Uruguay's Estadio Centenario
Montevideo Home of the First World Cup
Now a relative minnow sandwiched between the South American footballing gargantuans Argentina and Brazil, the diminutive nation of Uruguay once ruled world soccer decisively; and visitors to Montevideo will find the Estadio Centenario a must-see attraction celebrating the original giants of the global game.
Uruguayan Football History
Like tango and yerba mate, footballing superiority is something proud Uruguayans assert they originated and the Argentinians merely appropriated. Early developers of the Rioplatense style (referring to the Rio de la Plata) more usually associated with their larger neighbour, Uruguay stamped their mark on world soccer competition emphatically at the dawn of the organised global game.
Following Olympic gold success in 1924 and 1928, Uruguay was selected to host the first edition of what would become arguably the greatest global sporting event: FIFA World Cup.
Modernist Football Stadium Design
Work on the Estadio Centenario, so named to celebrate the nation’s centenary, was begun in central Montevideo’s Parque de los Aliados (also known as Parque Batlle) in 1929. Designed as a monumental football temple, Estadio Centenario is an early example of the classic concrete bowl-shaped stadium with up to a 100,000 capacity, a template replicated from Rio’s Maracana to Turin’s Stadio delle Alpi and from China to Africa in the spread of the global game.
Art Deco detailing and striking modernist touches, however, set Estadio Centenario apart from some of the more brutalist styles typical of the genre. Designed by architect Juan Scasso, the stadium’s most distinctive feature is a tower thrusting 100 metres into the sky from the Tribuna Olimpica stand. The Torre de los Homenajes rises in tribute to the independent nation, echoing the nine stripes of the Uruguayan flag in its nine moulded windows.
The stands are named to reflect the early Uruguayan team’s glories: America for their Copa America (South American championship) successes in 1923 and 1926, and the Olimpica, Colombes and Amsterdam marking their Olympic victories.
Inaugural World Cup Winners Uruguay
As workers raced to complete the ambitious project, the opening matches of the 1930 World Cup were played elsewhere in Montevideo, at the stadia of local clubs Nacional and Penarol (who both now call the Centenario home); but the grand new venue was ready for Uruguay’s first match, a 1-0 defeat of Peru. The Centenario also played host to both semifinals, in which the Rioplatense sides both put on shows of thumping superiority: Argentina downing USA 6-1, and Uruguay mirroring the same score against Yugoslavia.
Most memorably, the stadium set the stage for Uruguay’s final triumph, when the hosts beat their bitter neighbouring rivals Argentina 4-2 in front of 93,000 fans to hoist the trophy for the very first time.
Museo del Futbol at Estadio Centenario
A pilgrimage to the Estadio Centenario is incomplete without a visit to the attached Museo del Futbol. The football museum exhibits cover the Olympic and 1930 triumphs, as well as Uruguay’s shock upset of hosts Brazil to win their second Jules Rimet trophy at the Maracana in World Cup 1950.
Team photos and memorabilia, medals, trophies and even stained old-school jerseys jockey for attention in this fascinating tribute to the game and its erstwhile stars, from Jose Leandro Andrade to Enzo Francescoli.
Great Football Stadium Tours
Visiting the Estadio Centenario is one of the great football experiences in the world. The stadium is open for tours most non-game days, with joint stadium-tour and museum tickets available. But to experience the venerable old structure come to rocking, raucous life, nothing beats a live soccer match. Tickets to the national team’s home fixtures and club matches involving Nacional or Penarol, all played at the Estadio Centenario, may be purchased at the stadium or through ticket agencies.
Resources:
- Goldblatt, David. The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football, London: Viking, 2006.
World Cup 1930 Trophy at the Museo del Futbol
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World Cup 1950 Exhibit at Estadio Centenario Museo
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