Although seeded, the United States, who were fielding a largely untested team, were not expected to be strong enough to overcome Belgium so the result of their opening game came as something of a surprise.
A detailed history of the 1930 World Cup finals is available on Soccer Nostalgia.
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Overview | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Knock Out Stages
United States
Belgium
The match attracted a very respectable attendance and brought the inexperienced USA team a notable victory.
(Antony Sealey, Claudio Betta, Andre Silva)
Paraguay
The United States clinched a place in the semi-finals with a convincing win over Paraguay. Striker Bert Patenaude scored in the 10th and 15th minutes and and again in the 50th minute; however, the identity of the scorer of the second goal was in dispute and it was not until 2006 that FIFA confirmed that Patenaude had indeed scored all three, finally recognising him as the first scorer of a hat-trick in World Cup history. Given the gate at their previous match the miserable attendance is something of a mystery.
(Steve Monaghan)
Paraguay
Belgium
A single goal by Vargas Peña gave Paraguay victory in a meaningless fixture.