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16 unusual facts about 1986 FIFA World Cup


1985–86 in Scottish football

On 10 September 1985, the Scotland team travelled to Ninian Park, Cardiff, to take on Wales in their final qualifying game for the World Cup in Mexico.

1986–87 Serie A

The 1986–87 Serie A season ended with S.S.C. Napoli doing the "domestic double", winning their first Scudetto and third Coppa Italia, spurred on by their talismanic captain Diego Maradona, who had also just played a key part in World Cup glory for his home country of Argentina.

Ali Bin Nasser

He refereed the match between Argentina and England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where the "Hand of God" and "the Best goal of the Century" both by Diego Maradona in the same match, winning the quarter-finals over England.

Berny Ulloa Morera

He is known for having refereed the famous quarter-final match in the 1986 FIFA World Cup between Argentina and England, and in the final of the same tournament between Argentina and Germany.

Bogdan Dotchev

He is known for having refereed two matches in the FIFA World Cup, one in 1982 and one in 1986.

Dotchev was a linesman in the game between England and Argentina in 1986 in which the Hand of God and Goal of the Century were scored by Diego Maradona.

Canadian soccer league system

After the collapse of the original North American Soccer League (1968–1984), and Canada's participation in the 1986 FIFA World Cup the original Canadian Soccer League (1987–92) started operations as a nationally based CSA sanctioned Division 1 league.

Dodo and the Dodos

The lead singer, Dodo Gad, also recorded the football (soccer) song "Re-Sepp-Ten" for the 1986 FIFA World Cup; with Steen Christiansen as producer and studio musician, Jens Rud as studio technician, and Anders Valbro.

Golegã Municipality

The distinguished goalkeeper Manuel Bento, having 63 caps in the national team to his credit, including games at the UEFA Euro 1984 and 1986 FIFA World Cup final tournaments, was born in the Golegã village in 1948.

Ioan Igna

He is known for having refereed two matches in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, including the quarterfinal epic match between Brazil and France, when he made a controversial call when in the penalty shootout he ruled a goal when Bruno Bellone's shot hit the post and the ball bounced in Brazil's goalkeeper Carlos back and went to the back of the net.

Jamal Al Sharif

Two matches in 1986, one in 1990 and three in 1994, including the second round match between Bulgaria and Mexico, where his decisions to send off the Bulgarian player Emil Kremenliev and to award a penalty kick to the Mexican side were largely disputed after the match.

Martin Hodge

Hodge’s excellent form at Wednesday made him a favourite to make the England squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, however Hodge missed out at the last minute when Gary Bailey recovered from injury.

Re-Sepp-Ten

"Re-Sepp-Ten" is a 1986 Danish language football song released on Replay Records that was battle song for the Denmark national football team for 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

Siegfried Kirschen

He is perhaps best known for supervising four matches in the FIFA World Cup two in 1986 and two in 1990.

Volker Roth

He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

Zoran Petrović

He is known for having refereed four matches in the FIFA World Cup, two in the 1986 World Cup and two in 1990 World Cup.


Abdellah Liegeon

He spent his career in France, playing with Besançon RC, AS Monaco FC and RC Strasbourg and was part of Algeria's team at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where his defensive mistake allowed Brazil's Careca to score the only goal of the game in the two countries' first-round encounter.

António Jesus Pereira

After practically all of the Portuguese national team defected following the infamous Saltillo Affair at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Jesus was chosen by manager Juca as his starter for the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying campaign.

Bob Bearpark

In 1986, he was assistant to Tony Waiters at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and coached the national youth team at the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Soviet Union.

Carlos Roberto Gallo

He played in 37 matches for the Brazilian team, between June 1980 and June 1993, and was selected for the 1978, 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup tournaments, and played in the latter.

Cristóbal Ortega

He also played for Mexico's national team, including playing in the World Cups of 1978 and 1986 - he earned 14 caps in his international career.

Édson Boaro

With the Brazil national football team he won at the Pan American Games in 1979, was capped 19 times between June 1983 and June 1986, and participated in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Football in Argentina

The Argentine national team is one of the eight to have won the football World Cup, having done so in 1978 and 1986, and also being runner-up in 1930 and 1990.

After the victories in 1978 FIFA World Cup and 1986 FIFA World Cup, streets were flooded with people celebrating the championship, making it impossible not to become part of the celebration.

Iñigo Liceranzu

On 30 April 1985 Liceranzu gained his sole cap for Spain, playing the entire 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Wales, a 0–3 loss in Wrexham.

Javier Urruticoechea

Urruti played five times for Spain in a two-year span, and was a member of the Spanish squads for the 1978, 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, also being picked for UEFA Euro 1980.

Lei Clijsters

Clijsters played in 40 international matches for the Belgian national team, participating at UEFA Euro 1984 and the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups.

Mauro Galvão

After being an unused squad member at that year's FIFA World Cup, he was a starter under Sebastião Lazaroni in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, partnering Ricardo Gomes, Carlos Mozer and Ricardo Rocha – all four stoppers saw time during the tournament, Galvão played all four games, three complete – in a 5–3–2 formation, in an eventual round-of-16 exit.

Miguel Ángel Russo

Although Russo was called on by national team coach Carlos Bilardo to play in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, a string of minor injuries prevented him from traveling to the main event in Mexico, which Argentina ultimately won.

Peter Shilton's Handball Maradona

The game's title refers to the miraculous play at the 1986 FIFA World Cup by Diego Maradona.

Purani Basti, Raipur

The term hand of God was given to Diego Maradona's goal after he visited Purani basti immediately after the FIFA World Cup victory of Argentina in 1986 to free himself from the guilt.

Romualdo Arppi Filho

He is mostly known for supervising three matches in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, including the 1986 FIFA World Cup final between Germany and Argentina.