Football · 1986 · Mexico City, Mexico
The Hand of God and the Goal of the Century
In the same quarter-final, four minutes apart, Diego Maradona scores the most notorious goal and the greatest goal in World Cup history.
Argentina 2-1 England
Result
4
Minutes between goals
5 outfield + GK
Players beaten, 2nd goal
England against Argentina in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final carried political weight beyond football, four years after the two countries had fought the Falklands War. Six minutes into the second half, Maradona rose with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton for a looping ball and punched it into the net with a clenched fist disguised as a header. The goal stood.
Asked about it afterwards, Maradona said the goal had been scored 'a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God', a phrase that gave the moment its name and has followed him ever since.
Four minutes later he scored again, this time by collecting the ball inside his own half, turning past one England midfielder, and beating four more outfield players and the goalkeeper in a single slaloming run before finishing into an empty net. In 1986 FIFA's own poll would later crown it the Goal of the Century, the same match containing both the most disputed and the most celebrated goal in the tournament's history.
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