Algeria will have a chance to avenge a 44-year-old match with Austria at the World Cup when the two countries meet in their final group match of the league stage.
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Algeria will have a chance to avenge a 44-year-old match against Austria at the World Cup when the two countries meet in their final group game of the league stage. There will be a fear in this round that the team will play for a specific result to get a favorable result? West Germany beat Austria 1-0 in the 1982 World Cup. It was a result that eliminated Algeria from the tournament on goal difference.
The two countries advanced. The match is still remembered as the ‘Insult of Gijon’. There was also widespread protest over the result. In this case, FIFA made a historic decision to play the last two league matches at the same time.
With 48 teams participating in this World Cup, the fear of getting a favorable result has been renewed. For the first time since 1994, the third-placed team will also play in the knockout stage.
4 points may still be enough to reach the knockout stage. There are 48 teams in the current World Cup. The teams are divided into 12 groups. The top eight third-placed teams from those 12 groups will advance to the round of 32. Australia and Paraguay face off in Group D on Thursday. Both have three points. Both teams beat Turkey and lost to co-hosts the United States. If the match ends in a draw, both teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Australian defender Jason Zeria said about the match, “Some people are afraid that there will be cheating in this match. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If we both win one more point, we will advance to the next round. We will not play with this result in mind.”
The situation is similar in the match between Egypt and Iran on Friday. One point is enough for both teams to advance to the next round. Therefore, the result of this match is very likely to end in a draw. Iran, which is playing the World Cup amid geopolitical tensions, is undefeated in its opening two matches.
Iran has played its best for these two draws. A third consecutive draw will also take Iran to the knockout stage. If this happens, Iran will reach the knockout stage for the first time in World Cup history, as the best third-placed team.
Egypt can also advance from Group ‘G’. If Belgium fails to beat New Zealand by more than two goals in the next match of the same group. For some teams, the third match is such that the result will not have much meaning.
This time, FIFA has implemented the ‘head to head’ rule instead of goal difference. That is, if the two teams are on the same points. So far, Mexico, America, Germany and Argentina have been confirmed to win their respective groups. On the other hand, the challenge of teams like Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan and Panama has ended before the last match. The current rule for the best eight third-placed teams to advance to the next round has also introduced some additional complications. The team that plays first will have an advantage over the team that plays later.
What is already being realized is that the equation of 32 teams reaching the knockout stage from a 48-team World Cup is not only difficult, it can also bring controversy. Instead, there is also a view that increasing the number of participants in the World Cup to 64 could bring ease. In this way, there will be 16 groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the last 32. But how difficult it will be to organize a World Cup with so many participants, that will be another question.
