Will World Cup witness another 'disgrace of gijon? Austria vs Algeria raises fears

Will the modern World Cup’s chapter of infamy repeat itself ? That’s what has got everyone worried as Austria prepares to take on Algeria in the last set of group games. The final Group J games will be played on Sunday, 7.30 am IST.

Argentina’s meeting with Jordan in Dallas will be about Lionel Scaloni trying out his reserve players in attack and midfield as the defending champions assess their options for the knockouts. While already-eliminated Jordan will play for pride, it will also be about Messi’s goal count.But when Austria and Algeria take the field in Kansas, both teams will know what the cut-off for qualification for the third-placed team is going to be.

Eight best-placed third-placed teams will make the Round of 32 and by the looks of it, four points earned by the third-placed team is likely to be sufficient for qualification. In the case of, say, nine teams finding themselves with four points each, they will then be decided on goal difference.Do bear in mind, however that, in 1994, current-day powerhouses Norway were eliminated despite sitting with four points but finding themselves bottom of their group.

As things stand, Algeria and Austria sit on three points each and they will know exactly if they will need just one point to qualify as Nos. 2 and 3 teams from the group, since all the other teams would have finished their engagements. Unless there are already eight third placed teams of the 11 earlier groups with four points each, there’s no reason for Austria and Algeria — two of the three protagonists of the infamous ‘Disgrace of Gijon’ — to go all out in search of victory.

For context, the ‘Disgrace of Gijon’ occured at the 1982 World Cup, a result of connivance which led FIFA to bring in the rule that the final games of a group must be played simultaneously.In Gijon, West Germany and Austria played out a 1-0 win in favour of the fourtime champions to ensure that both the teams qualify from the group. It ensured Algeria’s ouster, who were on same points as the two European teams and had finished their group engagements before.

Seeing what was happening, some commentators refused to talk about the match and asked viewers to switch off their TVs. A local newspaper even published the game’s scoreline under the crime section.But now, Algeria — the aggrieved party 44 years ago — sit on the cusp of a probable ‘Disgrace of Kansas City,’ something that world football doesn’t need.How could this situation have been avoided?With the games in full flow now, there’s not much FIFA can do about it.

At best, they can threaten to sanction the teams if foul-play can be proved. That said, FIFA will have a tough time trying to show that the teams didn’t give their best to force a result. Going forward, to eliminate this conundrum, there could be a 64-team field. As bloated as that will be, there will be at least 16 groups with two qualifying from each group, which avoids this tricky thirdplace issue.Or simply, FIFA reverts to the tried and tested method of goal difference.

Another option is to have games of all the teams in the final round at the same time. It will mean 24 matches being playing at the same time, something close to the way the 32-team Champions League group-stage is played currently.In a World Cup situation, this could mean a logistical and organisational nightmare. This year, the tournament is being played at 16 venues across three nations. In 2030, the hosts will be Spain, Morocco and Uruguay and FIFA will need to figure out how they will be able to carry out such a mammoth task if the matches are spread across 24 venues.For now, the world will hope that Algeria and Austria maintain the spirit of the sport and make it grand end to a most entertaining group stage.