The first final.

Argentina and Uruguay had played each other for twenty-eight years by the time they walked onto the field at the Centenario. The final continued a contest for football supremacy on the Río de la Plata.

Amsterdam, two years earlier

Uruguay's Olympic title in Paris in 1924 established the country as a world power. Argentina reached the gold-medal match at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. The neighbors drew 1–1 after extra time on 10 June, forcing the only replay in the history of the Olympic men's football final. Uruguay won the replay 2–1 three days later.

During those Games, FIFA approved the creation of a world championship open to the strongest available national teams. Uruguay secured the right to host it through its two Olympic titles, an offer to cover participating nations' travel costs, and plans for a new stadium during the centenary of the country's constitution.

Argentina's five matches

Argentina opened at Parque Central on 15 July. Luis Monti's late free kick defeated France 1–0. The referee ended the match six minutes early, brought the players back from the dressing rooms, and completed the remaining time.

Guillermo Stábile entered the side for the next game and scored three times in a 6–3 victory over Mexico. He added two goals against Chile as Argentina won 3–1 and took the group. The semifinal against the United States ended 6–1, with Stábile and Carlos Peucelle scoring twice each and Monti and Alejandro Scopelli adding the others.

Argentina reached the final with four wins, sixteen goals, and five conceded. Stábile had scored seven goals in three appearances. His eighth in the final made him the tournament's leading scorer.

The team

The final XI was Juan Botasso in goal; José Della Torre and Fernando Paternoster in defense; Juan Evaristo, Luis Monti, and Pedro Suárez across midfield; and Carlos Peucelle, Francisco Varallo, Guillermo Stábile, captain Manuel Ferreira, and Mario Evaristo in attack. Both teams used the 2–3–5 formation common to the period.

Francisco Olazar and Juan José Tramutola appear together in the official team photograph. Their jobs did not resemble a modern coaching staff. In Francisco Varallo's account preserved by El Gráfico, Olazar selected the eleven and Tramutola directed the physical preparation. FIFA's current coaching record credits Tramutola for the tournament.

A final under pressure

Thousands crossed the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires. Fog disrupted the ferry traffic, leaving many supporters unable to reach Montevideo before kickoff. Police guarded Argentina's hotel. Belgian referee John Langenus sought assurances for his safety and arranged a route out of the city after the match.

Luis Monti had received threats before the final. Decades later, Varallo recalled noise outside the team's quarters and stones thrown at the windows. Those recollections document the atmosphere around the match; they also came from men carrying the memory of a painful defeat for the rest of their lives.

Two balls

FIFA had supplied no official ball for the tournament. Argentina and Uruguay each brought one to the final and demanded its use. The decision was to play the first half with Argentina's ball and the second with Uruguay's. FIFA identifies the Argentine ball as the Tiento and the Uruguayan ball as the T-model.

The change has become one of the match's most repeated details because the score changed with it. Argentina won the first half 2–1. Uruguay won the second 3–0. The sequence is part of the record; claims that the different ball decided the match remain speculation.

Ninety minutes

Pablo Dorado beat Botasso at the near post in the 12th minute. Peucelle equalized eight minutes later with a hard shot after Argentina moved the ball through the Uruguayan defense. Stábile then scored from a narrow angle in the 37th minute. Argentina went to halftime leading 2–1.

Varallo carried a knee injury into the final and struck the post after the restart. Pedro Cea equalized in the 57th minute. Victoriano Iriarte scored from distance eleven minutes later. Stábile hit the frame of the goal with Argentina chasing an equalizer. Héctor Castro's header in the 89th minute completed Uruguay's 4–2 victory.

The years after Montevideo

Argentina had established itself at the center of the new competition and left without its trophy. Several members of the side carried unusual legacies. Monti later played for Italy and became the only man to appear in World Cup finals for two countries. Stábile's eight tournament goals were the only goals of his Argentina career.

The national team waited forty-eight years for another World Cup final. When Argentina returned in 1978, it did so at home and won. The defeat in Montevideo remained the beginning of its World Cup record: five matches, eighteen goals, and a final lost after holding the lead.