Leopold "Poldi" Kielholz (9 June 1911 – 4 June 1980) was a Swiss
football striker. He participated in 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 ...
, scoring 3 goals, and also in the
1938 FIFA World Cup
The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...
. Historically, he was the first
Swiss international to score a goal for his country in a
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
tournament. He was wearing glasses during games.
Football career
Club
Leopold Kielholz started his footballing career by
BSC Old Boys Basel
Basler Sportclub Old Boys, commonly known as BSC Old Boys, Old Boys Basel or simply Old Boys or when written just OB, is a Swiss sports club based in Basel. The club is mainly known for its football but it also has track, swimming and tennis se ...
. A year later he transferred to
Black Stars Basel
FC Black Stars Basel is a Association football, football club from Basel, Switzerland.
Since the season 2012/2013 they play in Group 2 of the 1. Liga Classic, the fourth tier of Swiss football.. They were promoted to the third tier in 2019.
C ...
and another two years later to
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, a ...
.
A well-documented curiosity was that at the end of
Basel's 1929–30 season, the team set off on a Scandinavian football tour, including a visit to Germany. Six games were played in Norway, but the first was played in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
. The team travelled with 15 players, their trainer
Kertész and two functionaries. The journey started with a train ride on 2 June 1930 at quarter past seven in the morning from Basel and they arrived in Leipzig at half passed eight that evening. The game against