Today in History—June 22: The Infamous “Hand of God” Play
Forty years ago today, Argentine footballer Diego Maradona’s performance during the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match made him a household name. In the long history of football (or soccer), very few players have earned both fame and notoriety, with Maradona managing to do so over the course of a single match.
On June 22, 1986, at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, Argentina and England met in the quarterfinals. The game already carried far more emotional weight than usual: The two countries had fought the Falklands War just four years before, and bilateral relations were still tense. The football fixture was played amid a highly charged atmosphere, and events on the pitch did not disappoint.
In the 51st minute of the match, Maradona leaped to challenge English goalkeeper Peter Shilton and knocked the ball into the net with his hand—an illegal action under the rules of the game. However, the officials did not spot the handball in real time, and—with no video review system available then—the goal counted, despite vociferous protests from the English players and fans.
Maradona compounded England’s misery four minutes later, producing a brilliant 60-yard run in an astonishing 10.6 seconds, dribbling past five English players to score his second goal of the day. For years, fans and experts have acclaimed it the “goal of the century.”
Maradona’s shirt from the match was auctioned for £7 million in 2022.
In a post-match interview, when asked whether the first goal had been scored using his hand, Maradona wrote himself into the history books with his reply: “Un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios” (“A little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”).
Argentina won the match 2–1 and went on to win their second FIFA World Cup title.
- 10: Maradona’s customary football shirt number
- 114,000+: Fans in the stadium that day
- 21: Years Maradona played professionally
- 1633: Astronomer Galileo is forced to recant support for the Copernican system
- 1815: Napoleon I abdicates for the second time
- 1994: Colombian footballer Andrés Escobar accidentally scores an own goal
