Staged at eight venues throughout Italy between May 27 and June 10, 1934, the 1934 FIFA World Cup was notable for the absence of defending champions, Uruguay, who boycotted the tournament after the majority of European teams stayed away from the 1930 World Cup. Qualifying was introduced for the first time and the tournament format as straight knockout, with no group stage. Of the 16 qualified teams, 12 came from Europe, with all bar Belgium, France and Romania making their World Cup debuts. The other four teams to qualify were Egypt, the United States, Argentina and Brazil.
In their round 16 match, against the United States at the Stadio Nazionale del PNF in Rome, eventual champions Italy enjoyed a cakewalk, leading 3-0 at half-time and eventually winning 7-1, with centre-forward Angelo Schiavio scoring a hat-trick. Their quarter-final with Spain at Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence proved to be a competitive and contentious affair, thanks in no small part to Belgian referee Louis Baert. With the scores level at 1-1 after extra-time, in the absence of a penalty shoot-out, the tie went to a replay, which was played, somewhat bizarrely, at the same venue the following day. In the wake of sweeping changes on either side, the replay was no less contentious, with Italy winning 1-0, thanks to a goal from Giuseppe Meazza after 11 minutes.
Italy won their semi-final against Austria at the San Siro in Milan by the same scoreline, with Argentina-born striker Enrique Guaita turning the loose ball into the net after Meazza tackled goalkeeper Peter Platzer in the first half. In the World Cup final, against Czechoslovakia, back at the Stadio Nazionale del PNF, Italy traiiled 1-0 to an Antonín Puč after 71 minutes, but equalised through outside left Raimundo Orsi 10 minutes later to force the tie into extra time. After five minutes of the first period of extra time, Schiavio scored what turned out to be the winning goal. Sadly, the tournament as a whole was overshadowed by fascist propaganda, orchestrated by Benito Mussolini, and the final was marred by accusations of intimidation and match-fixing.