Lucien Laurent (10 December 1907 – 11 April 2005) was a French association football player who played as a forward. Playing for France, at the 1930 World Cup he scored the first ever

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

goal against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Career

Laurent was born in

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maur-des-Fossés () is a commune in Val-de-Marne, the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. History The abbey Saint-Maur-des-Fossés owes its name to Saint-Maur Abbey founded in 638 by Queen Nan ...

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

, near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. 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. He was also part of France's squad for the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

, but he did not play in any matches. Between 1921 and 1930, he played for the semi-professional team Cercle Athlétique de Paris, before being taken on by

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy So ...

, then a workers team for the car manufacturer

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

, where he was employed. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History Hist ...

player, he only received basic compensation from the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the oversea ...

while at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. 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

on 13 July 1930. France won the game 4–1, but lost their remaining group matches to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and were thus eliminated in the group stage. Laurent was ruled out of the third game due to an injury. Laurent was named to the French squad for the

1934 World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in ...

, but was unable to play due to an injury. He later moved to

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departmen ...

, playing for them until 1937, then for

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a football in France, French association football ...

until 1939. In all, Laurent played 10 times for France, but scored only one other goal against England in May 1931. He joined the French armed forces during World War II, but spent three years as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

in Saxony before being released in 1943. He played two years of wartime football for

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerlan ...

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 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

on home soil, and died seven years later at the age of 97 in

Honours

* Finalist of 1928

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professional ...

with CA Paris * Winner of the Peugeot Cup in 1931 with

FC Sochaux FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pak ...

International goals

France's goal tally first

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurent, Lucien 1907 births 2005 deaths Sportspeople from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés French footballers France international footballers FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players FC Mulhouse players Stade Rennais F.C. players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Racing Besançon players Ligue 1 players Olympic footballers of France Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics 1930 FIFA World Cup players 1934 FIFA World Cup players French military personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany French prisoners of war in World War II Club Français players Association football inside forwards Footballers from Val-de-Marne