About this episode

The episode explores Argentina's journey in the 1986 World Cup, focusing on Maradona's pivotal role and the historical context surrounding the matches.

We have the final part of our look back at Argentina’s triumphant campaign at Mexico 86. The England match is a saga on its own – Britain’s history in the introduction and development of football in Argentina, the legacy of the ‘Animals’ match from 1966 and the shadow of the Falklands War. The Argentinian players are keen to downplay the war although Maradona would later admit that privately, they were keen to avenge the Falklands defeat. On the field, Maradona scores two goals that reflect his devilment and his genius – ‘The Hand of God’ and ‘the Goal of the Century’. Maradona dominates the semi-final against Belgium from start to finish; arguably the greatest individual performance in World Cup history. In the final against West Germany, Maradona, despite being tightly marked, creates the winning goal and it’s the day that shows Argentina are more than ‘Maradona plus ten’, as his often-overlooked colleagues make telling contributions to clinch the trophy for Carlos Bilardo’s side. The Argentinian National Anthem is from https://nationalanthems.info/ ‘Por Una Cabeza’ is from https://www.classicals.de/gardel-por-una-cabeza All other music is from the YouTube Audio Library X…

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the World Cup Rambling podcast page.