Underdogs Uruguay stuns the football world with its FIFA World Cup win July 16, 1950, defeating heavily favoured Brazil 2-1.

“Only three people have managed to silence the Maracana: the Pope, Frank Sinatra, and me.”
Alcides Ghiggia 

The game was seen by over 173,850 people who swarmed into the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The following year, Uruguay continued the celebration with the release of two stamps featuring their World Cup victory. 

4th World Cup Football Championship
Issued March 1951 by Uruguay’s post office

Brazil were the gargantuan favourites to be coronated at the newly-erected Maracana. They had conquered the previous year’s Copa America with a +39 goal difference, aided by scoring a mind-blowing six times per game on average, while Uruguay had finished third-bottom with -6. At the World Cup, the Brazilians’ form had been even more fear-striking. They had smashed Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1, while the Uruguayans had eked out a 3-2 win and a 2-2 draw against the same opponents. Brazil required only a draw to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy, but the consensus was that they’d win and win emphatically.

The press and public alike had already declared Brazil as champions. “You, who have no rivals in the entire hemisphere,” declared Rio de Janeiro mayor Angelo Mendes de Moraes in a pre-game address. “I already salute you as winners!” 
Uruguay’s stunning upset of Brazil | 1950 FIFA World Cup

Rowdy Brazilian fans fell silent when Alcides Ghiggia scored the winning goal at the 79th minute of the game. Everyone expected Brazil to sail to victory, but Uruguay managed the greatest World Cup upset in history. The Maracanã stadium was stunned when the whistle blew, giving Uruguay its historic 2-1 victory in what has been called the The Maracanã Blow. 

 Last year’s stamp featured Canadian artist Alex Colville.