One Man Can Make a Difference - Part 2: Argentina at the 1986 World Cup

One Man Can Make a Difference - Part 2: Argentina at the 1986 World Cup

From World Cup Rambling by Matthew Okot

June 6, 2026 · 45 min · Season 6 · Episode 4

About this episode

The episode discusses Argentina's journey in the 1986 World Cup, focusing on Maradona's contributions and the team's development.

We’ve got part 2* of the look back at Argentina’s victorious campaign at Mexico 86. Here we’ve got the early stages ofArgentina’s journey. Maradona shows his class by assisting all three goals against the rough-housing South Koreans, then scoring a deft equaliser against Italy. It’s the result against Italy that slowly starts to win over the sceptics who felt that Argentina were heading for disaster. Further wins follow over Bulgaria and Uruguay. Bilardo settles on a core of players who will carry Argentina through the competition – a contrast with the hectic chopping and changing of the previous three years. * The original plan was to cover Argentina’s Mexico 86 campaign in a single episode but there was so much material – especially for the England game – that I’ve split the campaign into two episodes. ‘Por Una Cabeza’ is from https://www.classicals.de/gardel-por-una-cabeza All other music is from the YouTube Audio Library X @MatthewOkot @WorldCupRamble Subscribe to World Cup Rambling on your podcast platform.

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Okot

Topics covered

  • Argentina 1986 World Cup
  • Maradona
  • soccer history
  • Mexico 86
  • football tactics
  • sports analysis

Keywords

  • Argentina
  • 1986 World Cup
  • Maradona
  • soccer
  • Mexico
  • football
  • Bilardo
  • Italy
  • Uruguay
  • Bulgaria

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, Italy, Bulgaria, Uruguay

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