Hard to Handle

In 1950, England and the United States found themselves in the same opening group at the World Cup in Brazil. Because of a dispute with FIFA, this was England’s debut at the tournament and it was widely accepted that they would be the team to beat. The United States had made it to the semi-finals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930, but their hastily-assembled team was only expected to make up the numbers in Brazil. In fact, the England team was 3/1 to lift the Jules Rimet trophy, while the States were 500/1 outsiders. The England squad was comprised of professional players such as Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen, Billy Wright and Tom Finney, while the US team was filled with semi-professionals who also worked as schoolteachers, dishwashers and mailmen. The England team had just played three internationals in preparation for their trip to South America, while the North Americans had trained together for the first time on the day before they left for Brazil. On June 25th, England debuted with a 2-0 win over Chile and Spain won 3-1 against the USA