1986 Football World Cup - Mexico
Mexico 86
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Official 1986 Football World Cup poster
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Official 1986 Football World Cup logo
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| Participant teams
| 112
(final tournament: 24)
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| Host
| Mexico
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| Champions
| Argentina (2nd title)
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| Matches played
| 52
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| Goals scored
| 132
(2.54 per match)
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| Attendance
| 2,407,431
(46,297 per match)
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Top scorer/
Golden Boot
| Gary Lineker (ENG)
6 goals
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Best player/
Golden Ball
| Diego Maradona (ARG)
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The 1986 Football World Cup was held in Mexico. It was won by Argentina, who beat West Germany 3-2 in the final in Mexico City.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be hosted by Colombia, but after the Colombian authorities declared in late 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup, Mexico was selected as replacement host and became the first nation to host two Football World Cups. This second World Cup in Mexico came only 16 years after the first one in 1970.
The format of the competition changed from 1982: 24 teams still qualified, again divided into six groups of four. But the second round was replaced by a knockout competition, for which 16 teams: six group winners, six second place finishers, and four best third place finishers would qualify.
It was the tournament of Diego Maradona who was at the peak of his form and lead the Argentinean team to the title. His most memorable performance probably came during the quarter final against England, where he scored both goals in the 2-1 victory. One goal was scored, in his own words, by the "hand of God" (unseen by the referee he used his hand to score the goal) and the other followed a dribbling through the complete English half around most of the English team.
Germany won their second World Cup semifinal against France in a row (following their defeat of France in 1982) only to lose their second World Cup final in a row.
Gary Lineker of England won the Golden Boot as the leading scorer of the World Cup, scoring six goals.
The Portuguese national team went on strike during the competition. Players refused to train between their first and the second games (against England and Poland) and were surprisingly eliminated by Morocco. Canada and Iraq made their first Cup appearances in this tournament, both sides being dismissed from group play with three losses.
During the Group A game between Uruguay and Scotland, Jose Batista of Uruguay was sent off after less than a minute - a record that still stands in World Cup finals play.
First round
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Round of sixteen
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third place match
Final
Exteral link
Planet World Cup with details such as team rosters and qualifying round results
