1986 FIFA World Cup History -- Mexico

The Mexico World Cup was dominated by one man - Argentina's Diego Maradona.

He proved beyond doubt that he was the best player of his generation as he helped his country to their second World Cup with a win over West Germany.

But as well as moments of genius he plumbed the depths with his notorious "Hand of God" goal against England.

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Three of the home nations qualified for Mexico, but only England made it past the group stages as Scotland and Northern Ireland fell by the wayside.

Colombia was scheduled to host the tournament but had to give up that right for financial reasons.

England struggled initially but a Gary Lineker hat-trick against Poland sent them through to play Paraguay in the second round.

Lineker went on to win the Golden Boot as the tournament's leading scorer with six goals.

England's 3-0 win set up a quarter-final against Argentina, with the memory of the Falklands War still fresh in the minds of people in both countries.

Maradona gave Argentina the lead with his infamous "Hand of God" goal, punching the ball beyond Peter Shilton.

Before England's defence could recover their composure the maverick Argentine ran from his own half to score arguably the greatest World Cup goal of all time.

Classic final

Lineker pulled one back for England as substitute John Barnes tormented the South Americans' defence, but Argentina held on.

A gifted French team, with Platini, Giresse and Tigana in midfield, beat Brazil on penalties after a marvellous quarter-final, but they lost to West Germany in the last four.

Argentina cruised past Belgium in the other semi to set up a potentially great final, and it turned out to be a classic.

The Germans came back from two goals down to equalise with less than 10 minutes remaining.

However, a defence-splitting pass from Maradona set up Jorge Burruchaga to clinch a 3-2 victory.

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RESULTS & STATISTICS

Group A

Bulgaria 1-1 Italy Argentina 3-1 South Korea South Korea 1-1 Bulgaria

Italy 1-1 Argentina Argentina 2-0 Bulgaria Italy 3-2 South Korea

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Argentina	3	2	1	0	6	2	5
Italy	3	1	2	0	5	4	4
Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	4	2
South Korea	3	0	1	2	4	7	1

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Group B

Mexico 2-1 Belgium Paraguay 1-0 Iraq Mexico 1-1 Paraguay

Belgium 2-1 Iraq Mexico 1-0 Iraq Paraguay 2-2 Belgium

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Mexico	3	2	1	0	4	2	5
Paraguay	3	1	2	0	4	3	4
Belgium	3	1	1	1	5	5	3
Iraq	3	0	0	3	1	4	0

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Group C

France 1-0 Canada USSR 6-0 Hungary France 1-1 USSR

Hungary 2-0 Canada USSR 2-0 Canada France 3-0 Hungary

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
USSR	3	2	1	0	9	1	5
France	3	2	1	0	5	1	5
Hungary	3	1	0	2	2	9	2
Canada	3	0	0	3	0	5	0

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Group D

Brazil 1-0 Spain Algeria 1-1 Northern Ireland Brazil 1-0 Algeria

Spain 2-1 Northern Ireland Brazil 3-0 Northern Ireland Spain 3-0 Algeria

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Brazil	3	3	0	0	5	0	6
Spain	3	2	0	1	5	2	4
Northern Ireland	3	0	1	2	2	6	1
Algeria	3	0	1	2	1	5	1

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Group E

Denmark 1-0 Scotland Uruguay 1-1 West Germany Denmark 6-1 Uruguay

West Germany 2-1 Scotland Scotland 0-0 Uruguay Denmark 2-0 West Germany

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Denmark	3	3	0	0	9	1	6
West Germany	3	1	1	1	3	4	3
Uruguay	3	0	2	1	2	7	2
Scotland	3	0	1	2	1	3	1

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Group F

Morocco 0-0 Poland Portugal 1-0 England England 0-0 Morocco

Poland 1-0 Portugal Morocco 3-1 Portugal England 3-0 Poland

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Morocco	3	1	2	0	3	1	4
England	3	1	1	1	3	1	3
Poland	3	1	1	1	1	3	3
Portugal	3	1	0	2	2	4	2

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Second round:
Belgium 4-3 USSR (aet)
Mexico 2-0 Bulgaria
Brazil 4-0 Poland
Argentina 1-0 Uruguay
France 2-0 Italy
West Germany 1-0 Morocco
England 3-0 Paraguay
Spain 5-1 Denmark

Quarter-finals:
France 1-1 Brazil (aet)
(France won 4-3 on penalties)
West Germany 0-0 Mexico (aet)
(West Germany won 4-1 on penalties)
Argentina 2-1 England
Belgium 1-1 Spain (aet)
(Belgium won 5-4 on penalties)

Semi-finals:
West Germany 2-0 France
Argentina 2-0 Belgium

3rd/4th place play-off:
France 4-2 Belgium (aet)

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Final:
Argentina 3-2 West Germany

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Leading scorer: Six goals: Gary Lineker (England)