Guillermo Stábile (17 January 1905 – 26 December 1966) was an Argentine professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. At club level, Stábile won two national championships with

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

and played in Italy and France. He was the top scorer of the

1930 FIFA World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, ...

, the inaugural iteration of the tournament. As manager, he led Argentina to victory at six South American Championships and Racing Club to three league titles.

Club career

Early career

Stábile was born in

Parque Patricios Parque Patricios is a ''barrio'' located on the southern side of Buenos Aires, Argentina belonging to the fourth ''comuna''. Parque Patricios underwent a transformation during the beginning of the 1900s. The government moved the main slaughterho ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. He began his career with local club Sportivo Metán and from 1920, with

. In 1924, he progressed to the first team which played in Argentina's top league, which then still had amateur status. He started out on the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

but soon evolved into a

. Stábile won many competitions with Huracán, most notably the championships of 1925 and 1928 and the regional trophy ''Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren'' in 1925.

Genoa

After capturing the world's attention with his impressive feats in the First World Cup, he was signed by

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. He instantly became a fan favourite, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on his debut against rivals

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. He stayed with the Genoan club for five years, playing 41 games and scoring 16 goals.

Napoli

During the 1935–36 season, he moved to

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

with Antonio Vojak transferring the other way to Genoa. This was during the era where with Attila Sallustro another South American legend played for Napoli. The club finished 8th in the league with Stábile scoring three goals in twenty games.

Red Star Paris

As a last act of his playing career, Stábile moved to

Red Star Paris Red Star Football Club (), known as Red Star FC or simply Red Star, is a French professional football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bord ...

in Paris, the club founded by

Jules Rimet Jules Rimet (; 14 October 1873 – 16 October 1956) was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He is FIFA's longest-serving president, in office for 33 years. He also served as the pres ...

, who took the initiative to the FIFA World Cup, first played in 1930. He stayed with the club until 1939 with the last honour of his playing career being helping the club achieve promotion, from Division 2 back into Division 1. He also served as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the club.

International career

Stábile made his debut for the Argentina national team at the age of 25, in his team's second match in the first ever FIFA World Cup held in 1930 in Uruguay. He did not play in Argentina's first match of the competition against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. His debut came in the following game against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, because the first choice striker Roberto Cherro couldn't play due to an anxiety attack. The game finished 6–3 to Argentina, with Stábile scoring a

on his debut. This was long thought to be the first World Cup hat-trick, until 76 years later on 10 November 2006 world football's governing body

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

declared that

Bert Patenaude Bertrand "Bert" Arthur Patenaude (; November 4, 1909November 4, 1974) was an American soccer player who played as a forward. Although it was formerly disputed, he is officially credited by FIFA as the scorer of the first hat-trick in World Cup ...

had scored the first hat-trick two days prior to Stábile. The final game of the group stages saw Argentina facing South American rivals

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. They won the game 3–1 with Stábile scoring twice, meaning that Argentina had qualified for the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

, against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The South Americans breezed through, with a 6–1 victory; Stábile added two more goals to his account and securing Argentina a place in the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. On 30 July 1930, the first ever World Cup final took place, between Argentina and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. At half time Argentina led 2–1, Stábile having scored the second goal. However, they went on to lose 4–2. Despite losing the final, Stábile made history, becoming the top scorer in the first ever

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

, with his tally of 8 goals in 4 games. It turned out that he would never play for Argentina again, and thus he scored in every game he played for his country, with an average of two goals per match.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stábile goal.''

Managerial career

Stábile had received his first taste of managing, way back in the 1931–32 season at Genoa, long before he retired from playing. Here he spent the aforementioned season as a co-manager, alongside Luigi Burlando. After a year at Red Star Paris, he became

for the club; this included the season in which they were promoted from Ligue 2. Stábile left the French club, to coach the Argentina national team. He began his spell in 1939. Stábile coached Argentina to six South American Championship trophies: in

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

. After the first round exit at the

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

, where Argentina lost the last of its three matches with 1–6 to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, his time with the national side came to a halt. He was called back to the helm of Argentina in 1960 and he led Argentina in the third and last edition of the Panamerican Football Championship, which took place in Costa Rica. With the Argentina national side, as a coach (just as he had as a player) Stábile, set records; he coached the national team in 123 official matches gaining 83 victories, making him one of the few coaches with more than 100 international matches in charge. While managing the national side, he also had spells coaching three other clubs, first the club where he began his career,

and then later Ferro and Racing Club. He led Racing to three consecutive championships between 1949 and 1951.RSSSF:Argentina – Coaches of Championship Teams – First Level
/ref> Stábile retired from management in 1960 to take up the role of director of the Argentina national school of football managing, a post he held, until his death in 1966.

Honours

Player

Huracán * Primera División:

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

Copa Ibarguren The Copa Dr. Carlos Ibarguren, also called Campeonato Argentino
by Osvaldo Gorgazzi on the RSSSF or simply Copa Ibarguren was an offi ...

Copa Aldao The Copa Ricardo Aldao ( English: ''Ricardo Aldao Cup''), popularly called Campeonato Rioplatense and Copa Río de La Plata, was an official AFA- AUF football club competition contested annually, albeit irregularly, between the league champions o ...

runner-up:

Genoa CFC *

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

: 1934-35 Argentina *

Runner-up:

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

Individual * FIFA World Cup Golden Boot:

* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team:

Manager

Red Star F.C. *

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

: 1938–39 Huracán *

Copa Adrián C. Escobar The Copa Adrián C. Escobar was an official List of Argentine football national cups, Argentine football cup competition contested by clubs of Argentina, organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) from 1939 to 1949. The trophy of the to ...

: 1942 * Copa de Competencia: 1944 Racing Club *

: 1945 * Primera División:

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

Argentina * South American Championship (6):

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Panamerican Championship The Panamerican Championship was an official continental competition of association football organized by the Panamerican Football Confederation (PFC) every four years for senior national teams, with three editions held from 1952 through 1960. Th ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stabile, Guillermo 1905 births 1966 deaths 1930 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers SSC Napoli players Genoa CFC players Serie A players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine football managers Estudiantes de La Plata managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Ferro Carril Oeste managers Racing Club de Avellaneda managers Red Star FC players Ligue 1 players Expatriate men's footballers in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Genoa CFC managers Red Star FC managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Serie A managers Argentina national football team managers 1958 FIFA World Cup managers Copa América–winning managers Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery 20th-century Argentine sportsmen