The 'Disgrace of Gijón' forced FIFA to schedule final group stage matches simultaneously.

The match took place on June 25, 1982, at the El Molinón stadium in Gijón, Spain, during the 12th FIFA World Cup. Algeria had played their final group match the previous day, defeating Chile 3-2, which left the standings in a state where a 1-0 or 2-0 West German victory would see both European nations qualify for the next round. Horst Hrubesch scored for West Germany in the 10th minute, and for the remaining 80 minutes, the players barely ran and made no attempts to score.The crowd of 41,000 spectators was outraged, with Spanish fans chanting 'Fuera, fuera!' (Out, out!) and Algerian supporters waving banknotes at the players to imply bribery. Even the German commentator, Eberhard Stanjek, expressed shame during the live broadcast, while Austrian commentator Robert Seeger told viewers to turn off their television sets. Despite a formal protest by the Algerian Football Federation, FIFA ruled that no tournament regulations were technically violated.This event fundamentally changed the logistics of international football tournaments to protect competitive integrity. Starting with the 1984 European Championship and the 1986 World Cup, FIFA and UEFA mandated that the final pair of matches in every group must be played simultaneously. This prevents teams from knowing the exact result required to manipulate their standings based on a completed game. This protocol remains a cornerstone of fair play in modern group-stage formats across the globe.