The Austrian national team coach, Ralf Rangnick, dismissed rumors of a pre-arranged deal between his squad and Algeria following their dramatic 3-3 draw in the final group-stage match of the FIFA World Cup, a result that secured both teams a spot in the Round of 16.
The German tactician highlighted the late-game flurry of goals—first a 93rd-minute strike by Algerian skipper Riyad Mahrez to put his side ahead 3-2, followed almost immediately by an equalizer from substitute Sasa Kalajdzic in the final seconds—as undeniable proof that no collusion took place.
“When the scoreboard reads 3-3, no one can seriously claim there was an understanding,” Rangnick asserted. “Especially not after what unfolded in the last 90 seconds of play.”
He went on to describe the sequence as nothing short of cinematic—something even a seasoned coach of four decades couldn’t have foreseen. “Three minutes from the final whistle, if someone had suggested this exact outcome, you’d have called them delusional,” he remarked. “I’ve never seen a match swing so wildly or defy logic like this. The locker rooms were in absolute chaos. If Alfred Hitchcock had penned this script, I’d have told him he’d lost his mind.”
Rangnick also pointed out that both sides continued pressing for a winner long before Mahrez’s goal, debunking the notion of deliberate match-fixing. “Anyone watching the last 15 minutes knows the players weren’t playing for a draw—they wanted to win,” he emphasized. “No one could claim that, at the 93rd minute, a player suddenly thought, ‘Let’s just concede another goal.’ Maybe one or two Algerian players entertained the idea, but the rest of the team—and certainly not me—were not part of it.”
