Ghosts of Gijon linger in Kansas

BITTER: ALGERIA OUT FOR REVENGE AGAINST AUSTRIA

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Algeria have waited 44 years for a shot at World Cup revenge against Austria, but the clash is one of many in the final round of group games where sides could settle for a mutually beneficial outcome.

Austria’s 1-0 defeat to West Germany at the 1982 World Cup has lived on in World Cup infamy as “the disgrace of Gijon” after the teams played out a result that would take both through at the expense of Algeria on goal difference.

After worldwide condemnation and a fruitless formal complaint by Algeria, Fifa decided that in subsequent tournaments the final two games in each group would be played simultaneously.

But the expansion to a 48-team tournament, and with it the return for the first time since 1994 of some third-place sides progressing to the knockout stage, has opened the door to questions over the sporting integrity of the competition once more.