Which are the top 10 fixed football matches all the time ?

Published on 28 Jun 2019 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 6 minutes

Here we will present you the Top 10 Fixed matches in the history of football. We believe that it will be interesting for most of you. For sure you know about some match-fixing cases. We will not talk about speculations. Only clear facts. Reasons for match-fixing could be bets, corruption, etc.

Probably еvery one of us remembers this semi-final of the UEFA Champions league between Chelsea and Barcelona in which the referee Tom Henning Ovrebo clearly made some very suspicious mistakes, helping Barcelona. A game that looked more fixed than any other.

However, today we will not talk about it because nothing was proven in this case. We focus on some interesting and proven cases of match-fixing.

10. Match Fixing Scandal in Nigerian Football League

In 2013, two teams from Nigeria were fighting for promotion to the higher rank of their domestic football league. The final results of both team games were 79-0 and 67-0, with the vast majority of the goals being scored in the second half of those matches, which makes both games very suspicious. In the end, the Nigeria Football Federation has issued a suspension for all four teams involved as well as for officials who were in charge during those two matches.

9. 1964 British betting scandal

In 1964 is uncovered a betting scandal of the great British football in the early 60s. A betting schema organized by Jimmy Gauld, which has involved several Football League players by fixing matches. The most famous incident was in the game between Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town. It involves three Sheffield players, which were subsequently banned from football for life and imprisoned after betting against their team winning in a match against their opponents.

England international Peter Swan, the most high-profile culprit in the 1960s betting ring scandal, is found guilty of placing a bet on Ipswich beating his Sheffield Wednesday. Swan is banned for life and jailed, as are nine others in a scandal involving almost 100 players and 16 clubs.

8. 1993 Poland match-fixing scandal

In 1993, the final day games Wisła Kraków - Legia Warszawa (0-6) and ŁKS Łódź - Olimpia Poznań (7-1) were canceled due to matches fixing allegation. UEFA consequently disqualified the country from the UEFA Cup. LKS Lodz has to beat Olimpia Poznan by three more goals than Legia Warsaw's winning margin over Wislaw Krakow to win the championship. The Polish FA fined the four clubs 20 000 euros and award the title to third-placed Lech Poznan.

7. Totonero Scandal 1980

Maybe the first corruption scandal in Italy, which ravaged the football-crazy nation in 1980 and is known in history as Totonero. It involves more than 30 players from the two highest football divisions in Italy - Serie A and Serie B, accepting bribes from Roman businessmen Massimo Cruciano and Alvaro Trinca. The most famous players are Paolo Rossi, who was banned for two years but returned in time to help Italy win the 1982 World Cup in Spain. In this scandal were involved players from big clubs like Lazio, AC Milan, Bologna, and Palermo.

6. 2005 Genoa guilty of match-fixing

In July 2005, Italian Serie B champions Genoa are placed last in the division by the sporting justice, and therefore condemned to relegation in Serie C1, after it was revealed that they bribed their opponents in the final match of the season, Venezia to throw the match. A €250,000 payment from Genoa to Venezia before the game on June 12 was investigated. Genoa's president Enrico Preziozi is banned for five years after being guilty by the sporting justice. The second oldest team in Italy won that match 3:2 and apparently secures a promotion to Serie A.

5. 1988 Belgium betting scandal

In 1982 Standard Liege is chasing the Belgian title when their manager, Raymond Goethals, suggests his players offer their win bonuses to the players of opponents Waterschei on the final day of the season to ensure a victory and subsequent league title. Liege wins the league but, when the scandal emerges, are fined over 85 000 euros. Thirteen players are banned from playing in Belgium for life, while Goethals is banned from managing in Belgium. Liege, however, is allowed to keep their Belgian title and Goethals finds a job at Marseille only a few months later.

4. West Germany vs. Austria Match-Fixing Scandal

Match-fixing scandals are not only reserved for lower ranks of football competition as it was witnessed by the world’s biggest sporting event, the World Cup. The match between West Germany and Austria was the final group stage fixture and it was a deciding match on who would advance to the next stage of the competition. Victory with 1:0 for Germany will put both teams into the next stage. The game started very well for the Germans as they scored very quickly. After that, both teams almost stopped playing. The final result was 1:0 and both teams advance to the second round. However, no actions against either West Germany or Austria were taken despite official protest from the Algerian Football Association.

3. Olympique Marseille Match-Fixing Scandal

Marseille is found guilty of match-fixing in the early 1990s. The team wins four league titles between 1989 and 1992 under the guidance of Bernard Tapie, as well as a UEFA Champions League trophy to boot. The foundations of a great Marseille side come crumbling down in 1993 when it emerges that president Tapie is involved in match-fixing. Marseille is stripped of its league title, banned from entering the Champions League. Tapie receives two years in prison whilst Marseille suffers financial problems and is demoted to Ligue 2. Marseille is managed by Raymond Goethals at the time (look 5. Belgium betting scandal).

2. 2005 Bundesliga scandal

In January 2005, the German Football Association (DFB) and German prosecutors launch separate probes into charges that referee Robert Hoyzer bet on and fixed several matches that he worked, including a German Cup tie. Hoyzer later admits to the allegations; it is reported that he is involved with Croat gambling syndicates. He also implicates other referees and players in the match-fixing scheme. The referee is banned for life from football by the DFB.

Later a second referee, Dominik Marks, is arrested after being implicated in the scheme by Hoyzer. Still, later, Hoyzer tells the investigators that the gambling ring he was involved with had access to UEFA's referee assignments for international matches and Champions League and UEFA Cup fixtures several days before UEFA publicly announced them. Ultimately, Hoyzer is sentenced to serve 2 years and 5 months in prison.

1. Calciopoli Scandal in Italy 2006

The 2006 Italian football scandal, or Calciopoli in the Italian-speaking world, involves Italy's top professional football leagues, Serie A and Serie B.

Source: www.fcinter1908.it

The scandal is uncovered in May 2006 by Italian police, implicating league champions Juventus and other major teams including Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Reggina when several illegal telephone interceptions show a thick network of relations between team managers and referee organizations, being accused of rigging games by selecting favorable referees.

As a result, a few teams are punished. Reggina is only fined, Milan ends the 05/06 championship with deducted 30 points, Lazio is taken out of UEFA Cup, Fiorentina is taken out of the UEFA Champions League, while the champion Juventus loses two titles in a row because of match-fixing and is sent to Serie B starting the season with -9 points. A scenario that provokes some of the stars of the team to leave it. Others, however, decide to stay and to become Juventus' legends forever.