1986 FIFA World Cup

The 1986 Football World Cup was held in Mexico from May 31 to June 29. It was won by Argentina, who beat West Germany 3-2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca.

Event

The tournament was originally scheduled to be hosted by Colombia in 1986, but after the Colombian authorities declared in late 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup, Mexico was selected in May 20th,1983 in Stockholm between the bids of Canada and United States (who eventually hosted the 1994 Tournament) as replacement host and became the first nation to host two Football World Cups. This second World Cup in Mexico came only 16 years after the first one in 1970. A severe earthquake in September 1985 eight months before the tournament cast doubt over Mexico's ability to organize the event. However the stadiums were not affected and it was decided to go ahead with the preparations.

The format of the competition changed from 1982: again 24 teams qualified and were divided into six groups of four. But the second round was replaced by a knockout competition, for which 16 teams: six group winners, six second place finishers, and four best third place finishers would qualify. Also, in response to a controversial 1982 match in which West Germany and Austria produced exactly the result which both teams knew beforehand would advance them to the next phase at the expense of Algeria, FIFA decreed that the final two matches in all groups kick off simultaneously. This system has been used at all subsequent FIFA competitions except for the 2003 Women's World Cup; see the article for that event for a fuller explanation of this exception.

It was the tournament of Diego Maradona who was at the peak of his form and he led the Argentinean team to the title. His most memorable performance probably came during the quarter final against England, where he scored both goals in the 2-1 victory. Maradona's first was scored illegally, he fisted the ball (unseen by the referee) into the goal past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. After the game, Maradona unashamedly claimed the goal was scored "A bit with the head of Maradona and another bit with the hand of God"; forever after, it was known as the "The Hand of God" goal. For his second goal, voted the greatest goal ever scored at a World Cup Finals, Maradona dribbled half the length of the field past five English players before scoring.

France were one of the teams of the tournament. "Les Bleus" showed their class in ousting Italy, the world champions, in their second round game, 2-0, before overcoming Brazil in Guadalajara - rather fortuitously but with a great deal of flair - in what is widely considered one of the greatest matches of all time. Tele Santana's Brazilians twice hit the woodwork and frequently overran Michel Platini and his French side, who eventually won the day largely due to the performance of their goalkeeper Joël Bats. Among other feats, he managed to save a Zico penalty 12 minutes from time. After winning a nail-biting penalty shoot-out (1-1 at full time, then 4-3 on penalties), the French reached the semis. But here, just as in Spain four years earlier, their dreams of FIFA World Cup glory were foiled by a fresher German eleven.

The Germans, playing in their fifth final, once again stumbled at the last step. Beaten by Italy and Paolo Rossi in 1982, this time they were pipped at the post (3-2) by the Argentinians, led by Diego Maradona, fresh from their 2-0 victory over a plucky Belgian side in the semis. Argentina's victory was as deserved as it was unexpected. The team was solid but uninspired, and it was a masterful Maradona that virtually won the FIFA World Cup for his country single-handed. His brilliance and goal-scoring prowess (five goals) made him, quite naturally, the Player of the Tournament. The only cloud over the proceedings came in the quarter-finals when he scored with his hand against England. This did not, however, spoil the party in Argentina, where 30 million people celebrated in the streets after the final victory.

Germany won their second World Cup semi-final against France in a row, only to lose their second World Cup final in a row.

Gary Lineker of England won the Golden Boot as the leading scorer of the World Cup, scoring six goals.

The Portuguese national team went on strike during the competition. Players refused to train between their first and the second games (against England and Poland) and were eliminated by Morocco. Canada, Denmark and Iraq made their first World Cup appearances in this tournament, Iraq and Canada both being dismissed at the group stage with three losses, Denmark finishing top of their Group with three wins.

During the Group E game between Uruguay and Scotland, José Batista of Uruguay was sent off after less than a minute - a record that still stands in World Cup finals.

Mascot

Pique was the mascot of this World Cup. Pique, an anthropomorphic chili pepper wearing the Mexican football team colours, appeared on many merchandising items. Pique was also quite controversial due to some seeing him as supporting a negative stereotype of mexicans.

Qualification

See 1986 FIFA World Cup (qualification).

Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1986 FIFA World Cup squads

First round

All times local (UTC-6)

Group A

Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
5	3	2	1		6	2	+4
4	3	1	2		5	4	+1
2	3		2	1	2	4	-2
1	3		1	2	4	7	-3

Group B

Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
5	3	2	1		4	2	+2
4	3	1	2		4	3	+1
3	3	1	1	1	5	5	0
0	3			3	1	4	-3

Group C

Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
5	3	2	1		9	1	+8
5	3	2	1		5	1	+4
2	3	1		2	2	9	-7
0	3			3		5	-5

Group D

Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
6	3	3			5		+5
4	3	2		1	5	2	+3
1	3		1	2	2	6	-4
1	3		1	2	1	5	-4

Group E

Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
6	3	3			9	1	+8
3	3	1	1	1	3	4	-1
2	3		2	1	2	7	-5
1	3		1	2	1	3	-2

Group F

Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
4	3	1	2		3	1	+2
3	3	1	1	1	3	1	+2
3	3	1	1	1	1	3	-2
2	3	1		2	2	4	-2

See Saltillo Affair.

Knockout stages

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

Awards

ARGENTINA
Second title

1986 World Cup Winners:

Golden Shoe winner:	Golden Ball winner:	FIFA Fair Play Trophy:
Gary Lineker	Diego Maradona

Top scorers

6 goals Gary Lineker 5 goals Diego Maradona Careca Emilio Butragueño 4 goals Jorge Valdano Preben Elkjær-Larsen Alessandro Altobelli Igor Belanov 3 goals Jan Ceulemans Nico Claesens Jesper Olsen Rudi Völler 2 goals Jorge Burruchaga Enzo Scifo Josimar Sócrates Jean-Pierre Papin Michel Platini Yannick Stopyra Klaus Allofs Fernardo Quirarte Abderrazak Khairi Roberto Cabañas Romero Ramon Calderé Ivan Yaremchuk Own goals Kwang Rae-Cho 1 goal José Luis Brown Pedro Pasculli Oscar Ruggeri Djamel Zidane Stéphane Demol Erwin Vandenbergh Frank Vercauteren Daniel Veyt Edinho Plamen Getov Nasko Sirakov John Eriksen Michael Laudrup Søren Lerby Peter Beardsley Manuel Amoros Bernard Genghini Luis Fernandez Jean-Marc Ferreri Dominique Rocheteau Andreas Brehme Lothar Matthäus Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Lajos Détári Márton Esterházy Ahmed Radhi Luis Flores Manuel Negrete Hugo Sánchez Raul Servin Abdelkarim Krimau Colin Clarke Norman Whiteside Włodzimierz Smolarek Carlos Manuel Diamantino Miranda Gordon Strachan Park Chang-Seon Kim Jung-boo Huh Jung-Moo Choi Soon-Ho Sergei Aleinikov Oleg Blokhin Vasili Rats Serge Rodionov Pavel Yakovenko Aleksandr Zavarov Eloy Andoni Goikoetxea Julio Salinas Señor Antonio Alzamendi Enzo Francescoli Trivia As 1986 had been declared the International Year of Peace by the United Nations, the advertising boards of all the stadia displayed the emblems of FIFA and the United Nations along with the legend "Football for Peace - Peace Year" This was Canada's first and (to date) only appearance at a World Cup, after a qualifying win over Honduras 2-1 in St. John's, Newfoundland, with the Hondurans wearing tuques and gloves on the field due to the weather. Bulgaria became the first nation to qualify for the knockout stages without winning a game (Netherlands and Ireland would repeat the feat in 1990 and Chile followed suit in 1998) However in 1982 Italy advanced from the initial to the second group phase on the strength of just three draws. They went on to win the tournament. 1986 in Mexico | 1986 in football (soccer) | FIFA World Cup tournaments | Sport in Mexico | 1986 FIFA World Cup Svjetsko prvenstvo u nogometu - Meksiko 1986. | VM i fodbold 1986 | Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 1986 | 1986. aasta jalgpalli maailmameistrivõistlused | Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 1986 | Coupe du monde de football de 1986 | 1986년 축구 월드컵 | Svjetsko prvenstvo u nogometu - Meksiko 1986. | Piala Dunia FIFA 1986 | Mondiali di calcio Messico 1986 | מונדיאל 1986 | XIII pasaulio futbolo čempionatas | 1986-os labdarúgó-világbajnokság | Wereldkampioenschap voetbal 1986 | 1986 FIFAワールドカップ | VM i fotball 1986 | Mistrzostwa Świata w Piłce Nożnej 1986 | Copa do Mundo de 1986 | Jalkapallon maailmanmestaruuskilpailut 1986 | Världsmästerskapet i fotboll 1986 | Giải vô địch bóng đá thế giới 1986 | 1986年世界盃足球賽

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