1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico
Also called: Hand of God, Goal of the Century
Maradona’s World Cup. Four years after the Falklands War he scored the “Hand of God” goal and the “Goal of the Century” against England in the quarter-final, and Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final. South Korea returned to the finals after 32 years.
Eduardo Forte Or Ricardo Alfieri Jr Or Gerardo Horovitz Or Marcelo Figueras · Public domain · Source
When Colombia withdrew as hosts for economic reasons, Mexico became the first country to stage the World Cup twice. Despite the Mexico City earthquake of September 1985, the tournament went ahead as planned from 31 May to 29 June 1986. South Korea, back in the finals for the first time since 1954, lost 1–3 to Argentina (Park Chang-sun scoring Korea’s first World Cup goal), drew 1–1 with Bulgaria and lost 2–3 to Italy.
On 22 June Argentina met England in the quarter-final at the Estadio Azteca. Four years earlier the two countries had fought a war over the Falkland Islands, which Argentina lost. Six minutes into the second half Maradona punched the ball into the net and the referee allowed the goal; afterwards he called it a goal scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”. Four minutes later he took the ball in his own half, dribbled past several England players and rounded the goalkeeper to score what was later voted the “Goal of the Century”. Argentina won 2–1, and at home the victory was felt as a kind of revenge for the war.
In the final on 29 June Argentina let a two-goal lead slip against West Germany, but Burruchaga, put through by Maradona, scored the winner for a 3–2 victory — Argentina’s second title.
