In today’s World Cup matches, yellow and red cards, TV broadcasts, and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology have become standard features on the field. However, if we were to go back to the first World Cup in 1930, none of these existed.
Ninety-six years ago when the inaugural World Cup took place, the way audiences watched the matches was vastly different from today. There were no TV broadcasts at that time, and even radio and newspaper reports were not as immediate as they are today.
Most fans could only enter the stadium in person and follow the pace of the game with their naked eyes from the stands. Journalists on the sidelines relied on taking notes and simple communications to later compile match reports in written form.
For many people, the game’s visuals were not repeatedly replayed after the match but were a one-time live experience – if you missed it, you had to wait for a brief description in the newspaper the next day to piece together the entire match. Here are some inventions that had not yet appeared on the field during the 1930s:
When the first World Cup was held in 1930, television was still in its developmental stages, so the inaugural matches were only broadcast on the radio. It wasn’t until the 1950 World Cup in Brazil that TV broadcasts brought the exciting game moments into people’s living rooms.
Although color television became more popular in the 1940s and 1950s, World Cup broadcasts still mainly used black and white images until 1970, when color broadcasting was first introduced.
Today, when watching any sports broadcast, almost always at some point, you can see instant replays in slow motion and from multiple angles to showcase exciting or controversial moments during the game.
However, the instant replay technology was not developed until the 1960s and was first used in broadcasting by the American Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1963.
The yellow and red card system was officially introduced into international football in 1970. Before that, disputes and fouls on the field were mainly resolved through verbal referee decisions and communication.
With more and more countries participating in the World Cup, language barriers gradually became a significant issue. It wasn’t until the 1962 World Cup in Chile, during the intense “Battle of Santiago,” that the yellow and red card system was introduced to make referee decisions clearer.
Studded football boots have been used by players since the 19th century, but the methods used back then were more rudimentary, such as directly nailing or hammering the studs into the shoe soles.
Replaceable screw-in cleats only appeared in the 1950s, and Adidas’ studded boots made their first appearance at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.
This article draws reference from the reporting by the American website Mental Floss.