The 1986 FIFA World Cup took place in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The World Cup returned to Mexico for a second time after just 16 years. 24 teams from 5 confederations participated in the final tournament: 14 from Europe (UEFA), 4 from South America (CONMEBOL), 2 from North America, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF), 2 from Africa (CAF), and 2 from Asia (AFC). Three teams made their first World Cup presentation (Canada, Denmark e Iraq). The 1986 World Cup saw for the first time the appearance of the phenomenon dubbed the Mexican wave, which was later popularised world-wide.
Chris Bevan perfectly captured in a sentence the essence of this World Cup: “It was a World Cup that produced many memorable matches and a succession of stunning goals but, while there were many stars of Mexico '86, the tournament will only ever belong to one man: Diego Armando Maradona”.
The first round had some facts worth noting. In Group A, there was no surprise. Argentina, with its super star Diego Maradona, Italy and Bulgaria advance to the next stage. Maradona was playing at Napoli in those times where he reached the peak of his professional career. Maradona was undoubtedly an adored star among the Napoli's fans, as he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Mexico topped Group B ahead of Paraguay and Belgium. Mexico brought back Hugo Sanchez from Real Madrid to lead the attack. Hugol had emerged champion with Real Madrid and was the current pichichi in the Spanish league. Soviet Union defeated Hungary by a resounding 6-0 and won the Group C. Soviet Union impressed with a very good team and outstanding players as Igor Belanov, the 1986 European Player of the Year. France finished in second place. Brazil won all three games to finish first in Group D ahead of Spain. Brazil began beating Spain 1-0 in its first game, but the referee failed to validate a legal goal of Michel. In Group E, rookie Denmark was one of the pleasant surprises of the tournament by winning all three games of its group, including a win to Uruguay 6-1 and a victory over West Germany 2-0. Denmark based their offensive power in a formidable duo Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjær. Denmark, West Germany and Uruguay advanced to the next stage. The other newcomer Morocco was another of the pleasant surprises of the Group F. Morocco topped Group F after drawing with England and Poland, and beating Portugal by a convincing 3-1. Morocco became the first African team to survive the first round by winning their group. Morocco, England and Poland advanced in Group F.
In the round of 16, Belgium beat the Soviet Union 4-3 after extra-time, despite a great hat-trick of Soviet Belanov, the third man to have scored a hat-trick yet finished on the losing side. France defeated the European champions Italy 2-0, while Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0. Denmark, one of the sensations of the first round, was defeated by Spain by a devastating 5-1. Emilio “The Vulture” Butragueño had a spectacular performance hitting four times. England beat Paraguay 3-0, Brazil did the same with Poland 4-0, and Mexico had no major problems to beat Bulgaria 2-0. Manuel Negrete from Mexico scored one of the best goals of the 1986 World Cup, a spectacular scissors-kick that was applauded by the entire audience. Finally, West Germany progressed to the quarterfinals beating Morocco 1-0, thanks to a goal in the 87th minute from Lothar Matthäus.
In the quarter-finals, there was much excitement. Three of the four games were defined in penalties, and in the remaining game Argentina beat England 2-1 with two goals for the posterity from Diego Maradona, the infamous Hand of God goal, and the Goal of the Century just three minutes later. Maradona further infuriated the English by claiming the goal was scored “a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona”. On the other hand, Diego Maradona's second goal against England has been voted the FIFA World Cup Goal of the Century. Two goals in three minutes. Two goals against England. It is worth noting that the game was held four years after the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom and this was present in the minds of all players. France’s L’Equipe newspaper aptly described Maradona as half-angel, half-devil. France, on the other hand, faced three-time world champion Brazil in Guadalajara. The game ended tied 1-1 after the French goalkeeper saved a penalty to Zico. The match went to extra time, and no more goals were scored. France ended the hopes of Brazil in a dramatic penalty shoot-out (4-3) after a marvellous quarter-final. West Germany and Mexico finished tied 0-0 after extra time in Monterrey. The Germans needed a penalty shoot-out to get past hosts Mexico (4-1). In the last game of quarter-finals, Belgium and Spain drew 0-0 after extra time in Puebla. Belgium defeated 5-4 Spain on penalties.
In the first game of semi-finals, West Germany beat France 2-0 and was in the final for the second World Cup in succession. In the other semi-final, Maradona scored twice for Argentina defeated Belgium 2–0. The third place match saw the victory of Italy over England 2-1.
The 1986 FIFA World Cup Final was contested at the monumental Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, before a crowd of 114,000 followers, for Argentina led by Diego Armando Maradona, and West Germany, led by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Lothar Matthäus. Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 in normal time winning the second well-deserved World Cup title. Argentina began by winning the match 2-0, but the Germans, as always, would not give up and came back from two goals down to equalize in a six-minute spell. With seven minutes remaining, a delicate through-ball from the Napoli star gave Burruchaga the chance to score the winner for Argentina. Diego Maradona dominated the tournament in a way that arguably only Pele had done before (FIFA.com). Maradona proved that he was the best player of his generation, and maybe of all time. Diego scored five goals and created another five. He was directly involved in 10 of the 14 goals for Argentina. Maradona won unquestionably the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
The top scorer (Golden Shoe) of the tournament was Gary Lineker of England, who would go on to score six goals. Lineker became the first ever English topscorer in a World Cup. Enzo Scifo of Belgium was elected Best Young Player. Brazil, on the other hand, received the FIFA Fair Play award. The names that people probably remember from those times are: Franz Beckenbauer (German coach), Carlos Bilardo (Argentine coach), Bobby Robson (English coach), Enzo Bearzot (Italian coach), Alex Ferguson (Scottish coach), Bora Milutinović (Mexican coach), Harald Schumacher (German goalkeeper), Andoni Zubizarreta (Spanish goalkeeper), Jean-Marie Pfaff (Belgian goalkeeper), Peter Shilton (English goalkeeper), Júnior (Brazilian defender), Manuel Amoros (French defender), Władysław Żmuda (Polish defender), Michel Platini (French midfielder), Lakhdar Belloumi (Algerian midfielder), Jean Tigana (French midfielder), Enzo Scifo (Belgian midfielder and Best Young Player), Míchel (Spanish midfielder), Lothar Matthäus (German midfielder), Michael Laudrup (Danish midfielder), Jan Ceulemans (Belgian striker), Diego Maradona (Argentine midfielder and Golden Ball), Sócrates (Brazilian midfielder), Zico (Brazilian midfielder), Falcão (Brazilian midfielder), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (German striker), Careca (Brazilian striker), Hugo Sánchez (Mexican striker), Emilio Butragueño (Spanish striker), Alessandro Altobelli (Italian striker), Bruno Conti (Italian striker), Jorge Valdano (Argentine striker), Paolo Rossi (Italian striker), Rudi Völler (German striker), Zbigniew Boniek (Polish striker), Włodzimierz Smolarek (Polish striker), Preben Elkjær Larsen (Danish striker), Ihor Belanov (Soviet striker), and Gary Lineker (English striker and Golden Shoe).
Colombia was chosen to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th staging of the FIFA World Cup, at the FIFA Congress in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 9, 1974. However, largely due to economic reasons, Colombia was not able to do so and officially withdrew in 1982. There were three new bids to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup: Mexico, Canada, and United States. Mexico won the bidding unanimously and was selected as the replacement hosts at the FIFA Congress in Zürich, Switzerland, on May 20, 1983. Thus, Mexico became the first country to organize the World Cup for a second time.
Eight months before the tournament, a strong earthquake jolted the Mexican capital and made everyone doubt if Mexico will be able to organize the competition. However, the stadiums were not affected and the work of the organization committee was excellent; therefore, the World Cup could be organized smoothly. The 1985 Mexico City earthquake had a magnitude 8.0 and caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people –experts agree that it could be up to 40,000- and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area, more than 400 buildings collapsed and another 3,124 were seriously damaged in the city.
Qualification
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Participating countries:
121
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Withdrew:
9
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Qualified automatically:
2
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Teams that played at least one qualifying match:
110
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Matches:
308
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Total goals:
801 (2.60 per match)
A total of 121 teams signed up to participate in the 1986 World Cup qualification rounds setting a new record number for the qualifying tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition.
The 22 available spots were distributed in continental zones as shown below:
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Europe (UEFA):13.5 spots. 32 teams competed for 12 direct places. The winner of the other 0.5 place would progress to the international playoff against a team from CONMEBOL. Italy, as the defending champion, qualified directly.
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South America (CONMEBOL): 4 spots. 10 teams competed for 4 direct places.
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North America, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 spots. 17 teams competed for 1 direct place. Mexico, as the hosts, qualified automatically. Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada withdrew.
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Africa (CAF): 2 spots. 29 teams competed for 2 direct places. Lesotho, Niger and Togo withdrew.
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Asia (AFC): 2 spots. 27 teams competed for 2 direct places. Oman and Lebanon withdrew. Iran disqualified.
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Oceania (OFC): 0.5 spot. 4 teams (including Israel and Chinese Taipei) competed for 0.5 spot. The winner of the 0.5 spot would progress to the international playoff against a team from UEFA.
A total of 110 teams played at least one qualifying match, 308 qualifying matches were played, and 801 goals were scored establishing three new records.
The Golden Boot or Golden Shoe Award is granted to the top goalscorer of the FIFA World Cup. The first time an award was given was in 1982, under the name Golden Shoe.
