FIFA World cup 2022: Explained| Why the final group matches are played simultaneously

West Germany; if you ever wondered why the final group stage fixtures are held simultaneously, revisit what West Germany did at the 1982 World Cup, which is, and will be, forever remembered as the "Disgrace of Gijón". With the final group stage fixtures of the FIFA World Cup 2022 beginning today, you'll be switching between channels or streams, as the case may be, as both matches of each group will be held at the same time.

But why is that the case?

The catalyst for this change is undoubtedly West Germany, the protagonists of the "Disgrace of Gijón". Its match against Austria, at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, is widely touted as one of the awful matches in the history of the FIFA World Cup. On June 25, 1982, West Germany registered a 1-0 win over Austria that angered Algeria and the footballing world.

The Germans, who were the European champions and the favourites heading into the World Cup, were drawn in Group 2 alongside Algeria, Austria and Chile. So, it was unsurprising the arrogance the West German team displayed coming into the tournament. However, the team was forced to eat humble pie as Algerians shocked the favourite by winning 2-1. The other fixtures in the group saw Austria beating Chile 1-0, West Germany, smarting from the opening loss, thrashing Chile 4-1, and Austria beating Algeria 1-0.

With only the final match left in Group 2 -- Chile vs Algeria followed by West Germany vs Austria -- Austria was sitting atop with 4 points (2 points for a win), West Germany and Algeria were second and third with 2 points each, while the Chileans were rock bottom with no points to their name. The Germans (+2) were ahead of Algeria (-1) owing to a superior goal difference.

With Chile already out of the equation, the qualification scenarios were as follows:

*West Germany needed a win (by any margin) to progress

* Austria needed a win, a draw (1 point) or a loss by less than three goals to go through

* Algeria needed either an Austria win or draw, which would see it through to the next round along with Austria; or a West German win by at least three goals to eliminate Austria.

So, do you think West Germany would do Algeria a favour after it was humiliated in the opening game?

Disgrace of Gijón

The short answer is no.

A day after Algeria did its end of the bargain by beating Chile 3-2,
West Germany took the lead against Austria in Gijon after 10 minutes through Horst Hrubesch. The European champions had 80 minutes to score at least two more goals that would see Algeria through at the expense of Austria.

However, there would be only one more shot on target in those 80 minutes as both teams refused to make any attempt at goal. The 1-0 defeat was enough to see Austria through to the next round, which infuriated the Alergian fans who were at the stadium in Gijon.

At the end of the group stage, West Germany, Austria, and Algeria all had 4 points each but Algeria finished third, and outside a qualification spot, because its goal difference was at 0 while the two European sides had +3 to their names.

Algeria complained the FIFA but an investigation found no concrete evidence of a pre-match agreement between Austria and West Germany.

But that didn't mean FIFA wasn't aware of the implication of that match in Gijón. Starting from the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, famous for Diego Maradona's hand of god goal, the sport governing body ensured the final group matches were played at the same time to help prevent such pre-match 'agreements'.