West Germany 1-0 Austria (1982)
By Conor Hogan
The date was 25 June 1982, the place was El Molinon, Gijon.
The closing group game between West Germany and Austria in Spain 82 is generally regarded as the worst game in the history of the World Cup. An unspoken pact between the two teams resulted in a toothless encounter, and Algeria were cheated out of their rightful place in the second round.
West Germany began their campaign with a shock 2-1 loss against Algeria. They recovered somewhat in their next match, beating Chile 4-1, while Austria won their opening two matches against Chile and Algeria 1-0 and 2-0 respectively. The day before the Germany v Austria match, Algeria won their final group game against Chile 3-2, though they would live to regret conceding those two late goals.
All this meant that if Austria were to win or draw, the Germans would be out. However, if the Germans were to win by three clear goals, the Austrians would miss out on goal difference. A one or two goal victory for West Germany would be mutually beneficial however, as it would put both teams into the knockout stage.
The match started at a furious pace, with the West Germans dominating. They were rewarded for that domination with a 10th minute goal from Horst Hrubesch. Then for the rest of the game both teams passed the ball around in their own half, and repeatedly back to their own goalkeeper. There were practicaly no shots, attacks, or tackles of any kind.
The Spanish crowd booed, and one German fan even burned his flag in protest. It got so ridiculous that at one stage the German commentator refused to comment on the match any longer. Afterwards the Algerians protested, but to no avail.
The result was allowed to stand. As a result of the farce, Fifa changed the format for future World Cups to make sure the final two matches in a group had to be played at the same time. The match later became known as Schande von Gijon (the shame of Gijon).
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