy national football team (Italian: Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in men's international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy, which is a co-founder and member of UEFA. Italy's home matches are played at various stadiums throughout Italy, and its primary training ground and technical headquarters, Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, is located in Florence.

Italy is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won four World Cup titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), reaching two more finals (1970, 1994), and finishing third place in 1990 and fourth in 1978. Italy also won two European Championships (1968, 2020), and appeared in two other finals of the tournament (2000, 2012). Italy's team also finished as runners-up in the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022, and in third place at both the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and at the UEFA Nations League in 2021 and 2023.

The Uruguay national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Uruguay), nicknamed La Celeste ("The Sky Blue") and Los Charrúas ("The Charrúas"), have represented Uruguay in international men's football since their first international match in 1902 and is administered by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol (English: Uruguayan Football Association), the governing body of football in Uruguay, which is a founding member of CONMEBOL since 1916 and a member of FIFA since 1923. It was also a member of PFC, which was the attempt at a unified confederation of the Americas from 1946 to 1961.Uruguay's home stadium is the Estadio Centenario, and they have been coached by Marcelo Bielsa since 2023.

Considered one of the most successful national teams in international competitions and by FIFA as "football's first global powerhouse," Uruguay has won four world FIFA–organized championships, two Olympic titles and two FIFA World Cups. Their first two senior world titles came at the Olympic tournaments of Paris 1924 and Amsterdam 1928, two events that were directly organized by FIFA as open tournaments that included professionals. In the former, Uruguay beat Switzerland 3–0 in the final, whereas in the latter, Uruguay defeated Argentina 2–1. They then secured a third consecutive title at the inaugural FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, where they beat Argentina 4–2 in the decisive match. Uruguay's fourth title came in 1950 after beating hosts Brazil in the final match 2–1, a match that still holds the record for the highest official attendance for a football match ever (173,850 people at the gate). On account of these achievements, the Uruguayan national team displays four five-pointed stars approved by FIFA on its football crest. Uruguay were unbeaten in world championship matches from the 1924 Olympics until their semi-final loss in the 1954 World Cup marking a 30-year win streak and winning four consecutive world titles in tournaments they participated in, having chosen to opt out of the 1934 and 1938 World Cups. In regional competitions, Uruguay has won the Copa América 15 times, having also won the inaugural edition in 1916, second only to Argentina for the most titles in the tournament's history, with their most recent title in 2011. As of 2025, based on international senior official titles, Uruguay have won the second most major trophies, behind Argentina.

The United States men's national soccer team, simply known as USMNT and officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international soccer, which is governed by the United States Soccer Federation founded in 1913. It has been an affiliate member of FIFA since 1914 and a founding affiliate member of CONCACAF since 1961. Regionally, it is an affiliate member of NAFU in the North American Zone. From 1946 to 1961, it was a member of NAFC, the former governing soccer body in North America and a predecessor confederation of CONCACAF, and also a member of PFC, the former unified confederation of the Americas.

The United States has qualified for the FIFA World Cup twelve times, it is one of four CONCACAF teams to have advanced to the knockout stage, finishing in third place in 1930, reaching the quarter-finals in 2002 and also reaching the round of 16 in four editions. Their third place in Uruguay 1930 is the best result by a CONCACAF team in the competition and is the only non-European or South American team to achieve a World Cup podium finish. They returned in 1934 and 1950, defeating England 1–0 in the latter, but did not qualify again until 1990. As host in 1994, the U.S. received an automatic berth and lost to Brazil in the round of 16. They qualified for the next five World Cups, a feat shared with only seven other nations. In 2026, the United States will host the World Cup for the second time. It has qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup four times, finishing as runners-up in 2009, defeating top ranked European champions Spain 2–0 in the semifinal and losing to Brazil in the final, and also finishing in third place twice.

The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the 8th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever World Cup title. The final was level at 2–2 after 90 minutes and went to extra time, when Geoff Hurst scored two goals to complete his hat-trick, the first to be scored in a men's World Cup final. Portuguese striker Eusébio was the tournament's top scorer, with nine goals clinching the golden boot with three goals more than second placed Helmut Haller. It was the first FIFA World Cup held in the English-speaking world.

England were the fifth nation to win the event, and the third host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934. Two time reigning champions Brazil failed to get past the group stages as they were defeated by Hungary and Portugal. It was the second time that defending champions were eliminated in the group stages after Italy in 1950. This would not occur again until 36 years later. The two debut teams performed well at the competition – North Korea beat Italy 1–0 on the way to reaching the quarter-finals, where they lost to Portugal 5–3 after leading 3–0. Portugal themselves finished third, beating Soviet Union 2–1 in the bronze-match.

Vittorio Pozzo (Italian pronunciation: [vitˈtɔːrjo ˈpottso]; 2 March 1886 – 21 December 1968) was an Italian football player, manager and journalist.

The creator of the Metodo tactical formation, Pozzo is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and is the only manager to guide a national team to two FIFA World Cup titles as coach, leading the Italy national team to victory in the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cups. Nicknamed Il Vecchio Maestro ("The Old Master"), he also led Italy to a gold medal at the 1936 Olympic football tournament, becoming the only manager to win both Olympic Games and World Cup, and managed the Italian championship squads of the 1930 and 1935 editions of the Central European International Cup.

The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in the final held in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. It was Italy's third World Cup title, but their first since 1938. The defending champions, Argentina, were eliminated in the second round (finishing third and last in their group). Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait and New Zealand made their first appearances in the finals.

The tournament featured the first penalty shootout in World Cup competition. This was the third and last World Cup to feature two rounds of group stages. It was also the third time (after 1934 and 1966) that all four semi-finalists were European.