Second Round and Quarterfinals

The match of the second round was the seven-goal thriller between Belgium and the Soviet Union, in which the Soviets' Igor Belanov scored a hat-trick and still ended up on the losing side. The game was tied at 2-2 after 90 minutes, and in extra time Stephane Demol and Nico Claesen put Belgium 4-2 up. Belanov scored from the penalty spot with nine minutes remaining, but neither he nor any of his team-mates could find a fourth goal for the Soviet Union. Two of Europe's great football nations met in Mexico City, where France, the European Champions, ended Italy's reign as World Champions with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Michel Platini and Yannick Stopyra. In the rematch of the 1930 World Cup final, Argentina just edged out South American champions Uruguay in Puebla thanks to a 42nd minute strike from Pedro Pasculli. The all-South American affair was notable for a Diego Maradona's disallowed goal.
Perhaps the most surprising scoreline of the second round came from Queretaro, where Denmark, who were billed as dark horses for the tournament, were eliminated although there was nothing gracious about their exit as they went from a 1-0 lead to a 5-1 battering against Spain; key player Frank Arnesen was suspended for the game after being sent off against West Germany in their last group match, for taking a swipe at German playmaker Lothar Matthäus. The Danes scored first, with a Jesper Olsen penalty, but they were then taken apart by a devastating performance from Butragueño of Spain, who scored four of his team's five goals. The other maulings of the second round came from England and Brazil. England progressed to the quarter-finals fairly comfortably when they saw off Paraguay 3-0 while Brazil brushed aside Poland 4-0. West Germany had a much harder time getting past Morocco, for whom goalkeeper Ezaki Zaki had an outstanding game in goal. Morocco held out until the 87th minute, when Lothar Matthaeus finally managed to score the only goal of the game. Mexico kept the home supporters happy with a 2-0 win over Bulgaria.The most memorable quarter-final match saw France face the other three-time world champion, Brazil in Guadalajara. Brazil were well on top in the early stages, and Careca put them one up after 18 minutes. But then, five minutes before half-time, France drew level when Michel Platini scored his 41st goal on his 31st birthday after converting a cross from Dominique Rocheteau. Brazil had a great chance to regain the lead in the second half when Branco was fouled by French 'keeper Joël Bats in the penalty area. Zico got up to take the kick, but Bats made amends for his foul by saving Zico's penalty.The match went to extra time, and France had the better of the extra half-hour. But no more goals were scored, and so it was time for a penalty shoot-out. Surprisingly, Socrates failed with the first kick for Brazil. The next six penalties were all converted, and then Platini fired over the bar. Brazil were back on level terms - but not for long. Julio Cesar struck the post with his penalty, and Luis Fernández then scored to put France through 4-3 on penalties.Two other quarter-finals were also decided on penalties. Jan Ceulemans put Belgium ahead against Spain in the 35th minute, but Spanish substitute Senor equalised with five minutes to go. No more goals were scored in extra time, and Belgium won the shoot-out 5-4. West Germany and Mexico drew 0-0 after extra time, and the West Germans eliminated the hosts 4-1 on penalties.The quarter-final between Argentina, the last South American representative left, and England was unforgettable because of the two totally different goals scored by Diego Maradona: the first was scored illegally, as he punched the ball into the goal past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The referee did not see the foul and the goal was given as valid. After the game, Maradona claimed the goal was scored "A bit with the head of Maradona and another bit with the hand of God"; it was known as the "The Hand of God" goal. For his second goal, voted "Goal of the Century" in 2002 on the FIFA website, Maradona dribbled half the length of the field past five English players before scoring. In Argentina, the game was not just seen as revenge for the Falklands War but mostly for what they still see as the unfair game in the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

First Round

The format of the competition changed from 1982: 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four (A through F). The top two teams and the four best third place finishers from the six groups advanced to the knockout round of 16 teams.The first round of the finals began in Group A, where Italy were held 1-1 by a dour but spirited Bulgaria side. Meanwhile, Argentina had little trouble beating South Korea 3-1, with Diego Maradona in awesome form. Italy and Argentina drew 1-1 in a bad tempered affair, which saw Maradona and Alessandro Altobelli scoring. South Korea and Bulgaria also drew 1-1 in a Mexican downpour. The final set of matches saw Argentina beating Bulgaria 2-0, and Italy narrowly defeating South Korea 3-2 in an exciting match.Group B was straightforward for the hosts, Mexico as they beat a defensive Belgium side 2-1, and despite being held 1-1 by Paraguay, they won the group after a further win over minnows Iraq, 1-0. Paraguay and Belgium also progressed after both beating Iraq and drawing with each other. Group C was an interesting contest as it pitted a strong Soviet Union side against the reigning European Champions France. They drew with each other in a fine match 1-1, which was notable for a fantastic goal by Vasili Rats. France has made hard work of beating Canada 1-0, but progressed in 2nd place after beating a demoralised and ageing Hungary, 3-0. Hungary had earlier lost 6-0 against the Soviet Union.Group D saw Brazil start sluggishly against Spain, winning 1-0, although Spain had a legitimate goal disallowed. Northern Ireland began their campaign with a draw against Algeria. Northern Ireland were then beaten narrowly by Spain before being simply outclassed by Brazil 3-0 in their final match. This match saw a great goal from Josimar on his debut and was also the final time Pat Jennings would play for Northern Ireland. Spain qualified along with Brazil after defeating Algeria 3-0. Denmark, stormed through Group E, highly dubbed the group of death with a 100 per cent record. They beat Scotland 1-0 in their first game, then hammered Uruguay 6-1, with Preben Elkjær Larsen hitting a hat-trick. But Denmark's most impressive result were when they beat one of the favourites to win the tournament, West Germany, 2-0 thanks to a Jesper Olsen penalty and a goal from John Eriksen. After losing to Denmark, Scotland took the lead against West Germany thanks to a Gordon Strachan goal, but the West Germans fought back to win 2-1. And after a violent 0-0 draw against Uruguay, the Scots were eliminated from the tournament. West Germany went through to the second round with the strength of a win and a 1-1 draw with Uruguay, who also qualified on just two draws.Morocco topped Group F after holding both Poland and England to goalless draws, and then playing some marvellous football to beat Portugal, 3-1. By doing so, they became the first African team to reach the second round, and obviously the first to win a group. England looked to be in trouble after losing 1-0 to Portugal and then drew with the Moroccans. But in their last first-round game, a first-half Gary Lineker hat-trick helped them beat Poland 3-0. Poland had previously beaten Portugal, and in the end the Portuguese were the only team from Group F to be eliminated in the first round.

Qualification

Three teams qualified for the World Cup for the first time: Canada, Denmark and Iraq. Canada clinched its spot after winning the final match against Honduras 2-1 in St. John's, Newfoundland, with the Hondurans wearing tuques and gloves on the field due to the cold weather. Iraq played all matches on neutral ground due to the Iran-Iraq war.

1986 FIFA World Cup

The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from May 31 to June 29. It was won by Argentina (second title after 1978), who beat West Germany 3-2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca.

Host selection

Colombia was originally chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1974. However, the Colombian authorities declared in November 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup under the terms that FIFA demanded. Mexico was selected on May 20, 1983 as the replacement hosts, beating the bids of Canada, and the United States (who eventually hosted the 1994 World Cup), and became the first nation to host two World Cups. This second World Cup in Mexico came only 16 years after the first one in 1970. A severe earthquake in September 1985, eight months before the tournament, cast doubt over Mexico's ability to organize the event; however, the stadiums were not affected and it was decided to go ahead with the preparations. As 1986 had been declared the International Year of Peace by the United Nations, the advertising boards of all the stadia displayed the emblems of FIFA and the United Nations along with the legend "Football for Peace - Peace Year".For the design of the logo an unofficial motto was adopted: " El Mundo Unido por Un Balón" (The world united by a ball)

Semi-finals, third-place match, and final

In the wake of its brilliant second-round performance, Italy easily dispatched Poland in the first semi-final through two goals from Paolo Rossi. However, this stunning performance by the Italians was immediately overshadowed by the unforgettable confrontation between France and West Germany. After the Germans opened the scoring through an inspired Pierre Littbarski strike in the 17th minute, the French held on, equalising nine minutes later with a Michel Platini penalty. The closely fought match continued until the middle of the second half when a long through ball sent French defender Patrick Battiston racing clear towards the German goal. With both Battiston adn the lone German defender trying to be the first to reach the ball, Battiston flicked it past German keeper Harald Schumacher from the edge of the German penalty area and Schumacher reacted by jumping to block it. Schumacher missed the ball and twisted his body in mid-air to turn his front away from the impact, so that his buttocks first connected with Battiston which knocked the French player unconscious and caused two of his teeth to fall out. The ball went just wide of the post and, to the vociferous astonishment of the French, Dutch referee Charles Corver deemed Schumacher's assault on Battiston to be not a foul and awarded a goal kick. Play was interrupted for several minutes while Battiston, still unconscious, was carried off the field on a stretcher. The match went on without retaliatory violent actions, to the credit of both teams. After French defender Manuel Amoros had sent a thundering 25-metre drive crashing onto the West German crossbar in the final minute, the match went into extra time. On 92 minutes, France's sweeper Marius Trésor, in a rare attack, fired a splendid swerving volley under Schumacher's crossbar from ten metres out to make it 2-1. Six minutes later, an unmarked Alain Giresse drove in a beautiful 18-metre shot off the inside of the right post to finish off a counter-attack and put France up 3-1. But West Germany would not give up. In the 102nd minute a flowing counter-attack culminated in a cross that recent substitute Karl-Heinz Rummenigge turned in at the near post from a difficult angle with the outside of his foot, reducing France's lead to 3-2. Then in the 108th minute Germany took a short corner and after France failed to clear their lines once, the ball was played around by Germany to Littbarski whose sublime cross to Horst Hrubesch was headed back to the centre to Klaus Fischer who was unmarked thanks to Hrubesch winning his header over two defenders. Fischer in turn volleyed the ball past French keeper Jean-Luc Ettori with one of his trademark spectacular bicycle kicks, levelling the scores at 3-3 and sending the match to penalties. This goal was voted the greatest goal in the history of German football by German supporters. In penalties, Giresse, Manfred Kaltz, Manuel Amoros, Paul Breitner and Dominique Rocheteau all converted penalties until Uli Stielike was stopped by Ettori, giving France a huge advantage. But then Schumacher stepped forward, lifted the tearful Stielike from the ground, and promptly pulled off a diving stop on Didier Six's shot. With Germany handed the lifeline they needed Littbarski converted his penalty, followed by Platini for France, and then Rummenigge for Germany as the tension mounted. France defender Maxime Bossis, a pillar of strength on the left flank throughout the tournament, then had his kick parried by Schumacher who anticipated it well, and Hrubesch stepped up confidently to score and send Germany to the World Cup final yet again with a 3–3 (4–5) victory on penalties. The match is today considered the greatest ever played in the competition and one of the greatest matches all-time, with the only argument generally being Italy's epic semi-final win over West Germany in FIFA World Cup 1970. Asked years later what he thought of the game, Michel Platini replied, "For me, no book or film or play could ever recapture the way I felt that day. It was so complete, so strong and so fabulous."Coming after in the wake of Italy's spectacular quarter-final victory of the favoured Brazilians and on the heals of the monumental French-German semifinal, the final seemed anticlimactic. The Italians were fresh and confident following their easy win over Poland, but the West Germans were tired and had not recovered from the bruising epic in which they had been involved only days earlier against one the tournament's toughest teams. After a scoreless first half during which Antonio Cabrini fired a penalty wide of goal, the fresher legs of the Italians and the confidence gained from their previous two victories began to make the difference between the teams. After a deliberate foul just outside the area by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Italian central defender Claudio Gentile raced upfield to set the ball and initiate the quick restart, catching the German Goalkeeper Schumacher out of position and the German defence unprepared. Paolo Rossi scored first for the third straight game by heading home Gentile's bouncing cross at close range. Once behind, the Germans threw more men forward at the expense of defence in the hopes they could equalise quickly without having to exert too much control. This choice was problematic for them, in their tired condition, and left large gaps at the back for Italy to counter-attack. Exploiting the situation, the Azzurri scored twice more on quick counter-strikes, all the while capitalising on their best-in-the-world defence to hold the Germans. With Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea of Juventus holding the centre, the Italian strikers were free to counter-punch the weakened German defence. Marco Tardelli's splendid shot from the edge of the area (and his legendary shouting and arm-pumping celebration) beat Schumacher first, and Alessandro Altobelli, the substitute for injured striker Francesco Graziani, made it 3-0 at the end of a trademark solo sprint down the right side by the stand-out winger Bruno Conti. Italy's lead appeared secure, encouraging Italian president Sandro Pertini to wag his finger at the cameras in a playful "not going to catch us now" gesture, overcoming an initial reluctance from the Italian crowd to declare victory early after West Germany's famous comeback in the semi-final. In the 83rd minute, however, Paul Breitner managed to put a small scare back into the Italians by driving home a goal against the otherwise spectacular Dino Zoff but it was never enough and Italy claimed their first World Cup title in 48 years, and their third in total with a 3-1 victory.Coming after the 1934 and 1938 victories, Italy had now drawn level with record champions Brazil. Italy's Paolo Rossi won both the Golden Boot as the tournament's top goalscorer, and the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player (handed out for the very first time), and 40-year-old captain-goalkeeper Dino Zoff became the oldest-ever player to win the World Cup. Germany would recover to reach the World Cup final again in 1986 and finally winning in 1990.In the third-place match, Poland edged an exhausted, depleted and emotionally drained French side 3-2 which matched Poland's best ever performance at a World Cup previously achieved in 1974. France would go on to win the European Championship two years later

Second Group Round

Poland opened Group A with a 3-0 defeat of Belgium thanks to a Zbigniew Boniek hat-trick. The Soviet Union prevailed 1-0 in the next match over a Belgian side which clearly had peaked too early in the tournament. The Poles edged out the USSR for the semifinal spot on the final day on goal difference thanks to a 0-0 draw in a politically charged match, as Poland's then-Communist government had imposed a martial law a few months earlier to quash internal dissent and forestall a Soviet invasion.In Group B, a tense yet fair-minded opening match between England and West Germany ended in a goalless draw. West Germany took an option on the semifinal spot in their second match by beating Spain 2-1. The home side salvaged some national pride on the last day by drawing 0-0 against England, denying Ron Greenwood's team a semi-final place.
It was in Group C, a true Group of Death with Brazil, Argentina and Italy, that World Cup history was made. In the opener, the Azzurri prevailed 2-1 over Diego Maradona's side after an ill-tempered, obscure battle in which Italian defenders Gaetano Scirea and Claudio Gentile proved to be able to stop the Argentinian attack. Gentile's dominance of Maradona is still considered one of the best performances of all time for a marking defensive back. Argentina now needed a win over Brazil on the second day, but they were no match as the Seleção attacking game, characterised by nimble, one-touch passing on-the-run, eclipsed the reigning World Champions. The final score of 3-1 — Argentina only scoring in the last minute — could have been much higher had Brazil centre-forward Serginho not wasted a series of near-certain scoring opportunities. Perhaps in frustration at his side's powerlessness, Maradona allowed himself a kick in the groin of Brazil defender Batista and was sent off a few minutes from time.
The third-day match between Brazil and Italy was the tournament shocker. Brazil brought to the game the best and most sophisticated and modern offense in the world, characterized by their precision one-touch passing on the run, Italy their vaunted and smothering defence built around the two central defenders, Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea. The majority of the game, in fact, was played around the Italian area, with the Italian mid-fielders and defenders returning the repeated set volleys of Brazilian shooters such as Zico, Socrates and Falcao. Italian centre back Claudio Gentile was assigned to mark Brazilian striker Zico, and his brutal play earned him a yellow card and a sit-out for the following game against Poland. Enzo Bearzot's opportunistic striker, Paolo Rossi, silent thus far in the tournament, opened the scoring when he stepped past a Brazilian defender who had been screening him, intercepted an ill-advised pass across the Brazilians' own goal, and drilled the shot home. Rossi's opportunism shocked the Brazilians. Twice Italy gained the lead on Paolo Rossi goals, and twice Brazil came back. At 2-2, Brazil would have been through on goal difference, but at 74 minutes, a poor clearance on an Italy corner kick went back to the Brazil six-yard line where Rossi and Francesco Graziani were waiting. Both world-class strikers reflexively aimed at the same shot, Rossi connecting to get a hat trick and sending Italy into the lead for good. At this point, the Italians fell back into their trademark defensive style, and smothered the Brazilians the rest of the way. This great semifinal upset is still considered one of the best all-time matches of World Cup history.
To this day, Brazilian football aficionados consider this a great upset, given the facts that 1) Brazil had a spectacular campaign up to that point, 2) Italy had advanced to the quarter-finals with only a single victory and the rest of their games tied, and 3) that Rossi, who would go on to become the tournament's top scorer and win the Golden Boot, had not scored a single goal in the tournament before this match. The game was also a contest between Brazil's offensive brilliance and Italy's defensive discipline, coupled with a calculated counter-strike strategy in which Italy kept ten men around their area and left only Paolo Rossi high to seize opportune moments. The Italian strategy worked, first, because the Brazilians could never outnumber the Italians in the Italian area, and second because of the standout defensive performances by centre backs Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea.The last group, Group D, paled in comparison, the unexpected second-place finish of Spain in the first round having sent them to another group and cleared a path for the French. Les Bleus dispatched Austria 1-0 in their opener, then strolled 4-1 past Northern Ireland for their first semifinal appearance since 1958.

First round

The format of the competition changed from 1978: for the first time, 24 teams qualified, divided into six groups of four (1 through 6). The top two teams in each group advanced to the second round, where they split into four groups of three (A to D). The winners of each group advanced to the semi-finals. This was the only World Cup to be played under this format. The decision to expand from 16 to 24 teams came from FIFA to give the opportunity to more teams to participate, especially teams from North America, Africa and Asia. The first round was marked by a series of surprisingly strong showings by these supposedly weaker teams, although the more established football powers generally prevailed in advancing to the next stage. In Group 1, first-time participants Cameroon held both Poland and Italy to draws, and only failing to advance only on the basis of fewer goals scored than Italy. However, there was some controversy in the group. In the Peru-Cameroon game, Cameroonian striker Roger Milla had a goal disallowed for offside, but TV replays showed that Milla was clearly onside when he scored the goal. The decision contributed to Cameroon's early exit, as Italy would have been eliminated instead if Milla's goal stood. As a result, Poland and Italy qualified over Cameroon and Peru. Italian journalists and tifosi criticised their team for their uninspired performances that managed three draws; the squad was reeling from the recent Serie A scandal, where national players were suspended for match fixing and illegal betting. Paolo Rossi was singled out for his poor form, being described as a ghost wandering aimlessly over the field. The Azzurri decided on a press black-out from then on, with only coach Enzo Bearzot and captain Dino Zoff allowed to speak to the press. Group 2 saw one of the great World Cup upsets on the first day with the 2-1 victory of Algeria over reigning European Champion West Germany. This memorable game resulted in the controversial match between West Germany and Austria, their third and final match. As Algeria had already played their third match the day before, West Germany and Austria knew that a West German win by 1 or 2 goals would qualify them both, while a larger German victory would qualify Algeria over Austria, and a draw or an Austrian win would eliminate the Germans. The fourth team in the group, Chile, were eliminated regardless of the outcome. After 10 minutes of furious attack, West Germany succeeded in scoring through a goal by Horst Hrubesch. After the goal was scored, the two German-speaking teams went into an unspoken agreement and just kicked the ball around aimlessly for the rest of the match. Chants of "Fuera, fuera" ("Out, out") were screamed by the appalled Spanish crowd, while angry Algerian supporters waved banknotes at the players. This sham performance was widely deplored, even by the German and Austrian fans who had hoped for a hot rematch of the 1978 FIFA World Cup match in which Austria had beaten West Germany. One German fan was so upset by his team's display that he burned his German flag in disgust. As a result of the outcome, FIFA introduced a revised qualification system at subsequent World Cups in which the final two games in each group were played simultaneously. Group 3, where the opening ceremonies and first match of the tournament took place, yielded a major upset with Belgium beating defending champions Argentina 1–0. The Camp Nou stadium was the home of Barcelona, and many fans had wanted to see the club's new signing, Argentinian star Diego Maradona, who did not perform to expectations. Both Belgium and Argentina ultimately advanced at the expense of Hungary and El Salvador despite Hungary's 10-1 win over the Central American nation — which, with a total of 11 goals, is the second highest scoreline in a World Cup game (as well as Brazil's 6-5 victory over Poland in the 1938 tournament and Hungary's 8-3 victory over West Germany in the 1954 tournament), second to the 12-goal Austria-Switzerland (7-5) match in the 1954 tournament.
Group 4 opened at record speed with England midfielder Bryan Robson's goal against France after only 27 seconds of play. England won the game 3-1 and qualified along with France over Czechoslovakia and Kuwait, though the tiny Gulf emirate created yet another sensation by holding Czechoslovakia to a 1-1 draw. This group was also the stage of a farcical incident during the game between Kuwait and France. As Les Bleus were leading 3-1, France midfielder Alain Giresse scored a goal vehemently contested by the Kuwait team, who had stopped play after hearing a piercing whistle from the stands, as the French player was in a suspicious, arguably offside position, which they thought had come from Soviet referee Stupar. Play had not yet resumed when Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, brother of the Kuwaiti Emir and president of the Kuwaiti Football Association, rushed onto the pitch to give the referee a vociferous piece of his mind. The visibly shaken Stupar countermanded his initial decision and disallowed the goal to the understandable fury of the French. Maxime Bossis scored another valid goal a few minutes later and France won 4-1. Stupar lost his international refereeing credentials due to this incident, and al-Sabah received a $10,000 fine. In Group 5, the uprising of the minnows continued with Honduras holding hosts Spain to a 1-1 draw, then became a full-fledged revolution as unfancied Northern Ireland won the group outright, eliminating Yugoslavia and beating Spain 1-0 on its home ground in the process, the result was even more impressive as Northern Ireland had to play the majority of the second half with ten men after Mal Donaghy was dismissed. The home team showed that they were not serious contenders this year, barely scraping by thanks to yet another controversial penalty in its 2-1 victory over Yugoslavia. All eyes were on Brazil in Group 6. Around Zico, Sócrates, Falcão, Éder and fellows, the rejuvenated auriverde boasted an offensive firepower that promised a return to the glory days of 1970. The tri-campeão lived up to all expectations, beating an unexpectedly strong Soviet side 2-1 in a very entertaining first match thanks to a 20 metre Éder goal two minutes from time, then Scotland and New Zealand with four goals each. The promising Soviets took the group's other qualifying berth at the expense of the Scots, Rinat Dasayev emerging as a worthy successor to all-time legend Lev Yashin in the Soviet goal with a rarely talked about save from Joe Jordan's header. The ball was virtually on the line when Dasayev flicked it around the post with his finger at the last possible moment, much to the disbelief of the Scots and watching spectators. New Zealand earned international respect in their World Cup opener against Scotland, cutting the Scots' 3-0 lead to 3-2 before conceding two more goals late in the game.