Mexico, 1986

XIII FIFA WORLD CUP

Argentina, 1986

FORMAT

Participants: 24

Format:
A round-robin of 6 groups of 4 teams. Winners and runner-ups advanced to the knockout quarter-finals while the rest were spit into 4 groups of 3 and in order to determine the remaining 4 quarter-finalists.

Top Scorer: Gary Lineker – England – 6 goals

Best Player: Diego Maradona – Argentina

Best Young Player:Enzo Scifo – Belgium

Fair Play Award: Brazil

Mexico 1986 Mascot
Pique

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Originally, the country chosen to host the thirteenth edition of the tournament was Colombia. However, they resigned less than two years before the start, citing economic problems to meet FIFA’s terms. Consequently, on May 20, 1983, it was announced that Mexico would replace them, becoming the first country to host the event twice.

The most notable incidents of the tournament are the “Hand of God” and the “Goal of the Century”. Both happened during the quarterfinal Argentina versus England match and both were scored by the late Diego Armando Maradona. Actually, the first incident is the one that prompted mostly in the development and implementation of VAR. The English have a lot to say about the support to the Argentinians from the officials adding to this event, the deliberate simulation by Diego Simeone that led to the sent-off of David Beckham and the consequent defeat of England in the 1998 World Cup.