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World Cup 1986

Winner

Argentina

Highlights

Originally awarded to Colombia, which withdrew for economic reasons, the 1986 World Cup was eventually staged by Mexico, the first country to host the tournament twice. Morocco became the first African side to progress beyond the first round. Denmark, impressive in the group stage, collapsed against Spain in the round of 16 (5-1), with Emilio Butragueño scoring four goals.

The tournament was dominated by Diego Maradona. In the quarter-final against England, the Argentine captain scored two goals that have gone down in history within the space of four minutes: the first with his hand, which he attributed to the "Hand of God", the second after dribbling past half the England team. He scored twice more against Belgium in the semi-final. In the other half of the draw, France knocked out Brazil on penalties in Guadalajara before losing to West Germany.

In the final at the Azteca Stadium, Argentina led 2-0, but the Germans fought back to 2-2 late on. From a Maradona pass, Jorge Burruchaga scored the goal that gave Argentina their second world title (3-2). England's Gary Lineker finished as top scorer with six goals.

Statistics

Total goals
132
Matches played
52
Goals/match
2.54
Best attack (goals scored)
14
Argentina
Best defense (goals conceded)
1
Brazil

First round

Qualified for the next round

Group A

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Argentina 5 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4
2.Italy 4 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1
3.Bulgaria 2 3 0 2 1 2 4 -2
4.South Korea 1 3 0 1 2 4 7 -3
Match results
Italy - Bulgaria1 - 1
Argentina - South Korea3 - 1
Italy - Argentina1 - 1
Bulgaria - South Korea1 - 1
Italy - South Korea3 - 2
Argentina - Bulgaria2 - 0

Group B

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Mexico 5 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2
2.Paraguay 4 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1
3.Belgium 3 3 1 1 1 5 5 0
4.Iraq 0 3 0 0 3 1 4 -3
Match results
Mexico - Belgium2 - 1
Paraguay - Iraq1 - 0
Mexico - Paraguay1 - 1
Belgium - Iraq2 - 1
Mexico - Iraq1 - 0
Belgium - Paraguay2 - 2

Group C

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.URSUSSR 5 3 2 1 0 9 1 +8
2.France 5 3 2 1 0 5 1 +4
3.Hungary 2 3 1 0 2 2 9 -7
4.Canada 0 3 0 0 3 0 5 -5
Match results
France - Canada1 - 0
USSR - Hungary6 - 0
France - USSR1 - 1
Hungary - Canada2 - 0
France - Hungary3 - 0
USSR - Canada2 - 0

Group D

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Brazil 6 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5
2.Spain 4 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3
3.Northern Ireland 1 3 0 1 2 2 6 -4
4.Algeria 1 3 0 1 2 1 5 -4
Match results
Brazil - Spain1 - 0
Algeria - Northern Ireland1 - 1
Brazil - Algeria1 - 0
Spain - Northern Ireland2 - 1
Brazil - Northern Ireland3 - 0
Spain - Algeria3 - 0

Group E

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Denmark 6 3 3 0 0 9 1 +8
2.Germany 3 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1
3.Uruguay 2 3 0 2 1 2 7 -5
4.Scotland 1 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2
Match results
Germany - Uruguay1 - 1
Denmark - Scotland1 - 0
Germany - Scotland2 - 1
Denmark - Uruguay6 - 1
Denmark - Germany2 - 0
Uruguay - Scotland0 - 0

Group F

Team PtsPldWDLGFGAGD
1.Morocco 4 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2
2.England 3 3 1 1 1 3 1 +2
3.Poland 3 3 1 1 1 1 3 -2
4.Portugal 2 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2
Match results
Poland - Morocco0 - 0
Portugal - England1 - 0
England - Morocco0 - 0
Poland - Portugal1 - 0
Morocco - Portugal3 - 1
England - Poland3 - 0

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Mexico - Bulgaria2 - 0
Belgium - USSR4 - 3 a.e.t.
Brazil - Poland4 - 0
Argentina - Uruguay1 - 0
France - Italy2 - 0
Germany - Morocco1 - 0
England - Paraguay3 - 0
Spain - Denmark5 - 1

Quarter-finals

France - Brazil1 - 1 a.e.t. (4-3 p)
Germany - Mexico0 - 0 a.e.t. (4-1 p)
Argentina - England2 - 1
Belgium - Spain1 - 1 a.e.t. (5-4 p)

Semi-finals

Germany - France2 - 0
Argentina - Belgium2 - 0

Third place

France - Belgium4 - 2 a.e.t.

Final

Argentina3
Germany2

Top Scorers

Rank Player Goals Penalties Goals/match
1 Gary Lineker 6 0 1.20
2 Emilio Butragueno 5 1 1.00
2 Careca 5 1 1.00
2 Diego Maradona 5 0 0.71
5 Igor Belanov 4 2 1.00
5 Alessandro Altobelli 4 1 1.00
5 Preben Elkjaer Larsen 4 0 1.00
5 Jorge Valdano 4 0 0.57
9 Jesper Olsen 3 2 0.75
9 Rudi Völler 3 0 0.50
9 Nico Claesen 3 1 0.43
9 Jan Ceulemans 3 0 0.43
13 Josimar 2 0 0.67
13 Abdelrazzak Khairi 2 0 0.50
13 Ramón Calderé 2 0 0.50
13 Jean-Pierre Papin 2 0 0.50
13 Julio César Romero 2 0 0.50
13 Roberto Cabanas 2 0 0.50
13 Sócrates 2 1 0.40
13 Fernando Quirarte 2 0 0.40
13 Yannick Stopyra 2 0 0.33
13 Michel Platini 2 0 0.33
13 Jorge Burruchaga 2 0 0.29
13 Klaus Allofs 2 0 0.29
13 Enzo Scifo 2 0 0.29
26 Erwin Vandenbergh 1 0 1.00
26 Bernard Genghini 1 0 1.00
26 Kim Jong Boo 1 0 0.50
26 John Eriksen 1 0 0.50
26 Oleg Blokhin 1 0 0.50
26 Pedro Pasculli 1 0 0.50
26 Choi Soon Ho 1 0 0.50
26 Djamel Zidane 1 0 0.33
26 Antonio Alzamendi 1 0 0.33
26 Eloy 1 0 0.33
26 Colin Clarke 1 0 0.33
26 Diamantino 1 0 0.33
26 Pavel Yakovenko 1 0 0.33
26 Norman Whiteside 1 0 0.33
26 Luis Flores 1 0 0.33
26 Carlos Manuel 1 0 0.33
26 Ahmed Radhi 1 0 0.33
26 Lajos Détári 1 0 0.33
26 Márton Esterházy 1 0 0.33
26 Gordon Strachan 1 0 0.33
26 Huh Jungmoo 1 0 0.33
26 Park Chang Sun 1 0 0.33
26 Vasili Rats 1 0 0.33
26 Ivan Yaremchuk 1 0 0.33
26 Juan Antonio Senor 1 0 0.25
26 Jean-Marc Ferreri 1 0 0.25
26 Sergei Rodionov 1 0 0.25
26 Aleksandr Zavarov 1 0 0.25
26 Peter Beardsley 1 0 0.25
26 Nasko Sirakov 1 0 0.25
26 Dominique Rocheteau 1 0 0.25
26 Plamen Getov 1 0 0.25
26 Wlodimierz Smolarek 1 0 0.25
26 Michael Laudrup 1 0 0.25
26 Enzo Francescoli 1 1 0.25
26 Goiko 1 1 0.25
26 Abdelkarim Krimau 1 0 0.25
26 Soren Lerby 1 0 0.25
26 Serguei Aleinikov 1 0 0.25
26 Hugo Sánchez 1 0 0.25
26 Julio Salinas 1 0 0.20
26 Andreas Brehme 1 0 0.20
26 Edinho 1 0 0.20
26 Manuel Negrete 1 0 0.20
26 Raúl Servín 1 0 0.20
26 Daniel Veyt 1 0 0.20
26 Luis Fernandez 1 0 0.17
26 Frank Vercauteren 1 0 0.17
26 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 1 0 0.14
26 Oscar Ruggeri 1 0 0.14
26 José Brown 1 0 0.14
26 Stéphane Demol 1 0 0.14
26 Lothar Matthäus 1 0 0.14
26 Jean Tigana 1 0 0.14
26 Manuel Amoros 1 1 0.14