Lucien Laurent

Lucien Laurent (10 December 1907 – 11 April 2005) was a French association football player who played as a forward. Playing for France, he scored the first ever FIFA World Cup goal.

Lucien Laurent
Personal information
Full name Lucien Laurent
Date of birth (1907-12-10)10 December 1907
Place of birth Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France
Date of death 11 April 2005(2005-04-11) (aged 97)
Place of death Besançon, France
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Playing position(s) Inside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1921–1930 CA Paris
1930–1932 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
1932–1933 Club Français
1933–1934 CA Paris
1934–1935 FC Mulhouse
1935–1936 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
1936–1937 Rennes 32 (11)
1937–1939 Strasbourg 28 (4)
1939–1943 Toulouse FC
1943–1946 Besançon RC
National team
1930–1935 France 10 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Laurent was born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, near Paris. He was the younger brother of Jean Laurent, who also played football and represented France and was named to the squad for the 1930 World Cup.[1]

Between 1921 and 1930, he played for the semi-professional team Cercle Athlétique de Paris, before being taken on by Sochaux, then a workers team for the car manufacturer Peugeot, where he was employed. As an amateur player, he only received basic compensation from the French Football Federation while at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.[1]

At the Estadio Pocitos in Montevideo, Laurent made history by scoring the first ever World Cup goal: a volley in the 19th minute of a game against Mexico on 13 July 1930.[2] France won the game 4–1, but lost their remaining group matches to Argentina and Chile, and were thus eliminated in the group stage. Laurent was ruled out of the third game due to an injury.[1]

Laurent was named to the French squad for the 1934 World Cup, but was unable to play due to an injury. He later moved to Rennes, playing for them until 1937, then for RC Strasbourg until 1939.[1] In all, Laurent played 10 times for France, but scored only one other goal against England in May 1931.[1]

He joined the French armed forces during World War II, but spent three years as a prisoner of war in Saxony before being released in 1943. He played two years of wartime football for Besançon before retiring in 1946, opting to become a trainer and youth coach. He was the only surviving member of the 1930 French team to see France lift the 1998 World Cup on home soil, and died seven years later at the age of 97 in Besançon.[1]

Honours
  • Finalist of 1928 Coupe de France with CA Paris
  • Winner of the Peugeot Cup in 1931 with FC Sochaux

International goals

France's goal tally first

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 July 1930Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo, Uruguay Mexico1–04–11930 FIFA World Cup
2.14 May 1931Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France England1–15–2Friendly
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References
  1. Glanville, Brian (14 April 2005). "Obituary: Lucien Laurent". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  2. Molinaro, John F. (13 November 2009). "The World Cup's 1st goal scorer". CBC Sports. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
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