The 1980 World Champions' Gold Cup (Spanish for "Copa de Oro de Campeones Mundiales"), also known as Mundialito ("Little World Cup"), was a friendly international football tournament organized by the Uruguayan Football Association and supported by FIFA^[1][2]–although not officially recognized^[3][4][5]–in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup, which had been celebrated in 1930 at the same venue. It was held at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 30 December 1980 to 10 January 1981.

Quick Facts Copa de Oro de Campeones Mundiales Uruguay '80, Tournament details ...

1980 World Champions' Gold Cup

Copa de Oro de Campeones Mundiales Uruguay '80
Charrúa, the official mascot
Tournament details
Host country	Uruguay
Dates	30 December 1980 – 10 January 1981
Teams	6 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Uruguay
Runners-up	Brazil
Tournament statistics
Matches played	7
Goals scored	19 (2.71 per match)
Attendance	255,000 (36,429 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Waldemar Victorino (3 goals)
Best player(s)	Ruben Paz

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The tournament gathered the national teams of Uruguay, Italy, West Germany, Brazil, and Argentina,^[6] five of the six World Cup-winning nations at the time, with the addition of the Netherlands –1974 and 1978 World Cup runners-up– who had been invited to replace England, who declined the invitation due to an already crowded fixture list. The World Champions' Gold Cup was held in the middle of the European football season (December/January) and the English league (as well as its clubs) were reluctant to release their players for a long journey to another continent.

The six teams were distributed in two groups of three: Group A was composed of the Netherlands, Italy, and Uruguay; Group B consisted of Argentina, Brazil, and West Germany. The winners of each group faced each other to decide the tournament winner.

Each team had a squad of 18 players (two of which had to be goalkeepers).

Uruguay and Brazil won their respective groups and played the final, with Uruguay defeating Brazil 2–1 with a late goal, the same result that had occurred 30 years earlier between the two teams in the deciding match of the 1950 World Cup. Uruguay's coach during the Mundialito, Roque Máspoli, had also been Uruguay's goalkeeper in the 1950 match.

Dutch manager Jan Zwartkruis resigned from his position as soon as he returned to the Netherlands,^[7] while Leopoldo Luque and Rainer Bonhof never represented their country again.^[7]

• FIFA Confederations Cup
• FIFA World Cup