Ivan Henning Hjalmar Eklind (October 15, 1905 – July 23, 1981) was a football referee from Sweden known for refereeing the 1934 FIFA World Cup Final between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He is the youngest referee, to this day, to officiate a

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 ha ...

final at the age of 28.

Career

Eklind officiated the

1934 FIFA 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 w ...

semi-final

–

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(1–0), as well as the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

which Italy won 2–1 over

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Afterwards he was heavily criticised for having favoured the Italian team with his decisions. According to John Molinaro, Referee Ivan Eklind was said to have met with the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini prior to officiating Italy's semifinal and final games. Eklind officiated in 6 World Cup finals matches over 3 tournaments (1934–1950) (one as Assistant Referee to Baert in June 1938), including

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

's triumph against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in Strasbourg in which 11 goals were scored, and a Group A match at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

. Baert also went to enjoy an incredibly lengthy international career.

References

External links

Ivan Eklind
at WorldFootball.net * 1905 births 1981 deaths FIFA World Cup referees FIFA World Cup Final match officials Swedish football referees 1950 FIFA World Cup referees 1938 FIFA World Cup referees 1934 FIFA World Cup referees {{Sweden-footy-bio-stub