Lucien Laurent

Lucien Laurent was born on December 10, 1907 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in France. He discovered football in the playground of his school when he played with his friends. He then became an operator in a printing press. It was finally in 1921, then aged 13, that he joined the youth teams of the CA Paris club, one of the best French clubs of the time.

Playing in the inside-right or inside-left positions, he very quickly became one of the best players of his age in the country and in 1927 he joined the first team of his club. The year 1930 was certainly one of the best years in the football player's life, as he and his older brother Jean joined the Peugeot factories and therefore the FC Sochaux football team.

A courier for Peugeot, he trained regularly for his team and enjoyed the status of "player-worker". And during this famous year 1930, he joined the French team that was going to play the World Cup in Uruguay. After a 15-day journey by boat, the 22-year-old player discovered a welcoming Uruguayan crowd.

For the first match in the history of the competition, between France and Mexico, the player was lined up on the right side of the French attack. The 1.62 meter player would only need 19 minutes to write his name forever in the book of football history by becoming the first scorer in the World Cup competition. He was once again a starter in the match against Argentina, lost only 1-0 against one of the best teams of the time. Then, for the third group match, he was forfeited due to injury, France was eliminated.

The player turned professional in 1932, during his time at CA Paris. From then on, he made a series of transfers, losing his place in the French national team. His last notable moment was his participation from the bench at the 1934 World Cup. In total, he played 10 times for his country, scoring 2 goals.

The Second World War brought the player's career to a sudden halt while playing for the Strasbourg club. But after the conflict, he passed his qualification to become a coach and joined RC Besançon, with whom he played one final season. During his time there, Besançon was a good second division club, reaching a quarter-final of the Coupe de France. He retired as a player in 1946, at the age of 38.

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