Four Minutes in Mexico: Maradona v England

In the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England, Diego Maradona scored the most infamous goal in World Cup history and, four minutes later, the greatest. The first was the Hand of God; the second was voted the Goal of the Century.

Four years after the Falklands

Argentina and England met at the Azteca four years after the Falklands War, and the match carried far more than a place in the semi-finals. The first half was tight and goalless.

51 minutes: the Hand of God

Six minutes after half-time, England's Steve Hodge sliced a clearance high back towards his own goal. Maradona, a head shorter than goalkeeper Peter Shilton, went up with him and punched the ball in with his left fist. The Tunisian referee, Ali Bin Nasser, gave the goal. Maradona said afterwards that it was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God".

55 minutes: the Goal of the Century

Four minutes later he picked the ball up in his own half with his back to goal, spun away from Peter Beardsley and Peter Reid, ran sixty metres past Terry Butcher and Terry Fenwick, rounded Shilton and scored. On Argentine radio, Víctor Hugo Morales called him a "cosmic kite" and asked what planet he had come from. In 2002 a FIFA poll named it the Goal of the Century.

Argentina's World Cup

Gary Lineker pulled one back, but Argentina held on. Maradona scored twice more against Belgium in the semi-final, and Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 in the final.

Frame the moment

Our framed poster Four Minutes in Mexico tells the story in posterised artwork with the fixture, venue and date. Choose A4 or A3, framed and ready to hang, with free shipping across India. See more in our World Cup posters.

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