<P> Thirteen teams ( seven from South America , four from Europe and two from North America ) entered the tournament . Only a few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America . The teams were divided into four groups , with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals . The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously , and were won by France and the United States , who defeated Mexico 4 -- 1 and Belgium 3 -- 0 , respectively . Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history , while US goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first official `` clean sheet '' in the tournament . </P>
<P> Thirteen teams ( seven from South America , four from Europe and two from North America ) entered the tournament . Only a few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America . The teams were divided into four groups , with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals . The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously , and were won by France and the United States , who defeated Mexico 4 -- 1 and Belgium 3 -- 0 , respectively . Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history , while US goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first official `` clean sheet '' in the tournament . </P>
who scored the first goal in the first world cup
who scored the first goal in the first world cup
Lucien Laurent of France
Lucien Laurent of France