1986 FIFA World Cup

1986 FIFA World Cup

Mexico '86
1986 FIFA World Cup official logo
Tournament details
Host country	Mexico
Dates	31 May – 29 June (30 days)
Teams	24 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	12 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Argentina (2nd title)
Runners-up	West Germany
Third place	France
Fourth place	Belgium
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	132 (2.54 per match)
Attendance	2,393,031 (46,020 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Gary Lineker (6 goals)
Best player	Diego Maradona
← 1982 1990 →

The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially resigned in 1982. Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983.

It was won by Argentina (their second title, after also winning in 1978), led by Diego Maradona who scored the infamous "Hand of God goal", and also a goal voted as "Goal of the Century", in the same quarter-final against England. These were two of the five goals that Maradona scored during the tournament, and he also created another five for his team-mates. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. Total attendance was 2,393,031, an average per match of 46,019. The 1986 World Cup saw the appearance of the phenomenon dubbed the Mexican wave, which was popularised world-wide after featuring during the tournament.

The format of the competition changed from 1982, with the second round being played on a knock-out basis rather than groups. The 24 teams qualified were divided into six groups of four (A to F). The top two teams and the four best third place finishers from the six groups advanced to the knockout round of 16 teams. It was the last FIFA World Cup where teams from the same continent were not fully separated from each other in the draw for the first round. Under new rules after this competition, each World Cup group had either two or three European teams. In 1986, Group B only had one European team (Belgium).

Host selection

Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts

Colombia was originally chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1974. However, the Colombian authorities eventually declared in November 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup under the terms that FIFA demanded because of economic concerns. Mexico was selected on 20 May 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 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, but the stadia 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 FIFA and United Nations logos 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").

Qualification

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification

  Countries qualified for World Cup

  Country failed to qualify

  Countries that did not enter World Cup

  Country not a FIFA member

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. Iraq played all their home matches on neutral ground because of the Iran-Iraq war. South Korea qualified for the first time since 1954, Paraguay for the first time since 1958, and Portugal for the first time since 1966. As of 2010, this was the last time Hungary qualified for the finals.

Mascot

The official mascot of this World Cup was Pique, a jalapeño pepper, characteristic of Mexican cuisine, with a moustache, a Colimote sombrero, and Mexican football team colours. Its name comes from picante, Spanish for spicy peppers and sauces.

Venues

Eleven cities hosted the tournament. Seeded teams are in bold.

City	Stadium	Capacity	Matches	Teams hosted in the first round
Mexico City	Estadio Azteca	114,600	Opening match, Group B, R2, QF, SF, Final	Mexico
Mexico City	Estadio Olímpico Universitario	72,000	Group A, R2	Argentina, Bulgaria, South Korea
Guadalajara	Estadio Jalisco	66,000	Group D, R2, QF, SF	Brazil
Puebla	Estadio Cuauhtémoc	46,000	Group A, R2, QF, Third-place match	Italy
San Nicolás de los Garza	Estadio Universitario	44,000	Group F, R2, QF	Poland
Querétaro	Estadio La Corregidora	40,785	Group E, R2	West Germany
Monterrey	Estadio Tecnológico	38,000	Group F	England, Portugal*, Morocco*
León	Estadio Nou Camp	35,000	Group C, R2	France
Nezahualcoyotl	Estadio Neza 86	35,000	Group E	Uruguay, Denmark, Scotland
Irapuato	Estadio Sergio León Chavez	32,000	Group C	Soviet Union, Hungary, Canada
Zapopan, Jalisco	Estadio Tres de Marzo	30,000	Group D	Spain*, Northern Ireland, Algeria*
Toluca	Estadio Nemesio Díez	30,000	Group B	Belgium, Paraguay, Iraq

• Morocco and Portugal played in Guadalajara while Spain and Algeria played in Monterrey.

Match officials

Africa Ali Bin Nasser Edwin Picon-Ackong Idrissa Traore Asia Fallaj Al-Shanar Jamal Al Sharif Shizuo Takada Europe Luigi Agnolin Horst Brummeier Valeri Butenko Vojtech Christov George Courtney André Daina Bogdan Dotchev Erik Fredriksson Ioan Igna Jan Keizer Siegfried Kirschen Lajos Németh Zoran Petrović Alexis Ponnet Joël Quiniou Volker Roth Victoriano Sánchez Arminio Carlos Silva Valente Alan Snoddy

North and Central America Rómulo Méndez Antonio Márquez Ramírez David Socha Berny Ulloa Morera Oceania Chris Bambridge South America Romualdo Arppi Filho Jesús Díaz Carlos Espósito Gabriel González Roa José Luis Martínez Bazán Hernán Silva

Squads

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1986 FIFA World Cup squads.

Seeding

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Mexico (hosts) Italy (1982 winners) West Germany (1982 runners-up) Poland (1982 third place) France (1982 fourth place) Brazil (1982 fifth place)	England Soviet Union Argentina Spain Paraguay Uruguay	Algeria Canada Denmark Iraq Morocco South Korea	Belgium Bulgaria Hungary Northern Ireland Portugal Scotland

Summary

First round

The first round of the finals began in Group A, where Italy were held 1–1 by Bulgaria. Meanwhile, Argentina beat South Korea 3–1, with Diego Maradona playing a major part. Italy and Argentina drew 1–1, Maradona and Alessandro Altobelli scoring. South Korea and Bulgaria also drew 1–1 in a downpour. The final set of matches saw Argentina beating Bulgaria 2–0, and Italy narrowly defeating South Korea 3–2.

In Group B Mexico beat Belgium 2–1, and despite being held 1–1 by Paraguay, they won the group after a further win over Iraq, 1–0. Paraguay and Belgium also progressed after both beating Iraq and drawing with each other. Group C pitted a strong Soviet Union side against the reigning European champions France. They drew with each other 1–1, with a goal scored by Vasili Rats. France beat Canada 1–0 and finished in 2nd place in the group after beating Hungary, 3–0. Hungary had earlier lost 6–0 against the Soviet Union, which won the group due to goal differential.

Group D saw Brazil start against Spain, winning 1–0 after the referee failed to validate a legal goal scored by Míchel. Northern Ireland began their campaign with a draw against Algeria. Northern Ireland were then narrowly beaten by Spain before losing to Brazil 3–0 in their final match. This match saw a goal from Josimar on his debut and was also the final time Pat Jennings played for Northern Ireland. Spain qualified along with Brazil after defeating Algeria 3–0.

Denmark, stormed through Group E, 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. Denmark 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. After a violent 0–0 draw against Uruguay, the Scots were eliminated from the tournament. During that game José Batista of Uruguay was sent off after less than one minute of play for a foul on Strachan, a World Cup record that still stands. West Germany went through to the second round despite a loss against Denmark.

Morocco topped Group F after holding both Poland and England to goalless draws, and beating Portugal 3–1. By doing so, they became the first African team, and only the second nation from outside Europe and the Americas (after North Korea in 1966), to reach the second round. England lost 1–0 to Portugal, followed by a 0-0 draw against Morocco in which they lost captain Bryan Robson to injury (for the remainder of the tournament) and vice-captain Ray Wilkins to a red card (he was never to be selected for England again, even after having served his obligatory one-match ban). In their last first-round game, with the captaincy taken over by Peter Shilton in goal, a first-half Gary Lineker hat-trick helped the reshaped side beat Poland 3–0 - although losing yet another player to a ban for the next round, Terry Fenwick receiving his second booking of the tournament. 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. Portugal, making their first appearance in 20 years, went on strike (in the Saltillo Affair) during the competition. Players refused to train between their first and second games (against England and Poland) and were eliminated after a loss to Morocco in the final group match.

Second round and quarter-finals

Belgium beat the Soviet Union 4-3, despite a hat-trick by the Soviets' Igor Belanov. The game was level 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. In Mexico City, 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 FIFA 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 had a Diego Maradona's goal disallowed.

In Querétaro, Denmark were eliminated 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. England progressed to the quarter-finals 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 Badou Zaki had an outstanding game. Morocco held out until the 87th minute, when Lothar Matthaeus scored the only goal of the match. Mexico won 2–0 against Bulgaria.

In the quarter-finals, France faced 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. Five minutes before half-time, France drew level when Michel Platini scored his 41st goal after converting a cross from Dominique Rocheteau. Brazil had a 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 saved Zico's penalty.

The match went to extra time, and France had the better of the extra half-hour. No more goals were scored, and so it was time for a penalty shoot-out. Socrates, who had earlier missed an open goal and headed an easy chance straight into the French keeper's arms, 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 (after a Mexican legitimate goal was disallowed), and the West Germans eliminated the hosts 4–1 on penalties. As a curiosity, the German goal-keeper Harald Schumacher jumped to the right in the three Mexican penalties (stopping two of them).

The quarter-final between Argentina and England was featured two very different goals 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 handball 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 became known as 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 seen as revenge for the Falklands War.

Semi-finals, third-place match, and final

In the semi-finals, Andreas Brehme put West Germany 1–0 ahead against France in the ninth minute, but the outcome remained in doubt until two minutes from time when Rudi Völler made it 2–0, and West Germany were in the final for the second World Cup in succession. In the other semi-final, Maradona struck twice in the second half as Argentina beat Belgium 2–0. France went on to defeat Belgium in the third-place match, 4-2.

Jose Brown put Argentina one up midway through the first half of the final, and when Jorge Valdano scored a second for the South Americans in the 55th minute, Argentina looked to be strolling to victory. West Germany then staged a spirited comeback. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge pulled one back in the 74th minute, and six minutes later Rudi Völler hit the equaliser. With seven minutes remaining, a pass from Maradona gave Jorge Burruchaga the chance to score the winner for Argentina. Eight years on from their home triumph, Argentina regained the world title and 30 million people in Argentina celebrated in the streets after the final victory. Maradona was the Golden Ball winner as the best player of the tournament, while Gary Lineker of England won the Golden Boot as the leading scorer of the World Cup with six goals.

Results

  Champion

  Runner-up

  Third place

  Fourth place

  Quarter-finals

  Round of 16

  Group stage

First round

Key to colours in group tables
	Group winners, runners-up, and best four third-placed teams advance to the Round of 16

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Argentina	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	5
Italy	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	4
Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
South Korea	3	0	1	2	4	7	−3	1

31 May 1986 12:00 CST	Italy	1 – 1	Bulgaria	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 96,000 Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)
	Altobelli  43'	Report	Sirakov  85'

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2 June 1986 12:00 CST	Argentina	3 – 1	South Korea	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Victoriano Sánchez Arminio (Spain)
	Valdano  6', 46' Ruggeri  18'	Report	Park Chang-Sun  73'

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5 June 1986 12:00 CST	Italy	1 – 1	Argentina	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Jan Keizer (Netherlands)
	Altobelli  6' (pen.)	Report	Maradona  34'

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5 June 1986 16:00 CST	Bulgaria	1 – 1	South Korea	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Fallaj Al Shanar (Saudi Arabia)
	Getov  11'	Report	Kim Jong-Boo  70'

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10 June 1986 12:00 CST	South Korea	2 – 3	Italy	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla Attendance: 20,000 Referee: David Socha (United States)
	Choi Soon-Ho  62' Huh Jung-Moo  83'	Report	Altobelli  17', 73' Cho Kwang-Rae  82' (o.g.)

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10 June 1986 12:00 CST	Argentina	2 – 0	Bulgaria	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Berny Ulloa Morera (Costa Rica)
	Valdano  3' Burruchaga  79'	Report

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Mexico	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	5
Paraguay	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	4
Belgium	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3
Iraq	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

3 June 1986 12:00 CST	Mexico	2 – 1	Belgium	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 110,000 Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)
	Quirarte  23' Sánchez  39'	Report	Vandenbergh  45'

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4 June 1986 12:00 CST	Paraguay	1 – 0	Iraq	Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Edwin Picon-Ackong (Mauritius)
	Romero  35'	Report

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7 June 1986 12:00 CST	Mexico	1 – 1	Paraguay	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 114,600 Referee: George Courtney (England)
	Flores  3'	Report	Romero  85'

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8 June 1986 12:00 CST	Iraq	1 – 2	Belgium	Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Jesús Díaz (Colombia)
	Radhi  59'	Report	Scifo  16' Claesen  19' (pen.)

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11 June 1986 12:00 CST	Paraguay	2 – 2	Belgium	Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca Attendance: 16,000 Referee: Bogdan Dotchev (Bulgaria)
	Cabañas  50', 76'	Report	Vercauteren  30' Veyt  59'

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11 June 1986 12:00 CST	Iraq	0 – 1	Mexico	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 103,763 Referee: Zoran Petrović (Yugoslavia)
		Report	Quirarte  54'

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Soviet Union	3	2	1	0	9	1	+8	5
France	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	5
Hungary	3	1	0	2	2	9	−7	2
Canada	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0

1 June 1986 16:00 CST	Canada	0 – 1	France	Estadio Nou Camp, León Attendance: 36,000 Referee: Hernán Silva (Chile)
		Report	Papin  79'

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2 June 1986 12:00 CST	Soviet Union	6 – 0	Hungary	Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato Attendance: 16,500 Referee: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)
	Yakovenko  2' Aleinikov  4' Belanov  24' (pen.) Yaremchuk  66', 75' Rodionov  80'	Report

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5 June 1986 12:00 CST	France	1 – 1	Soviet Union	Estadio Nou Camp, León Attendance: 36,540 Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)
	Fernández  60'	Report	Rats  53'

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6 June 1986 12:00 CST	Hungary	2 – 0	Canada	Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato Attendance: 13,800 Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)
	Esterházy  2' Détári  75'	Report

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9 June 1986 12:00 CST	Hungary	0 – 3	France	Estadio Nou Camp, León Attendance: 31,420 Referee: Carlos Silva Valente (Portugal)
		Report	Stopyra  29' Tigana  62' Rocheteau  84'

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9 June 1986 12:00 CST	Soviet Union	2 – 0	Canada	Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato Attendance: 14,200 Referee: Idriss Traore (Mali)
	Blokhin  58' Zavarov  74'	Report

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	6
Spain	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	4
Northern Ireland	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1
Algeria	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

1 June 1986 12:00 CST	Spain	0 – 1	Brazil	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara Attendance: 35,748 Referee: Chris Bambridge (Australia)
		Report	Sócrates  62'

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3 June 1986 12:00 CST	Algeria	1 – 1	Northern Ireland	Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Valeri Butenko (Soviet Union)
	Zidane  59'	Report	Whiteside  6'

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6 June 1986 12:00 CST	Brazil	1 – 0	Algeria	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara Attendance: 48,000 Referee: Rómulo Méndez (Guatemala)
	Careca  66'	Report

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7 June 1986 12:00 CST	Northern Ireland	1 – 2	Spain	Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Horst Brummeier (Austria)
	Clarke  46'	Report	Butragueño  1' Salinas  18'

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12 June 1986 12:00 CST	Northern Ireland	0 – 3	Brazil	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara Attendance: 51,000 Referee: Siegfried Kirschen (East Germany)
		Report	Careca  15', 87' Josimar  42'

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12 June 1986 12:00 CST	Algeria	0 – 3	Spain	Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey Attendance: 23,980 Referee: Shizuo Takada (Japan)
		Report	Calderé  15', 68' Eloy  70'

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Denmark	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	6
West Germany	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	3
Uruguay	3	0	2	1	2	7	−5	2
Scotland	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1

4 June 1986 12:00 CST	Uruguay	1 – 1	West Germany	Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro Attendance: 30,500 Referee: Vojtěch Christov (Czechoslovakia)
	Alzamendi  4'	Report	Allofs  84'

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4 June 1986 16:00 CST	Scotland	0 – 1	Denmark	Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Lajos Nemeth (Hungary)
		Report	Elkjær Larsen  57'

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8 June 1986 12:00 CST	West Germany	2 – 1	Scotland	Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Ioan Igna (Romania)
	Völler  23' Allofs  49'	Report	Strachan  18'

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8 June 1986 16:00 CST	Denmark	6 – 1	Uruguay	Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl Attendance: 26,500 Referee: Antonio Márquez Ramírez (Mexico)
	Elkjær Larsen  11', 67', 80' Lerby  41' Laudrup  52' J. Olsen  88'	Report	Francescoli  45' (pen.)

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13 June 1986 12:00 CST	Denmark	2 – 0	West Germany	Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro Attendance: 36,000 Referee: Alexis Ponnet (Belgium)
	J. Olsen  43' (pen.) Eriksen  62'	Report

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13 June 1986 12:00 CST	Scotland	0 – 0	Uruguay	Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Joël Quiniou (France)
		Report

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Morocco	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	4
England	3	1	1	1	3	1	+2	3
Poland	3	1	1	1	1	3	−2	3
Portugal	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	2

2 June 1986 16:00 CST	Morocco	0 – 0	Poland	Estadio Universitario, Monterrey Attendance: 19,900 Referee: José Luis Martínez Bazán (Uruguay)
		Report

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3 June 1986 16:00 CST	Portugal	1 – 0	England	Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey Attendance: 23,000 Referee: Volker Roth (West Germany)
	Carlos Manuel  76'	Report

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6 June 1986 16:00 CST	England	0 – 0	Morocco	Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey Attendance: 20,200 Referee: Gabriel González (Paraguay)
		Report

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7 June 1986 16:00 CST	Poland	1 – 0	Portugal	Estadio Universitario, Monterrey Attendance: 19,915 Referee: Ali Bin Nasser (Tunisia)
	Smolarek  68'	Report

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11 June 1986 16:00 CST	England	3 – 0	Poland	Estadio Universitario, Monterrey Attendance: 22,700 Referee: André Daina (Switzerland)
	Lineker  9', 14', 34'	Report

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11 June 1986 16:00 CST	Portugal	1 – 3	Morocco	Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Alan Snoddy (Northern Ireland)
	Diamantino  80'	Report	Khairi  19', 26' Merry Krimau  62'

Ranking of third-placed teams

Group	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
B	Belgium	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3
F	Poland	3	1	1	1	1	3	−2	3
A	Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
E	Uruguay	3	0	2	1	2	7	−5	2
C	Hungary	3	1	0	2	2	9	−7	2
D	Northern Ireland	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1

Starting with the 1994 World Cup, teams were awarded three points for a win rather than two, to encourage more offensive tactics. Had those rules been in place, Hungary would have finished ahead of Bulgaria for the 15th seed, and Uruguay would have been eliminated.

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

16 June – Puebla

Argentina

1

22 June – Mexico City

Uruguay

0

Argentina

2

18 June – Mexico City

England

1

England

3

25 June – Mexico City

Paraguay

0

Argentina

2

18 June – Querétaro

Belgium

0

Denmark

1

22 June – Puebla

Spain

5

Spain

1 (4)

15 June – León

Belgium (pen.)

1 (5)

Soviet Union

3

29 June – Mexico City

Belgium (a.e.t.)

4

Argentina

3

16 June – Guadalajara

West Germany

2

Brazil

4

21 June – Guadalajara

Poland

0

Brazil

1 (3)

17 June – Mexico City

France (pen.)

1 (4)

Italy

0

25 June – Guadalajara

France

2

France

0

17 June – Monterrey

West Germany

2

Third place

Morocco

0

21 June – Monterrey

28 June – Puebla

West Germany

1

West Germany (pen.)

0 (4)

France (a.e.t.)

4

15 June – Mexico City

Mexico

0 (1)

Belgium

2

Mexico

2

Bulgaria

0

Round of 16

15 June 1986 12:00 CST	Mexico	2 – 0	Bulgaria	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 114,580 Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)
	Negrete  34' Servín  61'	Report

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15 June 1986 16:00 CST	Soviet Union	3 – 4 (a.e.t.)	Belgium	Estadio Nou Camp, León Attendance: 32,277 Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)
	Belanov  27', 70', 111' (pen.)	Report	Scifo  56' Ceulemans  77' Demol  102' Claesen  110'

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16 June 1986 12:00 CST	Brazil	4 – 0	Poland	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Volker Roth (West Germany)
	Sócrates  30' (pen.) Josimar  55' Edinho  79' Careca  83' (pen.)	Report

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16 June 1986 16:00 CST	Argentina	1 – 0	Uruguay	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)
	Pasculli  42'	Report

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17 June 1986 12:00 CST	Italy	0 – 2	France	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City Attendance: 70,000 Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)
		Report	Platini  15' Stopyra  57'

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17 June 1986 16:00 CST	Morocco	0 – 1	West Germany	Estadio Universitario, Monterrey Attendance: 19,800 Referee: Zoran Petrović (Yugoslavia)
		Report	Matthäus  87'

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18 June 1986 12:00 CST	England	3 – 0	Paraguay	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 98,728 Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)
	Lineker  31', 73' Beardsley  56'	Report

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18 June 1986 16:00 CST	Denmark	1 – 5	Spain	Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro Attendance: 38,500 Referee: Jan Keizer (Netherlands)
	J. Olsen  33' (pen.)	Report	Butragueño  43', 56', 80', 88' (pen.) Goikoetxea  68' (pen.)

Quarter-finals

21 June 1986 12:00 CST	Brazil	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	France	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Ioan Igna (Romania)
	Careca  17'	Report	Platini  40'
		Penalties
	Sócrates Alemão Zico Branco Júlio César	3 – 4	Stopyra Amoros Bellone Platini Fernández

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21 June 1986 16:00 CST	West Germany	0 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Mexico	Estadio Universitario, Monterrey Attendance: 41,700 Referee: Jesús Díaz (Colombia)
		Report
		Penalties
	Allofs Brehme Matthäus Littbarski	4 – 1	Negrete Quirarte Servín

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Main article: Argentina v England (1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final)

22 June 1986 12:00 CST	Argentina	2 – 1	England	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 114,580 Referee: Ali Bin Nasser (Tunisia)
	Maradona  51', 55'	Report	Lineker  81'

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22 June 1986 16:00 CST	Spain	1 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Belgium	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Siegfried Kirschen (East Germany)
	Señor  85'	Report	Ceulemans  35'
		Penalties
	Señor Eloy Chendo Butragueño Víctor	4 – 5	Claesen Scifo Broos Vervoort L. Van Der Elst

Semi-finals

25 June 1986 12:00 CST	France	0 – 2	West Germany	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)
		Report	Brehme  9' Völler  89'

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25 June 1986 16:00 CST	Argentina	2 – 0	Belgium	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 114,500 Referee: Antonio Márquez Ramírez (Mexico)
	Maradona  51', 63'	Report

Third place match

28 June 1986 12:00 CST	France	4 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Belgium	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla Attendance: 21,000 Referee: George Courtney (England)
	Ferreri  27' Papin  43' Genghini  104' Amoros  111' (pen.)	Report	Ceulemans  11' Claesen  73'

Final

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Final

29 June 1986 12:00 CST	Argentina	3 – 2	West Germany	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Attendance: 114,600 Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)
	Brown  23' Valdano  55' Burruchaga  83'	Report	Rummenigge  74' Völler  80'

Awards

Golden Boot	Golden Ball	FIFA Fair Play Trophy
Gary Lineker	Diego Maradona	Brazil

Scorers

6 goals

• Gary Lineker

5 goals

• Diego Maradona
• Careca
• Emilio Butragueño

4 goals

• Jorge Valdano
• Preben Elkjær Larsen
• Alessandro Altobelli
• Igor Belanov

3 goals

• Jan Ceulemans
• Nico Claesen
• Jesper Olsen
• Rudi Völler

2 goals

• Jorge Burruchaga
• Enzo Scifo
• Josimar
• Sócrates
• Jean-Pierre Papin
• Michel Platini
• Yannick Stopyra
• Klaus Allofs
• Fernando Quirarte
• Abderrazak Khairi
• Roberto Cabañas
• Julio César Romero
• Ramón Calderé
• Ivan Yaremchuk

1 goal

• Djamel Zidane
• José Luis Brown
• Pedro Pasculli
• Oscar Ruggeri
• Stéphane Demol
• Erwin Vandenbergh
• Franky Vercauteren
• Daniel Veyt
• Edinho
• Plamen Getov
• Nasko Sirakov
• John Eriksen
• Michael Laudrup
• Søren Lerby
• Peter Beardsley
• Manuel Amoros
• Luis Fernández
• Jean-Marc Ferreri
• Bernard Genghini
• Dominique Rocheteau
• Jean Tigana
• Andreas Brehme
• Lothar Matthäus
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
• Lajos Détári
• Márton Esterházy
• Ahmed Radhi
• Luis Flores
• Manuel Negrete
• Hugo Sánchez
• Raúl Servín
• Abdelkrim Merry Krimau

• Colin Clarke
• Norman Whiteside
• Włodzimierz Smolarek
• Carlos Manuel
• Diamantino
• Gordon Strachan
• Choi Soon-Ho
• Huh Jung-Moo
• Kim Jong-Boo
• Park Chang-Seon
• Sergei Aleinikov
• Oleg Blokhin
• Vasiliy Rats
• Sergey Rodionov
• Pavel Yakovenko
• Aleksandr Zavarov
• Eloy
• Andoni Goikoetxea
• Julio Salinas
• Juan Antonio Señor
• Antonio Alzamendi
• Enzo Francescoli

Own goals

• Cho Kwang-Rae (for Italy)

Disputes

• Some sources, including the official FIFA match report, credit the fifth Soviet goal against Hungary to Ivan Yaremchuk rather than an own goal. The Complete Book of the World Cup 2006 by Cris Freddi says: "Dajka's tackle knocked the ball beyond his own keeper after the Soviets had inter-passed on the edge of the box…". The article FIFA World Cup goalscorers counts the goal as an own goal
• See also the final paragraph in the 'Second round and quarter-finals' section above for Maradona's "Hand of God" goal
• During the match between Brazil and Spain, the Spanish team had a shot that was later proved by television slow motion replays to have bounced behind the goal line after hitting the crossbar. No goal was awarded, as none of the match officials could be sure that the ball had crossed the line, and Brazil won the match 1–0^{[citation needed]}

Players who were red-carded during the tournament

• Mike Sweeney
• Frank Arnesen
• Ray Wilkins
• Thomas Berthold
• Basil Gorgis
• Javier Aguirre
• José Batista
• Miguel Bossio

FIFA Retrospective Ranking

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1986 tournament were as follows:

Final

1. Argentina
2. West Germany

3rd and 4th place

3. France
4. Belgium

Eliminated in the quarter-finals

5. Brazil
6. Mexico
7. Spain
8. England

Eliminated in the round of 16

9. Denmark
10. Soviet Union
11. Morocco
12. Italy
13. Paraguay
14. Poland
15. Bulgaria
16. Uruguay

Eliminated at the group stage

17. Portugal
18. Hungary
19. Scotland
20. South Korea
21. Northern Ireland
22. Algeria
23. Iraq
24. Canada

External links

• 1986 FIFA World Cup FIFA.com
• 1986 World Cup Details RSSSF
• History of the World Cup-1986
• Mexico 1986 Planet World Cup