10 December 1907 - Laurent Sees The Light Of Day

On 10 December 1907, French international Lucien Laurent was born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés outside Paris. In July 1930, the then-22 year old forward scored the first ever World Cup goal, which was also his first of only two goals he scored for the national team in his career.

Laurent started his career with CA Paris, for whom he played from 1921 to 1930. In 1930, he went to work in a Peugeot factory and transferred to the company's team, Peugeot Sochaux. He also received his first call-up to the French national team that year, debuting in a 2-0 loss to Portugal in February 1930.

In July 1930, he traveled with Les Bleus to Uruguay to participate in the very first World Cup. Peugeot gave him time off to make the trip, but he was not paid to play and received only a small amount of money from the French Football Federation to cover expenses. France's opening match was played against Mexico before a crowd of 1,000 at Montevideo's Estadio Pocitos. Laurent's record goal came in the 19th minute, when he sent a 12-yard volley into the net from a pass by his teammate Ernest Liberati. France went on to win 4-1.

After the World Cup, Lucien returned to France and played for a number of different clubs. In 1940, he was taken prisoner by the Nazis while fighting for France and spent three years as a prisoner of war. Upon his release in 1943, he resumed his playing career for Besançon RC.

Upon his retirement in 1946, he remained in Besançon and continued to play in regular matches until he was 86 years old. By 1998, he was the last remaining member of that 1930 squad and thus the only one to see France win the World Cup that year.

He died in 2005 at the age of 97.