- West Germany v Austria (1982)
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West Germany v. Austria Event 1982 FIFA World Cup West Germany Austria 
1 0 Date 25 June 1982 Venue El Molinón, Gijón Referee Bob Valentine Attendance 41,000 West Germany versus Austria was a 1982 FIFA World Cup game that changed the rules of future World Cup tournaments. In German the match is known as Nichtangriffspakt von Gijón (lit. Non-aggression pact of Gijón)[1] or Schande von Gijón (lit. Shame of Gijón). In Algeria it is known as the Anschluss.[2]
The match was the last game of the first-round Group 2, with Algeria and Chile having played already the day before. With that game already decided, a win by one or two goals for West Germany would result in both sides qualifying, at the expense of Algeria, which had beaten Germany in the first game. After 10 minutes, Germany scored the 1–0 lead. As the game progressed, both teams seemed to be content with the result, giving the impression of both sides having an unspoken agreement to play for a 1–0 German win.
In the previous 1978 World Cup, the Austrians, despite having already been eliminated, had made great efforts to beat West Germany 3–2 in the Miracle of Cordoba, which deprived Germany of a berth in the Third Place match, leading to the elimination of both German-speaking teams. Due to the Schadenfreude of the Austrian public, the teams were regarded as rivals. However, as the 1982 match did not live up to these expectations and was widely perceived to be fixed, many observers including German and Austrian were strongly critical of the teams' performances.
In a similar instance in the 1978 tournament, at the end of the second round group stage the Argentinian team had the benefit of knowing the result of an earlier game involving Brazil, which led to a 6-0 win over Peru, advancing them to the final by goal difference. As a result of these and similar events, FIFA ruled that in the future both final group matches must start on the same day at the same time, so as to prevent such an event ever occurring again.[3]
Contents
Background
- Note: 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw, first tie-breaker is goal difference.
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts 
Austria2 2 0 0 3 0 +3 4 
Algeria3 2 0 1 5 5 0 4 
West Germany2 1 0 1 5 3 +2 2 
Chile3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0 Algeria began their campaign by recording a shock 2–1 win over West Germany on the opening day, becoming the first African team to defeat a European team at the World Cup. They then went on to lose 0–2 to Austria before beating Chile 3–2 in their final match.
As Algeria played that final match the day before West Germany met Austria, the two European teams knew what result they needed in order to qualify for the next round. A West German win by one or two goals would see both Germany and Austria qualify. A larger German victory, by three goals or more, would see Germany and Algeria qualify while a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans.
Match summary
After 10 minutes of furious attack, West Germany succeeded in scoring through a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After the goal was scored, the team in possession of the ball often passed between themselves in their own half until an opposition player came into the vicinity of the ball. The ball was then passed back to the goalkeeper. Isolated long balls were played into the opposition's half, with little consequence. For the next 80 minutes there were few serious attempts on goal, e.g. by Wolfgang Dremmler of West Germany. The only Austrian player who seemed to make any effort at livening the game up was Walter Schachner, though he had little success.
This performance was widely deplored by all observers. German ARD commentator Eberhard Stanjek at one point refused to comment on the game any longer. Austrian commentator Robert Seeger bemoaned the spectacle and actually requested that the viewers should switch off their television sets.
Likewise, many spectators were not impressed and voiced their disgust with the players. Chants of "Fuera, fuera" ("Out, out") were screamed by the appalled Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. The match was criticized even by the German and Austrian fans who had hoped for a hot rematch of the 1978 World Cup match, in which Austria had beaten West Germany; one German fan burned the national flag in protest.[4]
Match details
25 June 1982
17:15 CESTWest Germany 1 – 0 AustriaEl Molinón, Gijón
Attendance: 41,000
Referee: Bob Valentine (Scotland)Hrubesch 
10'(Report) 
West Germany
AustriaAftermath
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts West Germany3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 4 Austria3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 4 Algeria3 2 0 1 5 5 0 4 Chile3 0 0 3 3 8 −5 0 With West Germany's 1–0 victory, they joined Austria and Algeria with four points in three matches. The teams were separated by goal difference, with West Germany and Austria progressing to the next round of the tournament at the expense of Algeria.
It appears that this was a case of spontaneous match-fixing, in which Austria gave up its opportunity to be first in the group (by winning or drawing the match) in exchange for a sure opportunity to advance. The bargaining positions of the two teams was affected by Germany being in danger of elimination if it didn't win, but also being the higher-ability team.[5]
The Algerian football officials were furious and lodged an official protest. However no rules were technically broken as a result of the match, so FIFA declined to take any action or investigation and the outcome was allowed to stand. Both teams denied any collusion during the match.[6]
The Germans made it to the final, where they lost to Italy 3–1. Austria fell at the next group stage, to the benefit of eventual fourth place finishers France.
The direct consequence of the game was that from Euro 1984 and World Cup 1986 onward, the final pair of group matches in international tournaments always start at the same time.[7]
The alleged 1982 match collusion came up again when Germany (considered the successor to the West Germany) and Austria met in their final Group B game of UEFA Euro 2008, however this time it was a must-win game for Austria to advance to the knockout stage. Germany won 1-0 in a match that saw managers Joachim Löw and Josef Hickersberger sent to the stands for arguing with the fourth official.[8]
References
- ^ "Austria shirt/kits World Cup 1978 and 1982". switchimageproject.com. November 20, 2007. http://www.switchimageproject.com/2007/11/austria-shirtkits-world-cup-1978-and.html. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ Spurling, Jon (2010). Death or Glory The Dark History of the World Cup. p. 67. ISBN 978-1905326-80-8.
- ^ Booth, Lawrence; Smyth, Rob (2004-08-10). "What's the dodgiest game in football history?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2004/aug/11/theknowledge.sport.
- ^ Booth, Lawrence; Rob Smyth (11 August 2004). "What's the dodgiest game in football history?". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2004/aug/11/theknowledge.sport. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ R Caruso (2007), The Economics of Match-Fixing, http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/3085/1/MPRA_paper_3085.pdf
- ^ Molinaro, John (June 16, 2008). "No agreement between Germany and Austria this time around". CBC Sports. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/06/16/euro-elimination-feature.html. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ "The Game that Changed the World Cup — Algeria". algeria.com. http://www.algeria.com/blog/the-game-that-changed-the-world-cup-algeria. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ Chowdhury, Saj (2008-06-16). "Austria 0-1 Germany". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/7363084.stm.
1982 FIFA World Cup Stages General information 1982 FIFA World Cup finalists Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Eliminated in the second group stage Eliminated in the first group stage Algeria · Cameroon · Chile · Czechoslovakia · El Salvador · Honduras · Hungary · Kuwait · New Zealand · Peru · Scotland · YugoslaviaGermany team (background) Results by years 1920–1929 · 1930–1939 · 1940–1949 · 1950–1959 · 1960–1969 · 1970–1979 · 1980–1989 · 1990–1999 · 2000–2009 · 2010–2019Famous Matches 1954 World Cup Final (West Germany vs Hungary) · 1966 World Cup Final (England vs West Germany) · 1970 World Cup Game of the Century (Italy vs West Germany) · 1972 EURO Final (USSR vs West Germany) · 1974 World Cup Final (Netherlands vs West Germany) · 1976 EURO Final (Czechoslovakia vs West Germany) · 1978 FIFA World Cup (Austria vs West Germany) · 1980 EURO Final (West Germany vs Belgium) · 1982 FIFA World Cup Shame of Gijón (West Germany vs Austria) · 1982 World Cup Semi Final (West Germany vs France) · 1982 World Cup Final (Italy vs West Germany) · 1986 World Cup Final (Argentina vs West Germany) · 1990 World Cup Final (West Germany vs Argentina) · 1992 EURO Final (Denmark vs Germany) · 1996 EURO Final (Czech Republic vs Germany) · FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualifying (England vs Germany) · FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualifying (Germany vs England) · 2002 World Cup Final (Germany vs Brazil) · 2008 EURO Final (Germany vs Spain)Related articles Obtained titles Categories:- 1982 FIFA World Cup
- FIFA World Cup matches
- Austria national football team matches
- Germany national football team matches
- Association football controversies
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