In contrast to the little-noticed 1930 event, in 2030 billions of eyes, via technology unimaginable almost 100 years ago, will be focused on every minute of action. Instead of 13 teams, almost a quarter of the world's countries will be in action after the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams for 2026. For the modern fan it is almost impossible to visualise the 1930 World Cup. There was no qualification process for the 1930 tournament, instead the entire world was invited. Egypt were due to fly the flag for Africa but missed their connecting ship leaving an unwieldy 13 teams in the competition.

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Persons: Jack Coll, Mitch Phillips, Toby Davis Organizations: Lille, Wednesday FIFA, Olympic, FIFA, Mexico, Argentine, Estadio Centenario, Thomson Locations: France, Uruguay, Egypt, South America, Argentina, Paraguay, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, England, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Romania, Siam, Thailand, Japan, Africa, United States, U.S, Canada