The FIFA system imposes a strange dilemma in the tenth group: Algeria and Austria do not want to win

The tenth group teams in the current 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, face a real dilemma imposed by the FIFA system in calculating the qualification method by relying on direct confrontations as a first condition instead of the goal difference that was used in the past.
The dilemma faces the Austrian and Algerian teams competing for second place, as losing may be the best option, because the third-placed team avoids facing European champion Spain, who leads Group H.
The top spot in Group Ten was decided in favor of Argentina with 6 points, while Austria comes second with three points, and Algeria is behind them with the same score. They will play together on Sunday morning to determine the rankings for second and third places after Argentina secured first place, while Jordan is at the bottom of the group without points and has no hope of competing even if it wins over Argentina.
Austria’s German coach, Ralf Rangnick, rejected any comparison between his confrontation with Algeria and the “Gijon scandal” in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, on the eve of the two teams’ meeting in the third round of the first round of the 2026 North American World Cup.
Rangnick responded firmly when asked in his press conference on Friday whether Austria was planning not to win. “No, definitely not,” he said.
The German coach added that it is impossible to predict what will happen, given that there are many matches that will be held before the start of the confrontation between Austria and Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium.
“None of us, even a day before, knew what the situation would be like,” he said. “When the match starts, we will know, but it will not affect our match.”
The “Gijon Scandal” is known as the match that Austria lost to West Germany 0-1 in the 1982 World Cup, after the confrontation ended with a result that ensured the qualification of both teams together at the expense of Algeria on goal difference.