8. West Germany and Austria conspire against Algeria, 1982

An Algerian fan waves a bank note showing their disgust at what they think is a fixed drawn match between the two teams West Germany v Austria World Cup 1982 played in Gijon.

The group stage game between West Germany and Austria in the 1982 World Cup was the reason that all of the final group-stage matches were played at the same time from then on. When the two teams faced each other, there were quite a few possibilities that determined whether West Germany, Austria or Algeria would get eliminated. A German win by three or more goals would eliminate Austria. A draw or an Austrian win would eliminate West Germany. But a German victory by one or two goals would eliminate Algeria.

Before the match, the West Germans and Austrians secretly agreed to play to a 1-0 West German victory, and after a furious start for the West Germans resulted in a goal after only 10 minutes, the two sides simply passed the ball back and forth to each other for the remaining 80 minutes, securing both of their places in the next round, and eliminating Algeria.