Opening games

[Panda]

They tend to vary in quality, don't they. Very few classics but a couple of huge shocks over the years...

(H) = Hosts
(C) = Champions

1930 (2 games kicked off simultaneously)
France 4-1 Mexico
USA 3-0 Belgium

1934 (all 8 first round games were played at the same time)
Spain 3-1 Brazil
Hungary 4-2 Egypt
Switzerland 3-2 Holland
Italy (H) 7-1 USA
Czechoslovakia 2-1 Romania
Sweden 3-2 Argentina
Austria 3-2 France
Germany 5-2 Belgium

1938
Germany 1-1 Switzerland

1950
Brazil (H) 4-0 Mexico

1954 (4 group games played simultaneously)
Brazil 5-0 Mexico
Yugoslavia 1-0 France
Uruguay (C) 2-0 Czechoslovakia
Austria 1-0 Scotland

1958
Sweden (H) 3-0 Mexico

1962 (4 group games played simultaneously)
Uruguay 2-1 Colombia
Chile (H) 3-1 Switzerland
Brazil (C) 2-0 Mexico
Argentina 1-0 Bulgaria

1966
England (H) 0-0 Uruguay

1970
Mexico (H) 0-0 USSR

1974
Brazil (C) 0-0 Yugoslavia

1978
West Germany (C) 0-0 Poland

1982
Argentina (C) 0-1 Belgium

1986
Italy (C) 1-1 Bulgaria

1990
Argentina (C) 0-1 Cameroon

1994
Germany (C) 1-0 Bolivia

1998
Brazil (C) 2-1 Scotland

2002
France (C) 0-1 Senegal

2006
Germany (H) 4-2 Costa Rica

2010
South Africa (H) v Mexico

[Elmer]

The only ones I really remember clear as day are the 1990 defeat of Argentina and 2002 French defeat !

[frag]

I remember the ones from 1998 onwards, with France's defeat in 2002 (which was on the day of my high-school prom) sticking solidly in my mine.

The 2006 opening day was on the same day as the first University exam that actually counted towards my degree.

~~~~ wavy lines ~~~~
The last exam that year was on the same day as the last day of the group stage. The day before that, Italy had their crucial final game against Czech Republic. One of my coursemates was half-Italian, and ran out of that exam at the end saying "what's the score? what's the score??"

[Shireblogger]

This list is a real surprise. I was almost certain that every opening game is a draw. And yet, very few are.