Algeria and Austria bristle at notion the fix is in for World Cup match in KC
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Algeria and Austria meet in Kansas City with second place and a knockout spot at stake.
- A draw would see both teams advance; eight third-place teams reach the Round of 32.
- Coaches and players rejected playing for a tie and said they will try to win.
When FIFA increased the size of the World Cup by 50%, it meant more matches and teams reaching the knockout stage. But there is one potential unintended consequence, and it affects the final group match in Kansas City.
Argentina already clinched the top spot in Group J, and Jordan is guaranteed to finish last. Second place and a guaranteed spot in the knockout round is up for grabs when Algeria takes on Austria at Kansas City Stadium (aka Arrowhead). But both could advance as eight third-place teams will be in the Round of 32.
What makes Saturday night’s match intriguing is it’s seemingly in the best interest of both teams neither team to win. A tie would see them both advance. And they have even less incentive to finish in second place. The winner of Group H, which is likely to be defending European champion Spain, will face the runner-up in Group J.
The third-place finisher, meanwhile, is probably headed for a meeting with Switzerland.
Two disincentivized teams could take the pitch for the first time since 1982 when a 1-0 Germany win over Austria. Both teams knew that result would see them advance at the expense of Algeria. That was dubbed “The Disgrace of Gijon.” More than 40 years later, it’s still the most shameful game in soccer history.
But some are concerned we could see a so-called “Disgrace of Kansas City.”
“There is little to stop Algeria and Austria making no actual effort to win the match,” the Wall Street Journal wrote. “The Disgrace of Kansas City could be on the way.
“For Austria, it would be an embarrassing reprise. But if anyone should know better, it’s really Algeria.”
An economics professor in Boston shared a social media post about the possibility when he predicted a goalless draw at Arrowhead Stadium. That went viral, and it has become a hot topic and made the match one to watch.
But the teams bristled at talk of playing for a tie, trying to avoid Spain or history repeating itself.
“Yes, it is about 1982. Yes, when that match took place not one of the two teams (players) were alive,” Austrian coach Ralf Rangnick said, via translation at a prematch news conference. “I was 24 yeas old back then, and I just started as a player with SSV (Ulm 1846) and we came into the second division back then. And it shows how long ago that was. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the match tomorrow and the result of the match.”
Algeria coach Vladimir Petković said he doesn’t care about what the scenarios might say about who will advance. He noted that some of the teams that were not expected to win in the final group stage match did and scrambled the third-place standings. Ecuador, for instance, beat Germany and is likely to advance.
“‘If’ is an expression that doesn’t exist,” Petković said, via a translation. “We have to play and then see what happens.”
Austrian midfielder Konrad Laimer, who plays for Bayern Munich in Germany, said no one knows what will happen and such talk about the match is unimportant.
“I don’t care, to be honest with you,” Laimer said. “We go out, we want to win the game, we want to come through the group stage, and then we don’t know if it’s Spain or not. They have to play a game also today or tomorrow.
“And then we will see after the game, which nation we got. In the end, we want to focus on us, we want to win the game, we want to come through the group stage. And then it doesn’t matter to me who we play.”
