1986: Maradona shines in Mexico

1986: Maradona shines in Mexico
If ever a player debunked the myth that one man cannot win a FIFA World Cup on his own then Diego Maradona, in 1986, was that player. Indisputably the best of his generation he was, to some observers, better even than Pelé. Sadly, the one area in which the Argentinian could never match the Brazilian was in his sportsmanship and along with his God-given skills Maradona also displayed more than a little devilry.

Another new format
The 13th World Cup saw the tournament return to Mexico - after Colombia withdrew - and once again featured a change in format. Still with 24 teams, the group stage was now followed by a knockout comprising the top two in each of six groups plus the four best third-placed teams. What this meant was that it took two weeks and 36 games just to reduce the number of teams by eight.

Early casualties
Portugal, who had put the Netherlands out in qualifying, were the highest-profile casualties of the first stage. Also evicted were two of the debutants, Canada and Iraq, along with Scotland, once again after a stirring but ultimately fruitless campaign. Maradona, meanwhile, provided a taste of what was to come with scintillating performances in Argentina's wins against South Korea (3-1) and Bulgaria (2-0) and with a superb equaliser in the 1-1 draw with the holders, Italy.

Danish dynamite
The biggest initial impact, however, was made by Denmark. Playing in their first World Cup finals they were reminiscent of the free-flowing Dutch side of a decade earlier. With Preben Elkjær, who scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 thrashing of Uruguay, and the talented Michael Laudrup it seemed they might go all the way.

Spanish fire
However, in the second round they were themselves overwhelmed 5-1 by a Spanish team finally threatening to impose themselves on a World Cup, Emilio Butragueño scoring four times as Spain recovered from 1-0 down to stun the Danes.

Platini in form
Another surprise was when the previously unexceptional Belgians beat the Soviet Union 4-3 after extra time. However, the best display of the second round was France's 2-0 defeat of Italy. With Michel Platini in a class of his own the French were beginning to hit top form - just as well as their quarter-final opponents, Brazil, were fresh from a 4-0 defeat of Poland.

Penalty shoot-outs
Three of the quarter-finals went to penalties - one of them a classic - while the fourth saw one of the World Cup's most controversial moments. West Germany, who had limped past Morocco 1-0 in the second round, put out the hosts, Mexico, in a shoot-out after an ill-tempered 0-0 draw, while Spain, despite having the better of a 1-1 draw, lost out to Belgium.

Zico misses
However, the third penalty shoot-out, between France and Brazil, came after one of the World Cup's finest matches. A brilliant move finished off by Careca put Brazil ahead but Platini equalised just before half-time. Then, in the 73rd minute, Zico, who had just come on as a substitute, missed a penalty for Brazil and the game went into extra time.

Decided on penalties
An amazing 31 attempts on goal during the game (16-15 to Brazil) failed to produce a winner and after Socrates and Platini both missed in the subsequent penalty shoot-out it was left to Luis Fernandez to fire France into the semi-final.

Revenge mission
And then there was Argentina against England. With memories of 1966 as a backdrop the Argentinians were on a mission. They had already claimed one revenge - for losing the 1930 final - when they beat Uruguay 1-0 in the second round, and now they wanted another.

Hero and villain
For 51 minutes there was stalemate but then Maradona transformed the game. First as the devil, with his infamous ‘hand of God’ goal, then five minutes later as an angel when he skipped past five defenders to score one of the greatest goals in World Cup history. Gary Lineker pulled one back for England - his sixth goal of the tournament - but no equaliser came.

Two more goals
There was no stopping Maradona now and two more superb goals in the semi-final against Belgium - beating two men for the first and three for the second - took Argentina into the final.

West Germany go through
The other semi-final between West Germany and France was a re-run of their infamous meeting four years previously and once again the Germans denied the French. With Platini marked out of the match the French floundered against the Germans' rugged approach. Andreas Brehme scored after eight minutes and Rudi Völler made it 2-0 with a last-minute breakaway.

Tactical error
For the final, at the Aztec Stadium on 29 June, West Germany opted to use their most creative player, Lothar Matthäus, to shadow Maradona, a strategy that backfired. Matthäus was prevented from playing to his strengths and shortly after half-time Argentina were 2-0 up after goals from Jose Luis Brown and Jorge Valdano.

Völler revival
However, in typical never-say-die fashion, the Germans clawed their way back. Franz Beckenbauer, now the coach, sent on strikers Völler and Uli Hoeness and, with 17 minutes left, Völler was on hand to flick on a Brehme corner for Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to head home. Then, in almost identical fashion, Völler himself equalised with just nine minutes to go.

Maradona’s moment
However, it was left to Maradona - who else? - to provide the decisive moment when he played a delightful through ball to Jorge Burruchaga to make it 3-2 and claim Argentina's second World Cup.