6 FIFA World Cup 3rd place playoffs that were extremely entertaining

#2 Belgium vs France, 1986 World Cup, Mexico

In the World Cup where Diego Maradona introduced himself to the world, there was an absolutely amazing 3rd place playoffs between Belgium and France. In the semi-finals, France had lost by a 2-0 margin to West Germany, whereas Belgium had lost by the same score to Argentina.

On 28th June, 1986, Belgium faced France at the Estadio Cuauhtemoc, Puebla, with 20000 eager fans in attendance. 11 minutes into the first half, Belgium had their lead through Ceulemans. France equalized in the 27th minute through Ferreri and went ahead themselves when Papin put the ball into the Belgium net 2 minutes before the break. At half-time, France were leading 2-1. But in the second half, Belgium came back strong and equalized through Claesen in the 73rd minute. With the score evenly poised at 90 minutes, the game went into extra time. Just a minute before the end of the first half of extra time, France went ahead through a Genghini goal. 6 minutes into the second half, Amoros scored France’s second goal and sealed Belgium’s fate. The score at the end of the game was 4-2. While Gary Lineker won the Golden Boot and Diego Maradona won the Golden Ball, Belgium’s Enzo Scifo won the best young player.