The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in the final held in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. It was Italy's third World Cup title, but their first since 1938. The defending champions, Argentina, were eliminated in the second round (finishing third and last in their group). Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait and New Zealand made their first appearances in a World Cup.
The tournament featured the first penalty shoot-out in World Cup competition.-- MERGE -- This was the third and last World Cup to feature two rounds of group stages. It was also the third time (after 1934 and 1966) that all four semi-finalists were European.
In the first round of Group 3, Hungary defeated El Salvador 10–1, equalling the largest margin of victory recorded in any edition of the World Cup (Hungary over South Korea 9–0 in 1954, and Yugoslavia over Zaire 9–0 in 1974). Although filled with compelling and entertaining matches, this tournament was marred by violent fouls, poor officiating, some overcrowded stadiums, very hot weather and alleged collusion between teams. One particular incident of note was West German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher's foul of French player Patrick Battiston during a semi-final match in Seville, and another was Italian player Claudio Gentile's intense and often violent match-long fouling and marking of Argentine player Diego Maradona. FIFA changed the regulations to somewhat prevent this kind of brutality on the pitch for the subsequent tournament in Mexico.
Host selection
Spain was chosen as the host nation by FIFA in London on 6 July 1966. Hosting rights for the 1974 and 1978 tournaments were awarded at the same time. West Germany and Spain were initially competing for a hosting bid, but ultimately agreed a deal whereby Spain would support West Germany for the 1974 tournament and West Germany would allow Spain to bid for the 1982 World Cup unopposed. As a result, West Germany withdrew its bid for the 1982 edition.
The decision to host the World Cup in Spain was controversial: At the time of Spain being selected, the country was still under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco's regime. However, the regime of Francoist Spain ended by 1975 with the death of Franco. The World Cup had significant effects on Spanish society after the democratic transition because, from the period from 1975 to 1982, Spain was still undergoing a transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Qualification
For the first time ever, the World Cup finals expanded from 16 to 24 teams. This allowed more countries to participate from Africa and Asia.
Northern Ireland qualified for the first time since 1958. Belgium, Czechoslovakia, El Salvador, England and the Soviet Union were all back in the World Cup after 12-year absences. England had its first successful World Cup qualifying campaign in 20 years (they qualified for the 1966 tournament as hosts and for the 1970 tournament as defending champions). Yugoslavia and Chile were also back after missing the 1978 tournament.
Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, and New Zealand all participated in the World Cup for the first time.
This was the first time that all six confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) sent representative teams to the tournament.
List of qualified teams The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.
AFC (1) (debut) CAF (2) (debut) (debut) OFC (1) (debut)
CONCACAF (2) (debut)
CONMEBOL (4) (holders)
UEFA (14)
(hosts)
, this was the last time El Salvador qualified for the World Cup finals, the only time Kuwait have qualified, and the last time Mexico (who were disqualified from 1990) and South Korea failed to qualify.
Summary Format
The first round was a round-robin group stage containing six groups of four teams each. Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw, with goal difference used to separate teams equal on points. The top two teams in each group advanced. In the second round, the twelve remaining teams were split into four groups of three teams each, with the winner of each group progressing to the knockout semi-final stage.
The composition of the groups in the second round was determined before the start of the tournament. Groups A and B were to include one team from each of Groups 1 through 6, and Groups C and D included the remaining six teams. The winners of Groups 1 and 3 were in Group A while the runners-up were in Group C. The winners of Groups 2 and 4 were in Group B while the runners-up were in Group D. The winner of Group 5 was in Group D and the runner-up was in Group B. The winner of Group 6 was in Group C and the runner-up was in Group A. Thus, Group A mirrored Group C, and Group B mirrored Group D with the winners and runners-up from the first round being placed into opposite groups in the second round. +Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DWinner G1Winner G2Winner G6Winner G5Winner G3Winner G4Runner-up G1Runner-up G2Runner-up G6Runner-up G5Runner-up G3Runner-up G4
The second-round groups that mirrored each other (based on the first-round groupings) faced off against each other in the semi-finals. Thus, the Group A winner played the Group C winner, and the Group B winner played the Group D winner. This meant that if two teams which played in the same first-round group both emerged from the second round, they would meet for the second time of the tournament in a semi-final match. It also guaranteed that the final match would feature two teams that had not previously played each other in the tournament. Italy and Poland who were both in Group 1 in the first round, each won their second-round groups and played each other in a semi-final match.
First group stage In Group 1, newcomers Cameroon held both Poland and Italy to draws, and were denied a place in the next round on the basis of having scored fewer goals than Italy (the sides had an equal goal difference). Poland and Italy qualified over Cameroon and Peru. Italian journalists and tifosi criticised their team for their uninspired performances that managed three draws; the squad was reeling from the recent Serie A scandal, where national players were suspended for match fixing and illegal betting.
Group 2 featured one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day, the 2–1 victory of Algeria over reigning European Champions West Germany. In the final match in the group, West Germany met Austria in a match later dubbed as the "Disgrace of Gijón". Algeria had already played their final group game on the previous day, and West Germany and Austria knew that a West German win by one or two goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans. After 10 minutes of all-out attack, West Germany scored a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After that solitary goal, the two teams kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of "Fuera, fuera" ("Out, out") were screamed by the Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. This performance was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans. One German fan was so upset by his team's display that he burned his German flag in disgust. Algeria protested to FIFA, who ruled that the result would stand; FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously.
In Group 3, which featured the opening ceremony and first match of the tournament, Belgium defeated the defending champion Argentina 1–0. The Camp Nou stadium was the home of Barcelona, and many fans had wanted to see the club's new signing, Argentinian star Diego Maradona, who did not perform to expectations. Both Belgium and Argentina ultimately advanced at the expense of Hungary and El Salvador despite Hungary's 10–1 win over the Central American nation – which, with a total of 11 goals, is the second highest scoreline in a World Cup game (equal with Brazil's 6–5 victory over Poland in the 1938 tournament and Hungary's 8–3 victory over West Germany in the 1954 tournament).
Group 4 opened with England midfielder Bryan Robson's goal against France after only 27 seconds of play. England won 3–1 and qualified along with France over Czechoslovakia and Kuwait, though the tiny Gulf emirate held Czechoslovakia to a 1–1 draw. In the game between Kuwait and France, with France leading 3–1, France midfielder Alain Giresse scored a goal vehemently contested by the Kuwait team, who had stopped play after hearing a piercing whistle from the stands, which they thought had come from Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar. Play had not yet resumed when Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, brother of the then-Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwait Football Association, rushed onto the pitch to remonstrate with the referee. Stupar reversed his initial decision and disallowed the goal to the fury of the French. Maxime Bossis scored another valid goal a few minutes later and France won 4–1.
In Group 5, Honduras held hosts Spain to a 1–1 draw. Northern Ireland won the group outright, eliminating Yugoslavia and beating hosts Spain 1–0; Northern Ireland had to play the majority of the second half with ten men after Mal Donaghy was dismissed. Spain narrowly avoided elimination due to a huge referee error, securing a contentious 2–1 victory over Yugoslavia, largely attributed to a disputed penalty decision. At 17 years and 41 days, Northern Ireland forward Norman Whiteside was the youngest player to appear in a World Cup match.
Brazil were in Group 6. With Zico, Sócrates, Falcão, Éder and others, they boasted an offensive firepower that promised a return to the glory days of 1970. They beat the USSR 2–1 thanks to a 20-metre Éder goal two minutes from time, then Scotland and New Zealand with four goals each. The Soviets took the group's other qualifying berth on goal difference at the expense of the Scots.
Second group stage
Poland opened Group A with a 3–0 defeat of Belgium thanks to a Zbigniew Boniek hat-trick. The Soviet Union prevailed 1–0 in the next match over Belgium. The Poles edged out the USSR for the semi-final spot on the final day on goal difference thanks to a 0–0 draw in a politically charged match, as Poland's then-Communist government had imposed a martial law a few months earlier to quash internal dissent.
In Group B, a match between England and West Germany ended in a goalless draw. West Germany put the pressure on England in their second match by beating Spain 2–1. The home side drew 0–0 against England, denying Ron Greenwood's team a semi-final place and putting England in the same position as Cameroon, being eliminated without losing a game.
In Group C, with Brazil, Argentina and Italy, in the opener, Italy prevailed 2–1 over Diego Maradona and Mario Kempes's side after a game in which Italian defenders Gaetano Scirea and Claudio Gentile proved themselves equal to the task of stopping the Argentinian attack. Argentina now needed a win over Brazil on the second day, but lost 3–1 – Argentina only scoring in the last minute. Maradona kicked João Batista in the groin and was sent off in the 85th minute.