Top 10 scandals in the history of sports

The Hand of God – Argentina v England, 1986

Argentina’s Diego Maradona scores 1st goal with his ‘Hand of God’, past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

When Argentina played England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup at the Azteca in Mexico City, football fans worldwide were witnesses to two goals that will forever leave their mark in the pages of history. And Argentina’s Diego Maradona was responsible for both of them.

In the second half of their quarter-final match, England’s Steve Hodge made a mess of a clearance as it looped over the defence and into the box. Peter Shilton made a move to punch the ball clear but Maradona himself jumped in the air and punched the ball over the much taller goalkeeper to score. The goal was given as the English players surrounded the referee Ali Bin Nasser while Maradona urged his teammates to celebrate with him lest the referee overturn the decision.

But before one could question his ability and label Argentina’s goal a fluke, Maradona would enthral the world with a move that saw him score the greatest individual goal of all time. After receiving the ball in his own half, he made a run which saw him skip past 5 English players and the goalkeeper to fire home a second and give Argentina a 2-0 lead. It was such an outrageous goal that it even voted the ‘Goal of the Century’ in 2002.

Although Gary Lineker scored to make it 2-1, England couldn’t come back and Argentina qualified for the semi-finals. Argentina would go on to win the World Cup, but they treasure the win over England more because of the tension between the two countries that existed at the time due to the Falklands War. After the game, when Maradona was asked about the goal, he said, it was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.