Easily the most controversial moment in soccer history occurred in the semifinals of the 1986 World Cup. Although the game was between England and Argentina simply seemed like an upper-level game, the true rivalry stems decades before.
England invading the Falklands, which was controlled by Argentina at the time
Deep in the history of Argentina, England invaded their land multiple times. This continuous invasion against Argentina, a newer, weaker country, showed the lack of respect from England toward the nation. This naturally evoked a strong hate against the English for generations and generations of Argentinian people.
Skipping ahead about one hundred years, England and Argentina met in the 1966 World Cup quarter-finals. The game is often described as brutal and highly-physical battle between the two rival countries. Highlighting this, within the first minute of the game, there were already three yellow cards award to the players as tensions seemed to only grow as the game went on. Eventually, the Argentinian captain Antonio Rattin received a red card, expelling him from the rest of the game. Given Argentina was now a man down for the rest of the game, England scored a late goal, winning 1-0. Even more heartbreaking, England went on to win the World Cup that year. Directly following the game, the England coach referred to the Argentinian as “animals”. This actively racist comment toward the team sparked a new-found hate in the entire nation.
Argentina and England Rivalry
Exactly twenty years later, England and Argentina met again, this time in the semifinals of the 1986 World Cup. Given the relatively short time period between the last critical meeting between the two programs, the tensions were unbelievably high. The Argentinian team knew they had to and were prepared to sacrifice anything in order to get revenge on the team and country that has mocked them for centuries.
Maradona’s “Hand of God” Goal
About fifty minutes into the game, the unthinkable happened. Commonly referred to as the goal of the century, Diego Maradona truly embodied the payback spirit of the Argentina National team. As a ball was deflected into the air, the goalie and Maradona pursued it as it was right in front of the goal. As both players reached their climax, the goalie reached out the secure the ball. However, Maradona quickly hit the ball with his hand, poking the ball just off course of its path and pushing it just over the head of the goalie. As the ball rolled into the back of the goal, Maradona celebrated as if nothing happened. After further review, the referees determined that nothing illegal happened, allowing the goal to count. Commonly referred to as the goal of the century, this highly illegal action that was never caught allowed Argentina to continue in the tournament, eventually winning the 1986 World Cup.
Argentina hoisting Maradona after winning the 1986 World Cup
The play was simply remarkable. Maradona later admitted it was his hand that hit the ball, but regardless, the play will never be forgotten.
What are your thoughts on the play? Did Argentina almost deserve to get away this due to their past engagements with England? Or should this play have been further evaluated and overturned?
Thank you for reading. Signing off, Woz.
After watching the play a few times, I do believe that FIFA should have evaluated the goal way more. Good soccer is when the players leave it all in the field and the tension between two countries made the game a lot more exciting to watch. I don’t believe that any country should be let off easily because they “deserve” to win. Teams fight to win, they don’t rely on past tensions or events that would make them “deserving” of winning. I have no idea why FIFA counted that goal.