We pick up once again at the 1950 World Cup, after the United States miracle match against England the United States would be thumped by Chile 5-2 but even with that win, all three teams would be grouped because back at the 1950 World Cup only one group winner would move on to the knockout round and Spain won all their games in the group but dodged a chance at the UFWC.

After Chile was eliminated from the World Cup they would hold the UFWC entering the 1952 Pan American Championships (PAC) as the host team and favorites to capture the '52 PAC. Chile went on to dominate en route to the final with notable wins over Panama (6-1), Mexico (4-0), and Uruguay (2-0) to set up a heavyweight UFWC and PAC winner take all against Brazil who were runner ups in the 1950 World Cup to Uruguay. After the World Cup Brazil made coaching and technique changes due to the Brazilian teams reputation suffering from the loss and attempted to bolster their squad going into the '52 PAC with new, younger players and up until a recent victory over Uruguay the Brazilian press and supporters gave them little chance to win. Going into the '52 PAC final Brazil was 1 point behind Chile on the table so all Chile would need to do to win the '52 PAC is draw. 1950 World Cup Golden Boot winner and Brazilian legend, Ademir kicked things off with two spectacular goals heading into halftime. The story of the second half was Brazil maintaining possession and both teams making key substitutions, The '52 PAC was one of the first international tournaments that allowed substitutions and in the 55th minute Pinga of Portuguesa subbed on for Ademir and scored the game sealer in the 86th minute to put Brazil ahead 3-0 and win the '52 Pan American Championship and to also secure the first UFWC for the historic team.

Brazil would hold the title for almost a year before dropping it to Peru who immediately handed it off to Uruguay. England had an opportunity to bring the UFWC back to Europe for the first time since the World Cup in 1950 when they faced Uruguay for the first time ever in May of 1953. Even though the game was delayed by a day because the English were battling a stomach virus on their South American tour, the rest was not enough and they would fall to Uruguay 2-1. The South American hot potato of the UFWC continued as Paraguay beat Uruguay 4-1 and then proceeded to hog the title as they missed qualification for the 1954 World Cup and began preparations for the 1955 South American Championship, which would bring the UFWC on a crash course for our next major contest on March 1st of 1955: Paraguay vs Argentina.

Argentina has always been a world class heavyweight in the soccer scene but up until this point they had never held the UFWC crown. Both teams missed out on the 1954 World Cup altogether, with Paraguay being bounced in qualifying by Brazil, while Argentina outright did not participate in qualification in that tournament and had not competed in any World Cup since 1934 due to multiple disputes ranging from issues with FIFA to conflict with the Brazillian Football Association (There's probably a fun story in there but let's stay on topic). At this time in history both Paraguay and Argentina were aggressive, forward heavy teams. Argentina was led by Rudolfo Micheli (pictured below), arguably in the prime of his career and known as one of the greatest South American scorers of all time while Paraguay was led by 5'2" Maximo Rolon who was the in the middle of being the top goalscorer in the Paraguayan Domestic League for 3 years in a row, There was firepower aplenty.

Micheli would kick things off for Argentina in the 5th minute with a goal. Not to be outdone, Rolon would equalize for Paraguay quickly in the 13th minute but Micheli buried another with a penalty shot in the 18th. The score was 2-1 Argentina going into the half but Paraguay started with the ball and within seconds of the whistle had the ball in the penalty box and were fouled by an Argentinian defender. Lining up for a penalty kick for Paraguay, Hermes Gonzalez's kick rang off the post but the rebound was quickly hammered in by Eulogio Martinez to tie the game at 2 all. The teams were dead even for the next 20 or so minutes until Micheli found the net once more to complete a much earned hat trick in the 64th minute and that goal was followed up with another by Argentinian Forward Jose Borello (I found a source saying his name was "Cucumber" but I could find nothing to back that up) to put Argentina up 4-2. Micheli would keep the pressure on with his 4th goal in the 83rd minute. Paraguay would net the ball one more time in the 89th minute off of a Salvador Villalba goal to close the game out with a score of 5-3 and Argentina would grab their first UFWC crown on their way to also winning the 1955 South American Championship. Rudolfo Micheli would be the top goal scorer of the tournament with 8 goals but would only score 2 more goals for the rest of his international career.

Argentina would hold the crown for about a year until dropping the crown back to Brazil in February of 1956. Brazil would drop it back to Italy for a single game in April '56 for their first UFWC win since 1939 before they would graciously hand the crown back to Argentina in their next game. South American dominance would continue until the 1958 World Cup when West Germany (The somewhat better one) would defeat Argentina 3-1 in June of 1958 as the opener of the World Cup. W Germany would hold the crown until being knocked out by Sweden in the Semi Finals of the Knockout Stage to hand Sweden their first UFWC since 1947 and to set up the final game we will look at in the wonderful decade that is the 50's:

Sweden v. Brazil. 1958 World Cup final, with arguably the more important title of UFWC champ being on the line as well. Due to the 1958 final being the first World Cup final to be broadcast over national television this game would also be the finale to the worlds introduction of a young, 17 year old from Brazil by the name of Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Better known as...

Pelé

Alongside Pelé was the entering his prime and one of the greatest Brazillian soccer players of all time: Garrincha. This does sound like a tall task for Sweden but we definitely cannot forget to mention that Sweden were the hosts of the 1958 World Cup and would have a massive home field advantage in front of nearly fifty thousand boisterous Swedes. Sweden would start things off in the first World Cup final between a South American and European team with a 4th minute goal from Captain Nils Liedholm after he jockey'd by multiple Brazillian defenders and buried the ball in the top corner of the net from just inside the box to put Brazil behind for the first time in the whole tournament. Quickly Brazil responded in the 9th and 32nd minute on two nearly identical low crosses delivered by Garrincha perfectly to the foot Vavá to put Brazil up 2-1 going into the half. Then, in the second half Pelé took charge in the 55th minute with a lovely flick over a defender to volley the ball into the net. Mario Zagallo would put Brazil up 4-1 with a goal in the 68th minute, and after a little hope was delivered with a Simonsson goal in the 80th minute to bring the Swedes to within 2. Pelé would dash any hope with a goal off of a headed corner in the 90th minute to seal the 1958 World Cup and bring the UFWC back home to Brazil.

Brazil would nearly hold on to the title for the remainder of the decade until they lost in December of 1959 to Uruguay 3-0. Uruguay would be your reigning defending UFWC holders entering the 60's. What does the decade of Civil Rights, Assassinations, rising Cold War tensions, and proxy wars have in store for the Soccer world and the UFWC at large?

Authors Note:

Pinga of Portuguesa is one of the sickest names I have ever heard. I wish we had a nicknaming culture like Brazil does. In my research I learned that Eulogio Martinez would end up transferring to Barcelona and he scored the first ever goal at Nou Camp Stadium. He would also end up becoming a full citizen of Spain and would go on to earn 8 caps for the Spanish National Team, I couldn't fit that in naturally anywhere above so I wanted to put that here. I really enjoy writing about the UFWC and hope you guys have been enjoying this journey through the past as well! Let me know what you guys think if you made it this far and what you'd like to see in the 60's!