1986 FIFA World Cup Final


The 1986 FIFA World Cup Final was the final and deciding game of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, held in Mexico. The match was held at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on 29 June 1986 and had an attendance of 114,600. It was contested by Argentina and West Germany. Argentina won the match 3–2 in normal time.

Route to the final

Match

Summary

This was an exciting and memorable World Cup final. José Luis Brown opened the scoring for Argentina in the 23rd minute with a header after a free-kick from the right and it stayed at 1–0 until half-time. 10 minutes into the second half, Jorge Valdano doubled Argentina's lead with a low side foot finish after cutting in from the left past the advancing goalkeeper. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge pulled a goal back in the 74th minute from close range for West Germany, his first goal in the tournament. West Germany then equalised in the 83rd minute, with Rudi Völler scoring with a header from close range to seemingly salvage the game. Although Diego Maradona was heavily marked by Lothar Matthäus the entire game, his superb pass to Jorge Burruchaga in the 86th minute allowed Argentina to regain the lead at 3–2 when he slid the ball past the advancing goalkeeper from the right and into the corner of the net.
Six yellow cards were issued in this match, which was a record number until the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. Two of them were issued because of time wasting from Argentine players. As the clock expired, Argentina celebrated their second World Cup victory in three tournaments after having won the 1978 World Cup in home soil.

Details




Match rules:
  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Five substitutes named, of which two may be used

    Aftermath

The second World Cup won by Argentina is regarded by many as the most important victory for an Argentine side. Four years after Argentina's victory over West Germany, both teams met again on the final of the subsequent World Cup, with West Germany winning the match 1–0 via a penalty kick. This marked the first time two World Cup finalists met twice, a record shared with Brazil and Italy, the latter two having met in the 1970 and 1994 World Cup finals. Argentina and Germany met again in the 2014 final for a record-breaking third time in which Germany won their fourth championship.
With the 1986 defeat, German manager Franz Beckenbauer gained the rather unwanted distinction of having lost a World Cup final as both a player and a manager. However, he led Germany to the said 1990 victory and became a winner of the World Cup as player and as manager, as he also won as the former in 1974.