Sweden was given a bye due to Austria's withdrawal. Five of the seven first round matches required extra time to break the deadlock; two games still went to a replay. In one replay,
Cuba advanced to the next round at the expense of
Romania. In the other replay,
Germany, which had led 1–0 in the first game against
Switzerland, led 2–0 but eventually was beaten 2–4. This loss, which took place in front of a hostile, bottle-throwing crowd in Paris, was blamed by German coach
Sepp Herberger on a defeatist attitude from the five Austrian players he had been forced to include; a German journalist later commented that "Germans and Austrians prefer to play against each other even when they're in the same team". Until they were knocked out in the group stage in
2018, this was the only time Germany had failed to advance past the first round, and until their penalty shoot-out victory over
France in the round of 16 of
UEFA Euro 2020, this would be the last time Switzerland advanced past the first knockout game of a tournament.
Sweden advanced directly to the quarter-finals as a result of
Austria's withdrawal, and they proceeded to beat Cuba 8–0. The hosts,
France, were beaten by the holders,
Italy, and Switzerland were seen off by
Hungary.
Czechoslovakia took
Brazil to extra time in a notoriously feisty match in
Bordeaux before succumbing in a replay; the South Americans proved too strong for the depleted Czechoslovak side (both
Oldřich Nejedlý and
František Plánička had suffered broken bones in the first game) and won 2–1. This was the last match to be replayed in a World Cup. Hungary destroyed Sweden in one of the semi-finals 5–1, while Italy and Brazil had the first of their many important World Cup clashes in the other. The Brazilians were without their star player
Leônidas, who was injured, and the Italians won 2–1. Brazil topped Sweden 4–2 for third place. Rumour has it, before the finals
Benito Mussolini was to have sent a telegram to the team, saying "Vincere o morire!" (literally translated as "Win or die!"). This should not have been meant as a literal threat, but instead just an encouragement to win. However, no record remains of such a telegram, and World Cup player
Pietro Rava said, when interviewed in 2001, "No, no, no, that's not true. He sent a telegram wishing us well, but no never 'win or die'." The final itself took place at the
Stade Olympique de Colombes in
Paris.
Vittorio Pozzo's Italian side took the lead early, but Hungary equalised within two minutes. The Italians took the lead again shortly after, and by the end of the first half were leading the Hungarians 3–1. Hungary never really got back into the game. With the final score favouring the Italians 4–2, Italy became the first team to successfully defend the title and were once more crowned World Cup winners. Because of
World War II, the World Cup would not be held for next 12 years, until
1950. As a result, Italy were the reigning World Cup holders for a record 16 years, from 1934 to 1950. The Italian Vice-president of FIFA,
Dr. Ottorino Barassi, hid the
trophy in a shoe-box under his bed throughout the Second World War and thus saved it from falling into the hands of occupying troops. == Venues ==