Uruguay stun Brazil to claim their second World Cup title.

After a 12-year hiatus due to the war, the World Cup was back in 1950 and, thanks to the newly built Maracana Stadium, bigger than ever. 

Hosts Brazil were targeting a first World Cup title and the Maracana was set to be the perfect stage on which for them to shine but not everyone had read the script, most notably South American neighbours Uruguay.

Having won the inaugural tournament in 1930, the Uruguayans were still a force to be reckoned with but they certainly led a charmed existence 20 years later in Brazil.

First, they had reached the finals without playing a single Qualifier. Second, due to withdrawals and an interesting format used by FIFA, they were paired only with Bolivia at the Group Stage, while the other three groups consisted of either three or four nations.

As a result, their comprehensive 8-0 victory over Bolivia – which was contested on this day – was all that was needed to see them through to the four-team mini-league that would decide the tournament winners, alongside Sweden, Spain and the hosts.

However, due to the way the league system played out, the final match-up between Brazil and Uruguay proved to be a Final in all but name, with the hosts needing only a draw and Uruguay requiring victory to become champions.

With 174,000 fervent fans crammed into the Maracana, the majority of whom were cheering on the Samba boys, the atmosphere was one of confidence and when Friaca opened the scoring for Brazil in the 47th minute the stadium erupted.

Uruguay refused to accept what was considered the inevitable, however, and 20 minutes later were back on level terms through Juan Schiaffino. And when Alcides Ghiggia gave Uruguay the lead with just over ten minutes to play, the Maracana was stunned into silence.

And that was how it stayed.

Uruguay claimed their second title, Brazil would have to wait another eight years before getting their hands on the trophy and a new noun in Spanish was created: Maracanazo, a term still used today to signify a Brazilian team beaten by foreign rivals at the famed stadium.