Another fabulous vintage poster sale is coming down the pike, this time at Christie’s with a particularly notable group of World Cup-themed posters just in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this June.

The most valuable lot and the most awesome one, in my humble opinion, is an extremely rare original poster of the first FIFA World Cup held in Uruquay in July 1930. Its estimated value is £15,000-20,000 ($22,000 – 30,000).

Not only is it a great piece of Art Deco design, but it marks a historic event as well. Uruguay hosted the first Wold Cup in part because the Uruguayan team had won gold at the 1928 Olympics, but also because 1930 was the 100th anniversary of Uruguayan independence. They built the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo to host the tournament and in honor of the momentous occasion.

On top of all that, Uruguay beat Argentina 4–2 in the final to win the first World Cup in front of a screaming home crowd of nearly 100,000. So the stylized number 1 on the poster ended up being a description of the Uruguayan team as well as commemorating the first FIFA World cup.

I also really like the sort of roughneck Tintin look of André Blandin’s Ostende-Football poster from 1907. Perhaps its also having been designed by a Belgian artist is a factor in why it reminds me of Tintin, but I swear I didn’t know it when I first saw the picture.

There are also some neat travel posters in the auction, many of them advertising ship lines like Cunard and White Star, plus subway and tram travel. It’s worth having a browse through the whole collection.