The Algeria-Austria game scheduled for the early hours of next Sunday (3 am) at Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City, could join the list of controversial cases in the history of the World Championships. The two teams may be interested in… not winning this match. In the case of the Austrians losing by the minimum margin it could even be the most appropriate result, while for the Algerians a draw will be enough.
The objective is simple: avoid playing Spain in the round of 32 as long as they qualify through the best third-placed group and, in this way, face a more accessible opponent. At this point, both teams have three points, but the Austrians have an advantage on goal difference (3-3) compared to the Algerians’ 2-4.
Even before this Thursday’s games, the third-placed team in group J, which already has Argentina as the winner, will have the host United States as its opponent in the round of 16, although this scenario could still change, depending on who is the best third-placed team in all groups.
Interestingly, this is a scenario with similarities to another that already involved these two teams in the 1982 World Cup, in Spain, when a victory by the then Federal Republic of Germany (RFA) over Austria by one or two goals difference, in the last game of group B, allowed the Germans and Austrians to qualify, relegating Algeria to third place, and consequently being eliminated.
In that match played on June 25, 1982 in Gijón, the RFA took the lead after 10 minutes through striker Horst Hrubesch, followed in the remaining 80 minutes by what became known as the “Game of Shame”, first with the two teams not creating major situations together in the opposing goals, with the exception of a play carried out by the German Wolfgang Dremmler. And in the final stretch of the match, an authentic non-aggression pact, with the ball traveling far from the goals, with the two teams passively exchanging the ball.
After 44 years, a 0-1 defeat could once again be convenient for Austria in a World Cup, but this time Algeria will depend on itself to guarantee qualification.
