The Disgrace of Gijon: The Match That Changed World Cup Football

For the first time in the history of FIFA World Cup, the 1982 edition of the tournament in Spain saw 24 teams take part instead of the usual 16. There were a lot of new faces, such as Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, and New Zealand. Some of the regulars like Netherlands, Mexico and Sweden also failed to qualify, and this left a lot of vacancies up for grabs. Belgium, Czechoslovakia, El Salvador, England and the Soviet Union were all back in the field after more than a decade of absence. The 1982 tournament was also the first where penalty shoot-out was introduced to break a tie. This was also the last World Cup to feature two rounds of group stages, and the third time in which all four semi-finalists were European. But things could have been different. The tournament began with one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. On the third day of the tournament, Algeria defeated West Germany 2-1. West Germany at that time were the most dominant force in world football. After winning the UEFA Euro 1980, they cruised through qualification winning all of their eight qualifying matches. With a string of successes behind them, the West German team was buoyant with confidence. They saw their first match against the lowly Algeria as a cakewalk. Before the game, one of the players boasted that they could trounce Algeria while smoking cigars. Another one reportedly said: “ We will dedicate our seventh goal to our wives, and the eighth to our dogs .” Had West Germany done their homework, they would have known what a formidable team they were up against. Algeria had reached the semi-finals of the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations in Libya only three months earlier, before losing to eventual winners Ghana. During their final round of qualifying matches they beat the much stronger team Nigeria twice. The Algeria team. The match of 16 June 1982 proved to be a revelation. The first half finished goal-less, with the Germans defending far more than they had expected.