1982

Notes

First WC with 24 teams (expanded from 16). Format: 6 groups of 4 → top 2 advance to four 3-team second-round groups → group winners to SF. Italy's third title — Paolo Rossi returned from a betting-scandal ban to score 6 goals (hat-trick vs Brazil 3-2, 2 in SF vs Poland, 1 in final). The infamous 'Disgrace of Gijón' (West Germany 1-0 Austria) — both teams played for a result that eliminated Algeria. First WC penalty shootout: West Germany 5-4 France in SF after 3-3 draw. Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand all made WC debuts. Mascot: Naranjito (an orange).

📚 Trivia

• format1982 was the first World Cup with 24 teams (expanded from 16). Format: 6 groups of 4 → 4 second-round groups of 3 → SF / 3rd / Final. The format wasn't repeated; 1986 introduced the modern knockout from R16.
• matchesThe 'Disgrace of Gijón' — West Germany 1-0 Austria, 25 June 1982. After Hrubesch's 10th-minute goal, both teams played out the rest of the match, knowing the result would advance both at Algeria's expense (Algeria had played the day before). FIFA changed the format the next tournament so final group games kicked off simultaneously.
• awardsPaolo Rossi won the Golden Boot (6 goals) and Golden Ball at 1982 — extraordinary because he had returned from a 2-year ban for match-fixing just months before the tournament. He scored a hat-trick vs Brazil (3-2), 2 in SF vs Poland, 1 in the final.
• firstsWest Germany 5-4 France (3-3 after extra time) in the 1982 SF was the first penalty shootout in World Cup history. The match also featured Harald Schumacher's notorious challenge on Patrick Battiston — one of the most controversial fouls in WC history — for which no card was shown.
• firstsAlgeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, and New Zealand all made their World Cup debuts at 1982 — five debutants in one tournament, made possible by expansion to 24 teams.