As part of the 50 days, 50 Argentina World Cup moments, we will be counting down the top 50 Argentina moments at a World Cup using the daily number.
We are just 24 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup and in 24th place we have Diego MARADONA scoring the goal of the century against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Quiet possibly Diego MARADONA’s absolute best match of his career. The 90 minutes which propelled MARADONA into greatness and where he made a strong case for himself as being called the best player in the world. Two very different goals against England in the Quarter Finals in Mexico saw Argentina qualify for the semi-finals.
A tight 0-0 match between two very strong teams, it took two individual moments of brilliance to separate the two nations. In the 51st minute, Diego MARADONA scored a goal that would live on in infamy. He would called it the Hand of God, the English would call it cheating. Call it anything you want, MARADONA had just scored a goal with his hand at the Azteca stadium in front of everyone and the referee allowed it to stand.
However, just four minutes later, MARADONA did the unthinkable. He scored a goal which would later be dubbed as The Goal of the Century. Picking the ball up right before the half way line, Diego dribbled past the English as if they weren’t even there and as the ball rolled into the net, MARADONA had reached legendary status.
At 2-0, Argentina seemed invincible. Not because they were the best team in the world but because they had MARADONA on their team. The player to take them that much higher and took them he did. England would later pull one back and make it 2-1 but it was too late. MARADONA had already worked his magic.
Here was Argentina’s starting XI for the match:
18. Nery PUMPIDO
2. Sergio BATISTA
5. Jose BROWN
7. Jorge BURRUCHAGA
9. Jose CUCIUFFO
10. Diego MARADONA
11. Jorge VALDANO
12. Hector ENRIQUE
14. Ricardo GIUSTI
16. Julio OLARTICOECHEA
19. Oscar RUGGERI
If you missed it, here are our 50 World Cup moments:
50: Sergio ROMERO gets 50th cap vs. Switzerland at 2014 FIFA World Cup.
49: Roberto AYALA scores in the 49th minute vs. Germany at 2006 FIFA World Cup.
48: Angel DI MARIA’s 48th cap for Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina at 2014 FIFA World Cup.
47: Mario KEMPES scores Argentina’s 47th goal all time at the 1978 FIFA World Cup vs. Peru.
46: Jorge VALDANO scores in the 46th minute at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
45: Javier ZANETTI scores in the 45th minute vs. England at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
44: Gabriel BATISTUTA scores goal number 44 in his Argentina career at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
43: Gonzalo HIGUAIN receives cap number 43 for Argentina vs. Germany in the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
42: Pedro PASCULLI scores in the 42nd minute for Argentina vs. Uruguay at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
41: Maxi RODRÍGUEZ scores in the 41st minute for Argentina vs. Serbia & Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
40: Roberto AYALA plays in his 40th match for Argentina vs. Jamaica at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
39: Pablo ZABALETA plays in his 39th match for Argentina vs. Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
38: Javier SAVIOLA scores in the 38th minute for Argentina vs. Ivory Coast at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
37: Maxi RODRIGUEZ plays in his 37th match for Argentina vs. South Korea at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
36: Mauricio PINEDA scores in the 36th minute for Argentina vs. Croatia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
35: Ezequiel LAVEZZI plays in his 35th match for Argentina vs. Netherlands at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
34: Diego MARADONA scores his 34th goal for Argentina vs. Greece at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
33: Gonzalo HIGUAIN scores in the 33rd minute for Argentina vs. Mexico at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
32: Hernan CRESPO scores his 32nd goal for Argentina vs. Mexico at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
31: Diego MARADONA scoring in Argentina’s 31st FIFA World Cup match vs. Hungary.
30: Argentina loses opening match of 1982 FIFA World Cup vs. Belgium.
29: Argentina are knocked out of the 1982 FIFA World Cup after playing their 29th ever group stage match.
28: Claudio CANIGGIA scores in the 28th minute for Argentina vs. Nigeria at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
27: Pedro TROGLIO scores in the 27th minute for Argentina vs. the Soviet Union at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
26: Diego MARADONA scores his 26th goal for Argentina vs. Belgium at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
25: Sergio AGUERO plays in his 25th match for Argentina vs. Germany at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
