1982 World Cup

Lore & Background

The tournament featured the first penalty shoot-out in World Cup competition. 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.

The 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.

Reader's Guide

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.

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. 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.

As of 2026, 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.

Did You Know?

• The 'Disgrace of Gijón' match between West Germany and Austria led FIFA to introduce simultaneous final group games in subsequent tournaments.
• Kuwait's Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah rushed onto the pitch to contest a goal, causing the referee to reverse his decision.