1986 FIFA World Cup

"1986 World Cup" redirects here. For other uses, see 1986 World Cup (disambiguation).

1986 FIFA World Cup

Copa Mundial de Fútbol México '86 (Spanish)
1986 FIFA World Cup official logo, designed by Rubén Santiago Hernández
Tournament details
Host country	Mexico
Dates	31 May – 29 June
Teams	24 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	12 (in 11 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	2,394,031 (46,039 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Gary Lineker (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Diego Maradona
Best young player	Enzo Scifo
Fair play award	Brazil
← 1982 1990 →

Diego Maradona celebrating with the Trophy. Argentina won the tournament unbeaten

The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. 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 resigned in 1982. Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983, and became the first country to host the World Cup more than once, after previously hosting the 1970 edition.

The World Cup was won by Argentina (their second title, after winning in 1978). Argentina was captained by the 25-year-old Diego Maradona, who played a large part in his team's success by scoring his "Hand of God" goal, as well as another voted the "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 teammates. ^[1] Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. Total attendance was 2,394,031, an average per match of 46,039. ^[2] Canada, Denmark and Iraq made their first appearances at the final stage.

The format of the competition changed from 1982. The final pair of matches in each group started at the same time ^[3] and the second round was 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. Italy were the defending champions, but were eliminated by France in the Round of 16.

The tournament saw the appearance of the Mexican wave, a spectator phenomenon which was popularised worldwide after featuring during the tournament. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Host selection

Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts

See also: Colombian withdrawal from the 1986 FIFA World Cup

Colombia was originally chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1974, with Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Pereira and Bucaramanga intended as the host cities, plus potentially Barranquilla. ^[7] Colombia agreed to host a 16-team competition. However, FIFA later allowed an expansion to 24 teams for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, which was more challenging for Colombia to host, although FIFA President João Havelange initially gave assurances that they could revert to a 16-team tournament. ^[7] Colombian president Julio César Turbay Ayala was initially against holding the tournament in his country, but reluctantly granted permission in October 1980. ^[8] However, the next Colombian president, Belisario Betancur, declared on 5 November 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup under the terms that FIFA demanded. ^[9]

Although Mexico, United States and Canada submitted bids on 11 March 1983 to be the replacement host, the five-person special FIFA committee responsible for recommending the bids to the Executive Committee (Exco) announced on 31 March that it would only consider Mexico's bid, saying the United States and Canada had "deviated" from FIFA's criteria ^[10] and Exco members refused to visit Canadian and American stadium sites. ^[11] On 20 May, the committee announced Mexico as the replacement hosts despite Havelange stating that the United States and Canada had made better presentations. ^[11] Mexico became the first nation to host two World Cups, as it had hosted the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

The Canadian representatives criticised the committee's decision to not consider Canada, saying they had submitted a more complete bid than Mexico, and that they had been misled by the number of stadiums required for bidding. ^[11] The United States' bid contained more than the required number of stadiums with the required capacity to host World Cup matches (at least 40,000 capacity, 60,000 for second-round matches and 80,000 for the tournament final). Mexico submitted a bid with 14 stadiums, only six of which seated over 40,000 at the time of the bid, and three over 60,000. ^[11] Havelange in turn criticised the United States' handling of stadium selection for the football tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Americans also pointed out that Mexico had the influence of two seats on the 22-person executive committee, a FIFA vice president and an executive at Televisa, a Mexican television network with ties to Havelange. ^[10] Also working in Mexico's favour was Havelange secretly promising the broadcast rights to Televisa ahead of the vote. ^[12] Following the bidding process, Henry Kissinger, the former United States Secretary of State who led the United States bid committee, remarked, "The politics of soccer make me nostalgic for the politics of the Middle East," while the leader of the Canadian committee called Mexico's 10-page bid document "a joke." ^[11]

A severe earthquake in September 1985, eight months before the tournament, cast doubt ^[13] over Mexico's ability to organise the event, but the stadiums were not affected and it was decided to go ahead with the preparations. ^[14] 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". ^[15]

For the design of the logo an unofficial motto was adopted: "El Mundo Unido por Un Balón" ("The World United by a Ball"). ^[16]

The official match ball was the Adidas Azteca. ^[17]

Mascot

Pique, the official mascot of the 1986 FIFA World Cup

The official mascot of the 1986 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, a Spanish word meaning "spicy", and was also a pun on the "PK" abbreviation of the football term penalty kick. Pique is also a common Spanish name.

The character caused a degree of controversy within Mexico for its ethnic stereotypes. ^{[18] [19]}

Qualification

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup 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. 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, Portugal for the first time since 1966 and Bulgaria and Uruguay for the first time since 1974. As of 2022 ^[update] , this was the last time that Hungary and Northern Ireland qualified for the finals, and the only time that Iraq have qualified. The Netherlands once again failed to qualify, even though they would go on to win the European Championship only two years later.

List of qualified teams

The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.

AFC (2)   Iraq (debut)   South Korea CAF (2)   Algeria   Morocco OFC (0) None qualified

CONCACAF (2)   Canada (debut)   Mexico  (hosts) CONMEBOL (4)   Argentina   Brazil   Paraguay   Uruguay

UEFA (14)   Belgium   Bulgaria   Denmark (debut)   England   France   Hungary   Italy  (defending champions)   Northern Ireland   Poland   Portugal   Scotland   Soviet Union   Spain   West Germany

Countries qualified for World Cup   Country did not qualify   Countries that did not enter World Cup   Country not a FIFA member

Venues

Eleven cities hosted the tournament, with a total of twelve stadia used (two of them in Mexico City), among which were counted all five stadia that hosted the 1970 tournament. The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the largest stadium used for the tournament, hosted nine matches (including the final), more than any other stadium used. Mexico City hosted 13 total matches; the Olimpico Universitario Stadium hosted four matches (if the Mexico City suburban town Nezahualcoyotl's three matches are included, this brings the total up to 16 matches; nearly a third of all matches in this tournament). Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city hosted 10 total matches (the Jalisco Stadium hosted seven matches, the Tres de Marzo Stadium in Zapopan hosted three), Monterrey hosted seven matches (The Tecnologico Stadium hosted three matches and the Universitario Stadium in San Nicolas de los Garza hosted four matches), and the Cuauhtémoc Stadium in Puebla hosted five matches.

The hot, humid and rainy summer weather in Mexico varied from humid desert locations like Monterrey to tropical locations such as Guadalajara; but perhaps the greatest hardship the players had to contend with was the high altitude of the Mexican locations. With the exception of the 93–104 °F (34–40 °C) temperatures of Monterrey (still 2,000 feet above sea level), all of the stadia were located in cities that varied anywhere from Guadalajara being 5,138 feet (1,566 m) above sea level to Toluca being 8,730 feet (2,660 m) above sea level, making conditions very difficult for the players running around in these stadia – but the higher the cities, the less intense the heat. Mexico City, the location of the opening and final matches and the location where the most matches were played was 7,380 feet (2,250 m) above sea level and the weather there was not as hot as in other cities used in this World Cup.

Mexico City		Guadalajara, Jalisco	Puebla City, Puebla
Estadio Azteca	Estadio Olímpico Universitario	Estadio Jalisco	Estadio Cuauhtémoc
Capacity: 114,600	Capacity: 72,212	Capacity: 66,193	Capacity: 46,416
San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León (Monterrey area)	MXC Guadalajara Zapopan Monterrey SNDLG Querétaro Puebla Toluca Irapuato León		Querétaro, Querétaro
Estadio Universitario			Estadio La Corregidora
Capacity: 43,780			Capacity: 38,576
Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico (Mexico City area)			Monterrey, Nuevo León
Estadio Neza 86	Stadiums in Mexico City (labeled as MXC ( ) above) Olímpico Azteca Neza		Estadio Tecnológico
Capacity: 34,536			Capacity: 33,805
Toluca, State of Mexico	Irapuato, Guanajuato	León, Guanajuato	Zapopan, Jalisco (Guadalajara area)
Estadio Nemesio Díez	Estadio Sergio León Chávez	Estadio Nou Camp	Estadio Tres de Marzo
Capacity: 32,612	Capacity: 31,336	Capacity: 30,531	Capacity: 30,015

All of these venues except Monterrey were located in central Mexico, as this tournament was organized with the then-standard way of keeping teams playing in locations in close proximity to each other. Group A only played at the Olimpico and in Puebla (except for the Bulgaria-Italy opening tournament match, which was played in the Azteca), Group B only played at the Azteca and in Toluca (hosts Mexico were part of this group; they played all their group stage matches at the Azteca), Group C played in León and Irapuato, Group D only played in Guadalajara (including the Guadalajara area town of Zapopan; the last match of this group was played in Monterrey), Group E exclusively played in Querétaro and Nezahualcóyotl, and Group F played in the northern city of Monterrey (including the Monterrey area town of San Nicolas de los Garza; the last match of this group was played in Guadalajara). All of the venues listed hosted knockout round matches except the ones in Nezahualcoyotl, Irapuato, Zapopan, Toluca and the Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey.

Stadium	Matches	Teams hosted in the first round
Estadio Azteca	Opening match, Group B, R2, QF, SF, Final	Mexico
Estadio Olímpico Universitario	Group A, R2	Argentina ,   Bulgaria ,   South Korea
Estadio Jalisco	Group D, R2, QF, SF	Brazil
Estadio Cuauhtémoc	Group A, R2, QF, Third-place match	Italy
Estadio Universitario	Group F, R2, QF	Poland
Estadio La Corregidora	Group E, R2	West Germany
Estadio Tecnológico	Group F	England ,   Portugal *,   Morocco *
Estadio Nou Camp	Group C, R2	France
Estadio Neza 86	Group E	Uruguay ,   Denmark ,   Scotland
Estadio Sergio León Chávez	Group C	Soviet Union ,   Hungary ,   Canada
Estadio Tres de Marzo	Group D	Spain *,   Northern Ireland ,   Algeria *
Estadio Nemesio Díez	Group B	Belgium ,   Paraguay ,   Iraq

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

Match officials

Africa

• Ali Ben Nasser
• Edwin Picon-Ackong
• Idrissa Traoré

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

Seeded teams (hosts and top 5 from 1982 World Cup)	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
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   Spain   Argentina   Paraguay   Uruguay	Canada   Denmark   Algeria   Morocco   Iraq   South Korea	Belgium   Bulgaria   Hungary   Northern Ireland   Portugal   Scotland

Summary

Map of results

Champion   Runner-up

Third place   Fourth place

Quarter-finals   Round of 16

Group stage

First round

Celebrations of Mexican fans at Zocalo main square, June 7, 1986.

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 Dynamo Kyiv-dominated Soviet Union side against the reigning European champions France. They drew with each other 1–1, with a goal scored by Vasyl 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 difference.

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 Alex Ferguson's Scotland 1–0 in their first game, then hammered Uruguay 6–1, with Preben Elkjær 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 not selected for the remainder of the tournament, 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 teammates could find a fourth goal for the Soviet Union. At the Olympic University Stadium in Mexico City, the European champions France 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. At the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, 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 Matthäus scored the only goal of the match with a free kick. Mexico won 2–0 against Bulgaria with an outstanding scissor-kick goal by Manuel Negrete which is honored by a remembrance plaque at the Azteca.

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 finished slightly the stronger of the two sides. 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 Señor equalised with five minutes to go. No more goals were scored in extra time, and Belgium won the shoot-out 5–4. On the hosts' first game outside of the Azteca, Francisco Javier Cruz saw a goal disallowed as West Germany and Mexico drew 0–0 after extra time. The West Germans eliminated the hosts 4–1 on penalties. As a curiosity, the German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher jumped to the right in the three Mexican penalties (stopping two of them).

The quarter-final between Argentina and England at the Azteca featured two very different goals in the second half 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. With 20 minutes to go, the introduction of John Barnes as a substitute changed the tide of play in England's favour, as he pinged cross after cross into the Argentine penalty area: with 9 minutes to go, Lineker got on the end of one and scored, then almost repeated the dose six minutes later but was just unable to reach the ball thanks to a timely block by Olarticoechea: 2–1 to Argentina was the final score. In Argentina, the game was seen as revenge for the Falklands War. ^[20]

Semi-finals, third-place match and final

In the first semi-final match, Andreas Brehme put West Germany 1–0 ahead against France in the ninth minute in Guadalajara, 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 second semi-final match, Maradona struck twice in the second half as Argentina beat Belgium 2–0 at the Azteca. France went on to defeat Belgium in the third-place match, 4–2.

So it was to be the South American Argentina vs the European West Germany at the final at the Azteca, the second time this massive stadium would host a World Cup Final (the first in 1970). 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.

Group stage

All times are Central Time (UTC−6)

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

Group A

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Argentina	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Italy	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	4
3	Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
4	South Korea	3	0	1	2	4	7	−3	1

Source: FIFA

31 May 1986

12:00 CST

Bulgaria	1–1	Italy
Sirakov 85'	Report	Altobelli 44'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 96,000

Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)

2 June 1986

12:00 CST

Argentina	3–1	South Korea
Valdano 6', 46' Ruggeri 18'	Report	Park Chang-Sun 73'

Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City

Attendance: 60,000

Referee: Victoriano Sánchez Arminio (Spain)

---

5 June 1986

12:00 CST

Italy	1–1	Argentina
Altobelli 6' (pen.)	Report	Maradona 34'

Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Attendance: 32,000

Referee: Jan Keizer (Netherlands)

5 June 1986

16:00 CST

South Korea	1–1	Bulgaria
Kim Jong-Boo 70'	Report	Getov 11'

Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Fallaj Al Shanar (Saudi Arabia)

---

10 June 1986

12:00 CST

South Korea	2–3	Italy
Choi Soon-Ho 62' Huh Jung-Moo 83'	Report	Altobelli 17', 73' Cho Kwang-Rae 82' (o.g.)

Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: David Socha (United States)

10 June 1986

12:00 CST

Argentina	2–0	Bulgaria
Valdano 4' Burruchaga 77'	Report

Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Berny Ulloa Morera (Costa Rica)

Group B

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group B

Cruz and Cabañas going for the ball in Mexico v Paraguay

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mexico (H)	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Paraguay	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	4
3	Belgium	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3
4	Iraq	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts

3 June 1986

12:00 CST

Belgium	1–2	Mexico
Vandenbergh 45'	Report	Quirarte 23' Sánchez 39'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 110,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)

4 June 1986

12:00 CST

Paraguay	1–0	Iraq
Romero 35'	Report

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Attendance: 24,000

Referee: Edwin Picon-Ackong (Mauritius)

---

7 June 1986

12:00 CST

Mexico	1–1	Paraguay
Flores 3'	Report	Romero 85'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 114,600

Referee: George Courtney (England)

8 June 1986

12:00 CST

Iraq	1–2	Belgium
Radhi 59'	Report	Scifo 16' Claesen 21' (pen.)

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Jesús Díaz (Colombia)

---

11 June 1986

12:00 CST

Paraguay	2–2	Belgium
Cabañas 50', 76'	Report	Vercauteren 30' Veyt 59'

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Attendance: 16,000

Referee: Bogdan Dotchev (Bulgaria)

11 June 1986

12:00 CST

Iraq	0–1	Mexico
	Report	Quirarte 54'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 103,763

Referee: Zoran Petrović (Yugoslavia)

Group C

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Soviet Union	3	2	1	0	9	1	+8	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	France	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	5
3	Hungary	3	1	0	2	2	9	−7	2
4	Canada	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0

Source: FIFA

1 June 1986

16:00 CST

Canada	0–1	France
	Report	Papin 79'

Estadio Nou Camp, León

Attendance: 36,000

Referee: Hernán Silva (Chile)

2 June 1986

12:00 CST

Soviet Union	6–0	Hungary
Yakovenko 2' Aleinikov 4' Belanov 24' (pen.) Yaremchuk 66' Dajka 73' (o.g.) Rodionov 80'	Report

Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato

Attendance: 16,500

Referee: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)

---

5 June 1986

12:00 CST

France	1–1	Soviet Union
Fernández 62'	Report	Rats 53'

Estadio Nou Camp, León

Attendance: 36,540

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)

6 June 1986

12:00 CST

Hungary	2–0	Canada
Esterházy 2' Détári 75'	Report

Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato

Attendance: 13,800

Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

---

9 June 1986

12:00 CST

Hungary	0–3	France
	Report	Stopyra 29' Tigana 62' Rocheteau 84'

Estadio Nou Camp, León

Attendance: 31,420

Referee: Carlos Silva Valente (Portugal)

9 June 1986

12:00 CST

Soviet Union	2–0	Canada
Blokhin 58' Zavarov 74'	Report

Estadio Sergio León Chavez, Irapuato

Attendance: 14,200

Referee: Idrissa Traoré (Mali)

Group D

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Spain	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	4
3	Northern Ireland	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1
4	Algeria	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

Source: FIFA

1 June 1986

12:00 CST

Spain	0–1	Brazil
	Report	Sócrates 62'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 35,748

Referee: Chris Bambridge (Australia)

3 June 1986

12:00 CST

Algeria	1–1	Northern Ireland
Zidane 59'	Report	Whiteside 6'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara

Attendance: 22,000

Referee: Valeri Butenko (Soviet Union)

---

6 June 1986

12:00 CST

Brazil	1–0	Algeria
Careca 66'	Report

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 48,000

Referee: Rómulo Méndez (Guatemala)

7 June 1986

12:00 CST

Northern Ireland	1–2	Spain
Clarke 46'	Report	Butragueño 1' Salinas 18'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Guadalajara

Attendance: 28,000

Referee: Horst Brummeier (Austria)

---

12 June 1986

12:00 CST

Northern Ireland	0–3	Brazil
	Report	Careca 15', 87' Josimar 42'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 51,000

Referee: Siegfried Kirschen (East Germany)

12 June 1986

12:00 CST

Algeria	0–3	Spain
	Report	Calderé 15', 68' Eloy 70'

Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey

Attendance: 23,980

Referee: Shizuo Takada (Japan)

Group E

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group E

Antonio Alzamendi scoring for Uruguay v West Germany

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	West Germany	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	3
3	Uruguay	3	0	2	1	2	7	−5	2
4	Scotland	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1

Source: FIFA

4 June 1986

12:00 CST

Uruguay	1–1	West Germany
Alzamendi 4'	Report	Allofs 84'

Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro

Attendance: 30,500

Referee: Vojtěch Christov (Czechoslovakia)

4 June 1986

16:00 CST

Scotland	0–1	Denmark
	Report	Elkjær 57'

Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Lajos Németh (Hungary)

---

8 June 1986

12:00 CST

West Germany	2–1	Scotland
Völler 23' Allofs 49'	Report	Strachan 18'

Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Ioan Igna (Romania)

8 June 1986

16:00 CST

Denmark	6–1	Uruguay
Elkjær 11', 67', 80' Lerby 41' Laudrup 52' J. Olsen 88'	Report	Francescoli 45' (pen.)

Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl

Attendance: 26,500

Referee: Antonio Márquez Ramírez (Mexico)

---

13 June 1986

12:00 CST

Denmark	2–0	West Germany
J. Olsen 43' (pen.) Eriksen 62'	Report

Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro

Attendance: 36,000

Referee: Alexis Ponnet (Belgium)

13 June 1986

12:00 CST

Scotland	0–0	Uruguay
	Report

Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Joël Quiniou (France)

Group F

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	4	Advance to knockout stage
2	England	3	1	1	1	3	1	+2	3
3	Poland	3	1	1	1	1	3	−2	3
4	Portugal	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	2

Source: FIFA

2 June 1986

16:00 CST

Morocco	0–0	Poland
	Report

Estadio Universitario, Monterrey

Attendance: 19,900

Referee: José Luis Martínez Bazán (Uruguay)

3 June 1986

16:00 CST

Portugal	1–0	England
Carlos Manuel 75'	Report

Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey

Attendance: 23,000

Referee: Volker Roth (West Germany)

---

6 June 1986

16:00 CST

England	0–0	Morocco
	Report

Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey

Attendance: 20,200

Referee: Gabriel González (Paraguay)

7 June 1986

16:00 CST

Poland	1–0	Portugal
Smolarek 68'	Report

Estadio Universitario, Monterrey

Attendance: 19,915

Referee: Ali Bin Nasser (Tunisia)

---

11 June 1986

16:00 CST

England	3–0	Poland
Lineker 9', 14', 34'	Report

Estadio Universitario, Monterrey

Attendance: 22,700

Referee: André Daina (Switzerland)

11 June 1986

16:00 CST

Portugal	1–3	Morocco
Diamantino 80'	Report	Khairi 19', 26' A. Merry 62'

Estadio Tres de Marzo, Zapopan

Attendance: 28,000

Referee: Alan Snoddy (Northern Ireland)

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Belgium	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3	Advance to knockout stage
2	F	Poland	3	1	1	1	1	3	−2	3
3	A	Bulgaria	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
4	E	Uruguay	3	0	2	1	2	7	−5	2
5	C	Hungary	3	1	0	2	2	9	−7	2
6	D	Northern Ireland	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1

Source: FIFA

Knockout stage

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

Argentina beat West Germany for the first time and won their second World Cup. Belgium finished in fourth place, their best finish in the World Cup until 2018, where they finished third.

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

16 June – Puebla

Argentina

1

22 June – Mexico City (Azteca)

Uruguay

0

Argentina

2

18 June – Mexico City (Azteca)

England

1

England

3

25 June – Mexico City (Azteca)

Paraguay

0

Argentina

2

18 June – Querétaro

Belgium

0

Denmark

1

22 June – Puebla

Spain

5

Spain

1 (4)

15 June – León

Belgium (p)

1 (5)

Soviet Union

3

29 June – Mexico City (Azteca)

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 (Olímpico)

France (p)

1 (4)

Italy

0

25 June – Guadalajara

France

2

France

0

17 June – San Nicolás de los Garza

West Germany

2

Third place play-off

Morocco

0

21 June – San Nicolás de los Garza

28 June – Puebla

West Germany

1

West Germany (p)

0 (4)

Belgium

2

15 June – Mexico City (Azteca)

Mexico

0 (1)

France (a.e.t.)

4

Mexico

2

Bulgaria

0

Round of 16

15 June 1986

12:00 CST

Mexico	2–0	Bulgaria
Negrete 34' Servín 61'	Report

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 114,580

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)

---

15 June 1986

16:00 CST

Soviet Union	3–4 (a.e.t.)	Belgium
Belanov 27', 70', 111' (pen.)	Report	Scifo 56' Ceulemans 77' Demol 102' Claesen 110'

Estadio Nou Camp, León

Attendance: 32,277

Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)

---

16 June 1986

12:00 CST

Brazil	4–0	Poland
Sócrates 30' (pen.) Josimar 55' Edinho 79' Careca 83' (pen.)	Report

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Volker Roth (West Germany)

---

16 June 1986

16:00 CST

Argentina	1–0	Uruguay
Pasculli 42'	Report

Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Attendance: 26,000

Referee: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)

---

17 June 1986

12:00 CST

Italy	0–2	France
	Report	Platini 15' Stopyra 57'

Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito (Argentina)

---

17 June 1986

16:00 CST

Morocco	0–1	West Germany
	Report	Matthäus 88'

Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza

Attendance: 19,800

Referee: Zoran Petrović (Yugoslavia)

---

18 June 1986

12:00 CST

England	3–0	Paraguay
Lineker 31', 73' Beardsley 56'	Report

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 98,728

Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

---

18 June 1986

16:00 CST

Denmark	1–5	Spain
J. Olsen 33' (pen.)	Report	Butragueño 43', 56', 80', 88' (pen.) Goikoetxea 68' (pen.)

Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro

Attendance: 38,500

Referee: Jan Keizer (Netherlands)

Quarter-finals

21 June 1986

12:00 CST

Brazil	1–1 (a.e.t.)	France
Careca 17'	Report	Platini 40'
Penalties
Sócrates Alemão Zico Branco Júlio César	3–4	Stopyra Amoros Bellone Platini Fernández

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Ioan Igna (Romania)

---

21 June 1986

16:00 CST

West Germany	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Mexico
	Report
Penalties
Allofs Brehme Matthäus Littbarski	4–1	Negrete Quirarte Servín

Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza

Attendance: 41,700

Referee: Jesús Díaz (Colombia)

---

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

22 June 1986

12:00 CST

Argentina	2–1	England
Maradona 51', 55'	Report	Lineker 81'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 114,580

Referee: Ali Ben Nasser (Tunisia)

---

22 June 1986

16:00 CST

Spain	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Belgium
Señor 85'	Report	Ceulemans 35'
Penalties
Señor Eloy Chendo Butragueño Víctor	4–5	Claesen Scifo Broos Vervoort L. Van der Elst

Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Siegfried Kirschen (East Germany)

Semi-finals

25 June 1986

12:00 CST

France	0–2	West Germany
	Report	Brehme 9' Völler 89'

Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara

Attendance: 45,000

Referee: Luigi Agnolin (Italy)

---

25 June 1986

16:00 CST

Argentina	2–0	Belgium
Maradona 51', 63'	Report

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 114,500

Referee: Antonio Márquez Ramírez (Mexico)

Third place play-off

28 June 1986

12:00 CST

Belgium	2–4 (a.e.t.)	France
Ceulemans 11' Claesen 73'	Report	Ferreri 27' Papin 43' Genghini 104' Amoros 111' (pen.)

Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla

Attendance: 21,000

Referee: George Courtney (England)

Final

Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup final

29 June 1986

12:00 CST

Argentina	3–2	West Germany
Brown 23' Valdano 55' Burruchaga 83'	Report	Rummenigge 74' Völler 80'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 114,600

Referee: Romualdo Arppi Filho (Brazil)

Awards

Source: ^[21]

Golden Boot	Best Young Player	FIFA Fair Play Trophy
Gary Lineker	Enzo Scifo	Brazil

Golden Ball
Rank	Player	Points
1	Diego Maradona	1282
2	Toni Schumacher	344
3	Preben Elkjær	236
4	Jean-Marie Pfaff	224
	Michel Platini
6	Gary Lineker	200
7	Manuel Amoros	168
8	Emilio Butragueño	156
9	Jean Tigana	124
10	Júlio César	110

Goalscorers

Gary Lineker received the Golden Boot for scoring six goals. In total, 132 goals were scored by 82 players, with two of them credited as own goals.

6 goals ^[22]

• Gary Lineker

5 goals

• Diego Maradona
• Careca
• Emilio Butragueño

4 goals

• Jorge Valdano
• Preben Elkjær
• 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
• Fernando Quirarte
• Abderrazak Khairi
• Roberto Cabañas
• Julio César Romero
• Ramón Calderé
• Klaus Allofs

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
• Lajos Détári
• Márton Esterházy
• Ahmed Radhi
• Luis Flores
• Manuel Negrete
• Hugo Sánchez
• Raúl Servín
• Abdelkrim Merry
• Colin Clarke
• Norman Whiteside
• Włodzimierz Smolarek
• Carlos Manuel
• Diamantino
• Gordon Strachan
• Choi Soon-ho
• Huh Jung-moo
• Kim Jong-boo
• Park Chang-sun
• Sergei Aleinikov
• Oleh Blokhin
• Vasyl Rats
• Sergey Rodionov
• Pavlo Yakovenko
• Ivan Yaremchuk
• Oleksandr Zavarov
• Eloy
• Andoni Goikoetxea
• Julio Salinas
• Juan Antonio Señor
• Antonio Alzamendi
• Enzo Francescoli
• Andreas Brehme
• Lothar Matthäus
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Own goals

• László Dajka (against the Soviet Union)
• Cho Kwang-rae (against Italy)

Red cards

Eight players received a red card during the tournament:

• Mike Sweeney ^[23]
• Frank Arnesen ^[24]
• Ray Wilkins ^[25]
• Thomas Berthold ^[26]
• Basil Gorgis ^[27]
• Javier Aguirre ^[26]
• José Batista ^[28]
• Miguel Bossio ^[29]

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. ^{[30] [31]} The rankings for the 1986 tournament were as follows:

R	Team	G	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
1	Argentina	A	7	6	1	0	14	5	+9	13
2	West Germany	E	7	3	2	2	8	7	+1	8
3	France	C	7	4	2	1	12	6	+6	10
4	Belgium	B	7	2	2	3	12	15	−3	6
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5	Brazil	D	5	4	1	0	10	1	+9	9
6	Mexico	B	5	3	2	0	6	2	+4	8
7	Spain	D	5	3	1	1	11	4	+7	7
8	England	F	5	2	1	2	7	3	+4	5
Eliminated in the round of 16
9	Denmark	E	4	3	0	1	10	6	+4	6
10	Soviet Union	C	4	2	1	1	12	5	+7	5
11	Morocco	F	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	4
12	Italy	A	4	1	2	1	5	6	−1	4
13	Paraguay	B	4	1	2	1	4	6	−2	4
14	Poland	F	4	1	1	2	1	7	−6	3
15	Bulgaria	A	4	0	2	2	2	6	−4	2
16	Uruguay	E	4	0	2	2	2	8	−6	2
Eliminated in the group stage
17	Portugal	F	3	1	0	2	2	4	−2	2
18	Hungary	C	3	1	0	2	2	9	−7	2
19	Scotland	E	3	0	1	2	1	3	−2	1
20	South Korea	A	3	0	1	2	4	7	−3	1
21	Northern Ireland	D	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1
22	Algeria	D	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1
23	Iraq	B	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0
24	Canada	C	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0

References

1. "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico – Overview". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
2. "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
3. "The Game that Changed the World Cup — Algeria". algeria.com. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
4. "Who invented the Mexican Wave?". BBC. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
5. Jackson, Andy (11 June 2010). "...Fan Crazes". FourFourTwo (Australia). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
6. Rice, Simon (10 June 2010). "The 100 greatest World Cup moments. # 94. The Mexican Wave". The Independent. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
7. Maier, Hanns J (June 1979). "1986 - World Cup without a home?". World Soccer . pp. 24–25.
8. "for the record SOCCER". Detroit Free Press. 23 October 1980.
9. Pougatch, Mark (11 January 2011). Three Lions Versus the World: England's World Cup Stories from the Men Who Were There. Mainstream Publishing. p. 175. ISBN   978-1-907195-59-4.
10. Mifflin, Lawrie (8 May 1983). "A place for soccer's World Cup". New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
11. "Mexico Is Chosen As World Cup Host". UPI. 21 May 1983. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
12. Hughes, Rob (7 September 2011). "One of FIFA's Own Speaks Out". New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
13. "World Cup : Draw Comes as Mexico Tries to Pick Up Pieces". Los Angeles Times. 15 December 1985.
14. "EARTHQUAKES IN MEXICO : World Cup Still On, Officials Say". Los Angeles Times. 23 September 1985.
15. "International Year of Peace 1986 Stamps". 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
16. "Creador del mejor logo de los mundiales: "Nadie me ha felicitado"". ESPN.com.ar (in Spanish). 3 September 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
17. "Adidas Azteca is official match ball of World Cup 1986". Football Balls Database. 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
18. "MEXICO WORLD CUP MASCOT: NOT 'OLE' BUT 'OH NO'". The New York Times . 12 May 1984.
19. Snyder, John (1 September 2001). Soccer's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Clumsy Keepers, Clever Crosses, and Outlandish Oddities. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 247. ISBN   978-1-57488-365-7.
20. El Diego – Diego Maradona, Page 127, ISBN   0-224-07190-4
21. "1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico – Awards". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 10 December 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
22. FIFA World Cup – Mexico '86: Official Report, p. 228
23. "HUNGARY – CANADA". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
24. "DENMARK – WEST GERMANY". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
25. "ENGLAND – MOROCCO". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
26. "WEST GERMANY – MEXICO". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
27. "IRAQ – BELGIUM". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
28. "SCOTLAND – URUGUAY". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
29. "DENMARK – URUGUAY". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
30. Argentina's Road to the World Title FIFA.com. page 45
31. "FIFA World Cup: Milestones, facts & figures. Statistical Kit 7" (PDF). FIFA. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2013.

External links

• 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico, FIFA.com
• 1986 World Cup Details RSSSF
• FIFA Technical Report (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3) and (Part 4)